Talkers, Texters and Approximeeters

Thumbs hurt? Texting has changed everything according to the paper, Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging. The authors, Donna Reid and Fraser Reid, have distinguished between two types of mobile phone users: the Talkers and the Texters – those who prefer voice over text messaging and vice versa.

They found that the mobile phone’s individuality and privacy gives Texters the ability to express a whole new persona:

"Texters may feel at greater ease being their ‘real-self’ through a text message reducing the potential repercussions that may otherwise take place in a traditional face-to-face or telephone encounter. Texting may offer Texters more control over their interactions with others by affording them visual anonymity and asynchronous communication. As such the mobile may become more a matter of identity than a simple communication tool."

But the thing that has changed British culture for ever, the Guardian newspaper suggests, is that of Approximeeting:

People no longer need to make firm plans about when and where to meet. Twenty years ago, a Friday night would need to be arranged in enough time to allow everyone to get from their place of work to the first meeting place. Now, however, a night out can be rearranged on the fly. It is no longer "see you here at eight", but "text me around eight and we’ll see where we all are".

Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging Report (PDF)
Guardian Article
via Textually