In the most recent PEW study on Americans and Texting, Young adults (18-24) exchange an average of 109.5 texts a day, roughly 3,200 texts/month.  Once limited to only the youngest, texting is increasing in all but the over-65 demographic.  Among the 83% of American adults who own cell phones, three-quarters (73%) of us send and receive text messages.

Millennials, aged 18-19, still out-text any other age group averaging about 88 texts a day.  Gen X’ers text only a third as much on average, and Boomers are texting more than in the past but are only averaging around 10 a day.  The amount of texting has only shifted a bit in the last year although many suspect some of the new technologies such as the Apple voice-activated Siri may make it even easier for all ages to text.

One of the interesting byproducts of texting has been the evolution of a code known best to those who use it, leaving many of those less familiar in the dark.   I was recently stumped by: CU@*$.  Give up?  (See below)  Entire websites are now devoted to deciphering the most common of the acronyms.

There are also websites devoted to sharing humorous exchanges like the one between a college student and his Mom.

• Student: Got an A in Chem!!
• Mom: WTF, well done!!
• Student: Mom, what do you think WTF means?
• Mom: Well That’s Fantastic!

Once limited to personal messages, texting is increasingly part of the digital business environment.  Whether between colleagues, to alert customers, or for company wide blasts, we are likely to see more business applications particularly as industry moves such as Apple’s iMessage service are forcing lower charges for text packages.

With over 2 trillion texts sent in the U.S. last year, it was only a matter of time until a National Texting Championship was held.  This year’s winner was Austin Wierschke from Rhinelander WI.  He averages 600 texts a day … and, no surprise here, he’s 16.

• Where does texting fit in your business?
• What would your customers say?

Answer: CU@*$ = See you at Starbucks.