The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project’s “Cell Phones and American Adults” report found that grownups are catching up with the tech-savvy younger generation when it comes to text messaging: Some 72 percent of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages now, up from 65 percent in September 2009. In comparison, the study found fully 87 percent of teen cell users text. Teens text 50 messages a day on average, five times more than the typical 10 text messages sent and received by adults per day.
However, for all the enthusiasm adults have for texting and talking on their cells, Americans have mixed feelings about the role of the mobile phone in their lives, according to the study. Most cell users report that their cell phone makes them feel safer (91 percent), and that they appreciate the way it allows them to arrange plans with family and friends (88 percent agreed). But mobile phone users also report that they get irritated when a call or text interrupts them (42 percent) and that they find it rude when others check their phones repeatedly during meetings or conversations (86 percent).
The findings come from a nationwide telephone survey of 2,252 American adults (including 744 interviewed on cell phones) conducted between April 29 and May 30.
For more, read the eWeek article, Cell Phone Culture Breeds Security, Irritation, Study Finds.