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Hernando Today

Texting Is All The Rage

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: October 27, 2008

SPRING HILL - "Let your fingers do the walking" might have become an obsolete phrase a few years ago.
Phone books began a noticeable decline due to the advent of Internet search engines and cell phones.

Advertisers could just as easily dust off the old "Yellow Pages" slogan and recycle it to say, "Let your fingers do the talking." It would have an entirely different meaning with the modern usage of phones, but it would be fitting.
Texting has surpassed calling as the primary source of cellular communication, based on a recent survey by AT&T. Parents use it to check up on their active children. Singles use it for dating. Business owners prefer it because it is a more-efficient method of corresponding with employees and clients.

"We do a lot of text messaging here," said Richard W. Hotchkiss Jr., a manager at Surge Suppression in Brooksville. "Now it's become as frequent as phone calls."

His company manufactures and sells surge-protection equipment across the country. He often has to speak with salespeople and clients from out of state. If he called them one by one, many of them would bog down conversations with questions about the Tampa Bay Rays or the weather, Hotchkiss said.

To him, texting is more efficient. Hotchkiss often will text using his phone and send instant messages via his computer - at the same time.

"You have the ability to multi-task when you use texting," he said.

The trends are the same among families.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently reported that households with a married couple and children - a nuclear family - are more likely to use cell phones, Internet and other "new technologies" compared to any other household.

Nearly 90 percent of married-with-children families own multiple cell phones and nearly half own three or more.

As for text messaging, there has been some data that show a significant number of singles ages 18 to 55 who think "texting" plays a significant role in their relationship - as much as 40 percent, according to an AT&T survey.

Sixty-eight percent of text messengers admitted to sending a love note via texting; 67 percent have admitted to flirting through text messaging; and 28 percent said they text three or more times a day with their significant other, the survey stated.

Exchanging texts prior to a first date, according to the study, is an effective way to put both parties at ease. It also allows people to be more clever and thoughtful.

Gretchen Schultz, an AT&T spokeswoman, said texting is a good way for a couple to set up a dinner date. They could wait until they are in each other's company before they begin a thoughtful conversation. That is how her friends date, she said.

"People can text initially so they can get the facts, like where do you want to meet and at what time," said Schultz. "They'll have more to talk about when they start the date."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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