With sore thumbs and cramping hands, teenagers and young adults have turned Twitter and texting into the new form of communication. The last five years have witnessed an explosion of non verbal communication and these new trends are threatening to overtake the more traditional methods of transmitting information.
However, the benefits of these forms of communication have come at a dangerous price. People deeply involved in their text messaging have caused car accidents, train derailments, personal tragedies and addictive behavior.
“Texting is so addictive. Texting has gotten out of hand, everywhere you turn someone is texting. It’s an easy way to communicate with someone,” said senior Karmila Saulong.
According to textually.org, text messaging began in Japan in 1996. It was seen as a method of connecting with others without paying the full price of a phone call. Yet, with the new technologies texting has become an obsession.
According to Nielsen Mobile, Americans send an average of 357 texts a month, as opposed to 204 phone calls a month. Many experts claim that the reasoning behind the numbers of text messages or SMS (Short Messaging System) is the fact that texts are direct without any of the etiquette required in phone conversations.
The text message phenomenon is causing many individuals to act erratically. For example, multiple news sources reported that two young Pennsylvania men, Nick Andes and Doug Klinger, tried to break the world record and sent a total of 217,000 messages in one month.
Unfortunately, Nick Andes was not aware that he did not have unlimited texting and was charged $26,000 on his phone bill. In Utah, a teenager with way too much time on his hands has trained to become the fastest texter in the world. He broke the record by typing 160 characters in 42.22 seconds.
Moreover, Twitter is a social networking site where members can update their status, using 140 characters, to tell others of their actions. Every member has “followers” or friends that have access to their web page.
“Twitter is a fun and interesting social networking site. It allows me to stay connected with friends and find out about their lives even if they are far away. Also, it can be used for politicians and leaders of countries that need to communicate with their citizens,” said senior Jaclyn Mallozzi.
The website was created by Jack Dorsey in San Francisco in 2006. In the last few years, the networking site has become a sensation throughout America and around the world.
In fact, celebrities and political leaders use Twitter accounts to promote new works and charitable causes. They hire workers to manage and update the sites.
Even President Barack Obama “tweeted” during his campaign. In April 2009, Moldova activists organized a protest against communism using twitter. Also, Israel used the website to form a discussion about the war against the Palestinians. Israelis and others were allowed to pose questions to the Israeli officials. The social benefits of the fast paced interest transmissions far outweigh the costs.
While there have been complaints about texting and tweeting from main stream media outlets, they have been busy trying to organize a method for making money from the activities.
