Short messaging still booming in UK , but is it making us more impersonal? 

According to statistics released today by the UK ’s Mobile Data Association (MDA) some 4.825bn SMS messages were sent during September 2007, an average of over 1.2bn messages every week, the same number of messages sent during the whole of 1999. The research shows a 25% growth compared to 2006 and has caused the MDA to revise it annual predicted total figure from 48bn to 52bn messages in 2007.

Chairman of the MDA Mike Short lists the drivers of the continuing growth of SMS as follows:
·         Bundled or packaged monthly deals from mobile operators have meant that all customers are getting a deal to suit their own mobile usage needs
·         UK businesses have woken up to the potential of SMS, with a significant increase in companies communicating with customers and employees via SMS
·         In an industry plagued by complexity and compatibility issues, text messaging is simple and effective technology that works on every phone, at home or abroad
·         All levels of society (young and old) continue to embrace texting
·         Texting continues to play a central part in our daily work and private lives
·         The cost of a text message continues to fall as a result of increased competition
·         It’s a very personal way to communicate

“The continued growth of text volumes remains a source of fascination for us all at the MDA. We have been central in helping to promote the technology from our initial campaigns back in 1998”, says Short. “Today text messaging remains important but as part of a much larger and more complex mobile communications industry. From mobile TV, mobile advertising and marketing to Internet browsing and music and content creation, the mobile device continues to extend its reach into increasing parts of all our lives.”

Other experts may take issue with the last listed of Short’s SMS growth drivers, though. According to a report in Australia ’s The Courier-Mail, (www.news.com.au) the social impact of text messaging is becoming a concern as SMSs are now used to notifying someone of a death in the family, wedding RSVPs, breaking up with long-term partners and resigning from jobs. The newspaper quotes Mark McCridle, head of the social networking research agency bearing his name. "The technology has enabled the generation to socialise and perform social roles, but the downside is that it has reduced social confidence and social etiquette that used to be the norm.”
John Williamson