Text messaging has taken over as our most popular form of communication, but it took us quite a while to get there.

What is Text Messaging?

Text messaging or texting is the act of composing and sending text messages using a cellular (mobile) phone.

Brief History

Let us rewind a bit to the important breakthroughs in the world of telecommunication:

The 1830s: The telegraph lays the groundwork for instant conversational communication.

1876: Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, made the first phone call on March 7 1876, to his assistant, Thomas Watson: “Mr Watson–come here–I want to see you.”

Now, let us fast forward to almost 100 years:

1971: The first email is delivered between two computers and the instant messaging service started as a chat feature for government use.
1973: The first mobile phone call was made.

1983: Consumer mobile phones are available in the market in the U.S.

1984: The discovery of text messaging on cellular networks was made by Matti Makkonen, a Finnish engineer.

1985: The 160-character limit is determined by Friedhelm Hillebrand, a German engineer who was famous for setting mobile telecommunications standards. Hillebrand and Frenchman Bernard Ghillebaert are some of the inventors of SMS.

1992: The first text message is sent from a personal computer to a phone. The message was ‘Merry Christmas’!

1993: Nokia supported user-to-user text messaging.

1994: Mobile Networks begin to offer person-to-person texting but only for people using the same mobile network. The only option to type was through multi-tapping. Do you remember?

1995: Predictive texting came in to give our thumbs a break.

2000: the Motorola V. box saved us the effort of typing by introducing the first GSM handset to pack a full QWERTY keyboard.

2002: Multimedia message (MMS) enters our lives enabling us to send photos and videos.

2007: The iPhone is introduced, giving a push to texting’s popularity.

Advantages of text messaging:

It is universal
It can be sent by anyone, anytime.
It saves time.
It doesn’t require an internet connection
It is quick and efficient

Disadvantages of text messaging:

It somehow encourages the usage of poor grammar, thereby encouraging the habit of using improper language and grammar.
Misunderstandings can easily occur due to unclear messages
There are limitations on the usage of characters because it is designed for brief messaging and is poor at conveying complex messages.
It requires both parties to remain active for effective communication.

Now, setting apart the advantages, and disadvantages of text messaging, let us talk about how your text can reveal a lot about your personality.

Have you ever sent someone a text that you thought sounded ok only for him or her to come back at you later and say that you were being rude to him or her?

You explain to them that it was just a text. Then, they tell you that you used a ‘period’ and you are like ‘whuuutt…?’

Your texts may have come off as too vague or your impression made them perceive you differently, you wave these things off as petty misunderstandings because you are not able to hear someone’s tone while texting or see their facial expressions.

However, what if the way you text, portrays your personality?

Did you know, if you text too often, you are most likely to have a texting style? The research suggests that using emoji may provide a reasonable substitute for expressing love & affection, and building trust & relationships.

Therefore, here are five texting styles that can portray your personality:

Emoji Texts: Do you often use emoji while texting? Then you are most likely to be someone who is truthful and tends to open up about your emotions easily. You want to know how the other person is feeling while sending a message.

You also make sure that you send the message with the right intention. Therefore, you try to use just the right blend of emoji to sound right.

Proper Grammar: Are you someone who values punctuation and grammar in your texting? It seems like a cool thing, isn’t it? However, in texting, people think otherwise. Several studies have found that simply placing a ‘full stop’ at the end of sentences in texts can make you perceive as untruthful and rude among people.

With this texting style, you are most likely to be thoughtful. You are someone who does not believe so much in texting and likes to have face-face conversations. You are also an excellent thinker and this is why you pay attention to the little details.

Short and Quick Texts: Do you put your instant thoughts into several short texts? If you are this person, then you are most likely an energetic person. You are also popular and likely to have many friends.

Texting is like a cup of tea to you. Your texts might be quick and short with short forms and abbreviations like ‘LOL’, ‘OMG’, ‘BRB’, ‘SMH’, ‘ROFL’, ‘FYI’, ‘FYA’, ‘P.S’, etc. Others who are not aware of these abbreviations might perceive you as illiterate, lazy and uncivilised.

Paragraph Texting: Are your texts lengthy and thoughtful? Then you are the person who understands the importance of context and emotions. You are thoughtful and have a lot to say full of deep thoughts. Similar to grammar freaks, you are someone who believes in small details and enjoys deep/serious conversations.
One-word Response: Ugghhh…! Probably the most boring and rude texting style of all. If you are someone who loves to answer in one-words like ‘good’ or the most notorious ones like ‘K’, then you are perceived as having a reserved personality. You might often be also perceived as rude. You may not open up your emotions/thoughts easily or you may be the busy type.

You can be someone who may enjoy alone time more than socializing. For this reason, some people may view your message as negative. University research found that one-word responses with periods were generally understood as more negative than responses without.

Key Takeaways

Therefore, there is no looking back now when it comes to text messaging. We now send over 16 million text messages in a minute! However, texting technology is not evolving. Rich Communication Service (RCS) is the next big thing in texting and will change the way consumers and businesses communicate with each other.

What do you think will happen in the next 20 years?

That is all from us for today! Stay tuned to SpeEdLabs for more such interesting articles!

Also published on Medium.

Text Messaging is changing the way we communicate!