Teens Today are Textually Active
It is no secret that Generation Y, or Millennials, are a driving force in the consumer market. Especially the youngest half of the generation; teenagers today don’t have any experience of the world before cell phones, computers, the Internet and iPods. They simply can’t help it; they’re tech savvy by default. They are what we call digital natives. If you’re not a digital native, you are a digital immigrant. A digital immigrant is an individual who grew up without digital technology but adopted it later in life.
In addition to teaching the digital immigrants a thing or two about how technology can enhance their lives, digital natives are dictating in a major way the technology products and services coming to market – especially in the world of mobility.
A recent study by the CTIA, in conjunction with Harris Interactive, shows today’s teenagers are not only shaping what mobility is but also what it will be in the future.
According to the study, second to clothing, teens say a cell phone tells the most about a person’s popularity, beating out jewelry, watches and shoes (Does anyone remember the last time your “kicks” determined your coolness?).
It isn’t shocking that along with being completely emerged in technology 24/7 that a majority (57%) see their cell phone as a key to their social life - which, let’s be honest, is pretty much EVERYTHING to you when you’re a teenager.
Teens also adapt to learning these new technologies much faster. In fact teens have learned their way around mobile phone technology so well that 42% of them are able to text message while blindfolded.
A quick experiment proved this to be true.
Me, age 25, texting to my younger cousin (with T9 predictive text on): hew can you fm of a favorite an try to text me w. eyes close.
Him, age 19, replies: Can you email me that so I can understand what you want?
Me, emailing him right away: Hey can you do me a favor and try to text me w/ your eyes closed? Let’s try ‘I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.’” (From the movie Anchorman for those who don’t know.)
Him, within three minutes, texts me: I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells me rich mahogany. signed with love, ron burgundy
Figures… only one error and some improv.
Texting has become its own language amongst teens, and according to the study, teens spend an equal amount of time texting as they do talking. I can see why, and it’s my preferred method of communication as well. I find it’s quick, easy and allows for me to respond when I feel like it. I apparently just can’t do it blindfolded.
Since we are an iPhone office (all employees receive an iPhone, standard issue), I’ve heard some from our team say that they have become “text lazy” due to the ease of not only typing and sending text messages from the iPhone, but also managing the multiple text conversations they have with people throughout the day.
Since the iPhone archives all of your texts and presents them in an easy to read format by individual conversation, it’s simple to keep track of multiple text conversations at once. As a side note, there is NO WAY we could text blindfolded on the iPhone, but we have heard that there are haptics. features coming someday soon to the iPhone, which would aid us in our efforts to push the blindfolded text messaging envelope. You can read more about haptics and what it can bring to the iPhone.
Oh, and for all of you digital immigrants wondering what I was talking about when I said I was texting with T9 enabled, here is a quick primer for you on a text tool that could help you get a whole lot better at texting really quickly.
T9 stands for Text on 9 keys. It is software that comes preloaded on many mobile devices to make it faster and easier to type text on numeric keypads. T9 text input has been licensed by nearly all of the world’s leading mobile phone manufactures. Here are some tips for effectively using T9.
The same Harris Interactive study we sited above also provided some insights on mobile gaming usage stating that, one in three teens play games on their phones. The study revealed that if cost weren’t a factor, more teens would likely play games on their phone assuming they were offered a good selection of games to choose from. Luckily for mobile gaming companies like Hovr, which offers hundreds of ad-supported mobile games for free, 48% of teens also don’t mind seeing advertising on their phones.
We’d like to leave you with one final thought, and that is: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. This adage applies for many things in life.
For this post, let’s consider it sound advice for those who can text blindfolded. Just because you don’t need your eyes on your phone to text DOES NOT mean you should text while driving, while walking across the street or while multitasking in some other dangerous way. Be safe! And save those killer blindfolded text skills for a party trick.
This post was co-authored by MoPR’s Melissa Burns and Holly Woolard.
