More U.S. Adults Embrace Texting, Survey Finds
A survey released Thursday found that U.S. adults are following teens in embracing text messaging, with 72 percent of adults saying they have sent or received text messages compared with 65 percent in a September 2009 survey. Adults, however, still have a ways to go to catch up to the 87 percent of teens who reported using their mobile phones for texting.
In addition, the May 2010 survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project also found teens far outpace adults in the number of text messages they send in a day, the survey found. Teens send on average 50 texts a day compared with 10 for adults.
"Texting among adults has reached the mainstream and the charge is being lead by African-Americans, Hispanics and young adults," said Pew Senior Research Specialist Amanda Lenhart, who authored the report. "Of course, none of these adult groups hold a candle to teens when it comes to texting, who swamp adults in messages sent per day by a factor of five."
Blacks and Hispanics tend to send more text messages, sending an average of 10 text messages a day compared with five for whites, the survey found.
Overall, the survey found that cell phone ownership is becoming ubiquitous with 82 percent of U.S. adults reporting they now own a mobile phone or smart phone, up from 65 percent in a November 2004 survey. Blacks and English-speaking Hispanics have even higher rates of mobile phone ownership, 87 percent compared with 80 percent for whites, according to the survey.
"Cell phones have moved beyond fashionable accessory and into the realm of life necessity - just as many adults have a cell phone as have a computer," according to the report on the survey's findings.
The survey was conducted April 29-May 30 and was based on telephone interviews with 2,252 adults.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus