It’s been 20 years since text messaging came into being. It’s the 20th birthday of text messaging. The first ever text message, or short message service (SMS) was sent on 3 December 1992. The first ever message was sent by 22 year old British engineer to an Orbitel 901 mobile phone, and read “Merry Christmas.
Since then it changed the way we communicate. Now that it turns 20, it looks like text messaging fad is over.
SMS messages in the UK plummeted by 38.5 billion in the second quarter, down from 39.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
It seems Whatsapp and Imessage have become the latest trend of messaging. This is due to ease and economy of messaging involved with these apps.
Ofcom director of research James Thickett said, “When texting was first conceived many saw it as nothing more than a niche service.
“But texts have now surpassed traditional phone calls and meeting face to face as the most frequent way of keeping in touch for UK adults, revolutionising the way we socialise, work and network.
“For the first time in the history of mobile phones, SMS volumes are showing signs of decline. However the availability of a wider range of communications tools like instant messaging and social networking sites mean that people might be sending fewer SMS messages, but they are ‘texting’ more than ever before.”
