You’ve come a long way, baby. Text messaging, or SMS, turns 20 years old today, as the very first SMS was sent on Dec. 3, 1992 by British engineer Neil Papworth. Working for English tech company Sema, Papworth wrote “Merry Christmas,” from his computer and sent the message to Vodafone director Richard Jarvis on his 901 cell phone. The rest is history.

Now, according to a study by Experian, 85 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 24 text nearly 4,000 messages each month. An additional 80 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 send and receive almost 4,000 messages each per month and a surprising 20 percent of adults 55 and older text 500 times per month. And according to Pew internet research, 75 percent of teenagers text, sending an average of 60 texts each day. Texting is actually teens’ most common form of communication. An astounding six billion messages are sent each day in the United States alone, according to Forrester Research. Globally, 8.6 trillion texts are sent per year, according to Portio Research.

“It’s given us an alternative to face-to-face communication,” Papworth recently told CNET. “This can be a good thing when you want to send a discreet message and avoid worrying that you’re disturbing the recipient by catching them at a bad time with a phone call, but it’s also a bad thing sometimes. It’s easier to dump someone and not have to deal with the reaction. But really, this is a problem with people’s attitude, not with this particular technology. You could just as easily do the same thing via IM or email.”

The simple SMS message has gone to T9 predictive text to voice-dictating devices to as Siri that text for us. And texting has created a language all its own with abbreviated words such as LOL, L8R, BRB, TTYL and more.

Still, the text may have passed its peak. Although it’s expected to be a $150 billion industry in 2013, apps such as Apple’s iMessage, Facebook messages and GroupMe are rapidly taking market share from texts as users are flocking to free services to escape the high fees charged by mobile phone providers. But with only 50 percent of cell phone users carrying smartphones, it’s unlikely SMS will be gone anytime soon.

“I can’t see it dying out anytime soon,” Papworth told CNET. “People in wealthy countries may be favoring IM on their smartphones, but you need an Internet connection and it’s not guaranteed all your friends will have the same app you do. In much of the world where the phones and networks are more basic, SMS is simple, quick, reliable, and cheaper than voice communication. And there are ever more ingenious applications — voting on reality shows, tracking packages, and so on — that rely on SMS to work.”

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

More Posts