ABSTRACT
Since the inception of text-messaging technology, older teenagers and adults have been particularly early and eager users of the rapid, private communication that it allows. Initially, it was not clear whether this intense use of the technology represented a cohort effect (that would continue on as a characteristic of this ‘pioneering’ group of texters), or a life phase effect (that would remain as a hallmark of each new group of young adults, gradually diminishing as each group entered middle adulthood). To answer this question, Ling (2010) examined six years of data on the text messages sent by Norwegians over the age of 13 years. His results confirmed that the pattern represents a life phase phenomenon: older teenagers and those in their early twenties go through a period of intense use of texting, before ‘growing out of it’ as their lifestyles change. It is likely that this pattern of Norwegian
text messaging is repeated in other developed nations, and is borne out by the pattern observed in the longitudinal study conducted in the United Kingdom by Wood, Meachem et al. (2011), who saw textism use peak in Year 6 for two successive waves of children tested in Years 4 to 7.
