ABSTRACT
Since real-time conversational interaction with anyone, at any time, from anywhere, until recently, was realisable only in a fictional Star Trek universe, it is hardly surprising that a faintly utopian discourse surrounds the use of mobile devices (van den Boomen et al. 2009). Understandably, commentators were initially bowled over by the wondrousness of what was once an other-worldly technology, and in their breathless excitement speculated that humankind was entering uncharted territory, that a new virtual reality, a cyberspace of sorts was being colonised (Springer 1996; Danet 2001). The reality, of course, was not nearly so fantastical. While technology such as the mobile phone is undoubtedly a technological marvel, it has quickly become so ubiquitous and ordinary, that it is now a thoroughly mundane experience in everyday life. No one ever leaves the house these days without three things: their keys, wallet and their mobile (Herring 2004). To lose one’s phone would amount to a piece of the self being shorn away. Not only could a cherished database of numbers, addresses, notes and messages be lost forever – since an upgrade will inevitably replace the missing phone – the habitual practices of using the device’s often esoteric features will also be lost (Berry 2011). It is, in short, an essential lifestyle accessory, especially for young people, a powerful computing device that we need with us at all times, ‘to log in’, as Gleick (2000, p. 90) notes, ‘from the beaches and mountaintops’. So while mobile telephony may be mundane, it still has transformative power. As this chapter will hopefully demonstrate, this device which became the fastest growing consumer device of all time is responsible for consumers displaying many new behaviours, attitudes, and values. Of all the mobile-embedded features,1 the most innocuous is the tiny text message.
The SMS. The truncated txt. An instantaneously delivered abridged, abbreviated pronouncement of the kind most of us social animals regularly receive. The ‘OMG, u’ll never guess! … ’
The ‘where r u?’ and the ‘cul8r’. Although it played a formative role in a world of abbreviated discourse and other miniature forms of communication, and was the starting gun that gave Twitter and a thousand other instant message platforms their short form factor (Humez et al. 2010), these days discussions of digital spaces tend to overlook and under-egg the humble text message. Instead, a fawning discourse devoted to the social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, tends to prevail. Yet, the text message is undoubtedly the unheralded champion of social communication. According to a major study by Lenhart et al. (2010) on how teenagers use mobile phones, it might surprise you to learn that by 2009, texting had become the most popular form of communication among teenagers, surpassing email, instant messaging, social networking, and face-to-face communication, and that one-third of them report sending more than 100 texts per day. In total, the expected number of text messages to be sent globally in 2011 is a staggering seven trillion (Martin 2011). One seriously wonders how it was ever possible to arrange a meeting, let someone know your whereabouts, announce your imminent arrival, without the existence of these ‘little sugar rushes of contact’ (Benson 2000, p. 25), these bursts of textual brevity. Even to the vast majority of non-digital natives, self-proclaimed technophobes and proud luddites, consuming such technology has become entirely second nature. The practice of text messaging is thus deeply embedded in the fabric of everyday life. Look
around you: head-bowed, thumb-poised ‘textperts’ are everywhere.2 They have been credited with developing a new shorthand language, vowel-poor, acronym-rich and emoticon-laden that is largely unfathomable to older people. This new language has been praised by linguists for its creativity (Crystal 2008). At the same time, it has been derided by grammar fetishists and punctuation vigilantes predictably incensed by what they perceive to be a gross breach of language convention (Casagrande 2006). Others are infuriated by what has been dubbed ‘cell-fishness’ whereby mobile phone owners engage in texting while, at the same time, conducting real-time conversations. A survey claims that this behaviour so intensely irritates that many respondents would prefer multi-tasking offenders to pick their nose, rather than to simultaneously talk and text while in their company (Kingston 2011). However one judges the critical reception of text messaging, it is clear, as studies indicate, that along with other instant message formats and computer games, it can be incredibly addictive. In some cases its most ardent fans have even developed repetitive strain injury from over-pressing their keypads, while others have been admitted to addiction clinics to calm their ever-ready-to-text thumbs. The science behind the theory holds that the act of sending and receiving text messages releases dopamine into the brain, which sets up a vicious circle of constant craving that leads to more texting, more craving (Small and Vorgan 2008). It is also clear that texting is proving useful in all kinds of everyday relational situations, whether it be winning over potential partners, conducting illicit affairs, sending lazy birthday greetings,3 or just keeping in contact with friends. Truly, text messages have beeped and vibrated their way into our cultural conscience. They have reengineered the way people, especially the young, interact, date, socialise and communicate. Like it or not, in this ‘mobilized world’ (Lindgren et al. 2002), it is virtually impossible to venture anywhere – the cinema, the supermarket, the gym, the restaurant – without hearing the beep-beep or ringtone that signals, ‘1 message received’. This chapter will discuss how text messaging, alongside a plethora of other digital modes of
communication, creates new challenges and opportunities for consumers operating in today’s ubiquitously digital realm (Mansvelt 2005). It opens with a brief consideration of the unpredicted, but meteoric rise, of the text message. Drawing primarily on an overview of research which has studied the form, function and meaning of text messaging, the chapter will then reflect on why they have become so pervasive. In doing so, it will analyse the subtleties and significance of sending and receiving text messages as understood by research conducted mainly in the disciplines
of sociology, linguistics, consumer behaviour and cultural studies. The discussion will then proceed to delve into some of the potential downsides of texting. It will conclude by exploring the future of texting and suggest a possible strategy that digital consumers might adopt in order to retain more control of their always switched on, always accessible lives. It should be made clear that this chapter neither condemns nor celebrates text messaging, but instead attempts to present a balanced viewpoint between the two extremes.
