Despite the arrival of social networking phenomenons Twitter and Facebook, UK mobile phone users still manage to rattle out around 11 million text messages an hour according to latest figures from the Mobile Data Association.
The report showed during 2009, the UK collectively sent out an average of 265 million text messages and 1.6 million picture messages daily. That’s 96.8 billion text messages and 600 million picture messages sent in the whole of last year.
In comparison to previous years, around 56.9 billion and 78.9 billion texts were sent in 2007 and 2008 respectively, which suggests there has been a steady texting growth.
Interestingly, 4.5 million picture messages were sent on Christmas Day, while the recent cold snap is said to have seen an steady upturn in picture messages sent according to Network Operators’ figures.
On the value of texting as a means of a quick chat, Steve Reynolds, chairman of MDA said, "These statistics show that even with new social media forms of messaging such as Twitter and Facebook, people are using SMS as a social messaging tool because of its simplicity and ubiquity."
Apparently the rise of voting shows such as X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing has helped boost the text rate. Rob Bamforth, a principal analyst of Quocirca said, "Now it is not only a convenient medium for a quick chat with friends, but also a way of participating in television voting and raising funds for needy charities. When a powerful call to action is given, the population of the UK often turn first towards their mobile phones."
Do you still text as much as you did since Facebook and Twitter turned up? Let us know in the comments below. There’s no charge, honestly.
Link: Business Wire
