Is Text Messaging a Dying Trend?

First we saw a drop in voice messaging and phone calls in favor of text messages.  Now we are seeing a decline in that area, too.  One has to wonder, what are we using the phone for?

A recent report shows that the number of texts sent by US customers has dropped 3% for the third quarter with an average of 678 text messages.  Even though that is a small percentage, it may have a bigger indication.  Analysts say that customers haven’t given up texting; they are just finding different ways to do it.

Cell phone users may now be using messaging services from the phone manufacturers such as Apple’s iMessage.  Others may add free apps from developers to their phones, such as Viber.

Combination voice and text services such as Skype, Google Voice, Whatsapp and Siri eliminate the need for traditional text messaging packages that can add another $20 or $30 on to a plan.  Since you are already adding a data plan with a smart phone, you might as well look for a cheaper or free plan to communicate.

Then you have the social media sites like Facebook that allow you to message or Twitter where friends can reply to your tweets.  You can even set up private messages on both accounts if you don’t want everyone to see your conversation.  Since those sites are already included in your data plan, why would you use anything else that has an additional cost?

Another benefit of these methods over traditional texting is that you can see and continue the conversation from other devices.  If you start a chat on Skype on your mobile phone, once you get home you can pick it up from your laptop if you choose.  You can easily refer back to the previous part of the conversation and start from where you left off.

So, is texting a dying art?  Not really, but using a phone service’s text messaging service probably is.

[Image via Brigham Young University News]