Turns out the average teen exchanges more than six text messages an hour—every hour—during waking hours, according to a new survey. At the same time, the average number of minutes that teens spend talking on their phones is on the decline. Why? Because texting is faster and easier than making a voice call, teens said.
The Nielsen Co. survey of more than 60,000 wireless subscribers confirmed what you probably already knew: When it comes to texting, no one beats teens.
What's surprising about the Nielsen study, however, is the margin of victory. While the average U.S. teen (defined by Nielsen as someone between the ages of 13 and 17) sends and receives a whopping 3,229 text messages a month—more than 100 a day—young adults 18 to 24 managed a measly 1,630 monthly text messages.
As for everyone else, well ... as you can see in the chart below, the numbers trail off from there.
Breaking down the teen texting figures a bit, we find that the girls out-texted the boys by nearly 1,500 messages a month, with the average teen female exchanging 4,050 text messages a month—an amazing eight-plus texts an hour during their waking hours—compared with a still impressive 2,539 monthly texts for male teens.
But while teens are texting more and more (indeed, the average teen texted 8 percent more in the second quarter of 2010 than they did during the same period a year ago), they're also using fewer and fewer voice minutes.
Teen females, for example, currently burn about 753 voice minutes a month, or about 25 minutes a day, according to Nielsen—not bad, but not exactly jaw-dropping—while the boys used about 525 minutes a month. Overall, teen voice calls are down 14 percent from last year.
And guess who talks on cell phones more than teens? Practically everyone else, the study says, with only those 55 and older talking less on their mobiles than teens do.
The Nielsen report comes about a week after new statistics on mobile use from the CTIA, the trade group that represents the U.S. wireless industry. Among other interesting details, the CTIA survey found that while Americans are texting more than ever, the length of their mobile calls is slowly decreasing, from nearly three minutes a call in 2006 to just 1.67 minutes by June 2010.
And it's not just teens who seem to be losing interest in voice calls. According to Nielsen, the number of monthly voice minutes used over the past year has dropped for pretty much everyone, save—again—mobile users older than 55.
So, why are we texting more but talking (on our cell phones, at least) less? Well, 22 percent of teens in the Nielsen survey said they found sending SMS messages to be "easier" than making a voice call, while 20 percent said texting was "faster" than talking.
Even as a 41-year-old fuddy-duddy, I can relate. What's easier: Dialing your pal to say you'll be at the restaurant at 7 p.m. (and hoping your call won't be dropped), or just firing off a text that reads "CU @ 7"? Granted, nothing beats a voice call for catching up or a heart-to-heart (well, besides the in-person thing), but when it comes to simple logistics, I'd rather just text.
What about you? Find yourself texting more than you're calling these days?
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