A study found that the number of sent text messages in the United States has gone way up in past six years. Since 2003, the number of messages more than doubled almost every year.
In 2003, 2.1 billion text messages were sent. That grew to 4.7 billion the following year, 9.8 billion in 2005, and 18.7 billion the next year. In 2007, that went up to 48.1 billion.
Between 2007 and 2008, the number of text messages more than doubled again to 110.4 billion.
The average teen currently sends more than 2,000 text messages per month. About two-thirds of all teens use text messaging, mostly due to its simplicity as well as the privacy of being able to communicate without being overheard.
BTW: The number of cell phone subscribers also went up by 70 percent in the same six-year period. In 2003, there were 159 million users. Last year, there were 270 million.
Meantime, the average length of a cell phone call declined last year to 2.3 minutes. That’s the shortest chat time since the 1990s, before mobile devices and cheap calling plans became widely available to everyday consumers.
The peak talk time came in 2004, when a caller on average chatted for 3.05 minutes.