THE POPULARITY OF TEXT MESSAGING
Why is text messaging so popular, especially with young people? There are two main reasons. One is cost, as many teenagers have to use pay-as-you-go mobile tariffs (1) of contracts, and so it is cheaper to send a text message than (2) a voice call. So texters get better value of (3) . But there is a second, less practical reason for its popularity. A generation is growing up happy to communicate (4) by text, and this new form of instant communication is even more relaxed and informal than either email or phone calls. Text messaging has created a completely new language, (5) of abbreviations and unusual spellings.
It is a language that is not understood by adults, even though they can buy special dictionaries explaining it, and it has opened up a huge generation (6) between teenagers and their parents. For teenagers, text is convenient and quick, (7) it confuses parents. Text messaging is a teenage (8) to grown up technology and (9) young people with a means of communicating that is always accessible. It is also something that they can call their own, and in spite of some concern in the teaching profession that literacy skills are being (10) text messaging is a form of communication that is certainly here to stay.