| Text messaging has become part of the culture, | | | | whether the message was successfully delivered. |
| even a short-hand language has emerged. One can | | | | On some carriers, it is possible for to send messages |
| order a pizza, or vote on American Idol, with a text | | | | to a subscriber's phone using Email. For example, an |
| message. Obama announced his Vice Presidential | | | | AT&T subscriber whose phone number is |
| candidate with a text message to 10 million people, | | | | 234-456-7891 would receive Emails to .net as text |
| or at least that was his plan. An SMS message | | | | messages. SMS service now includes the ability to |
| simultaneously sent to several million recipients, at the | | | | Email, fax, and integrate with paging and/or Internet |
| same time, is not yet possible, and that is probably | | | | systems. |
| good, in light of the Spamming occurring with SMS. | | | | Unfortunately, Spammers have discovered text |
| According to research by Nielsen Mobile, during the | | | | messaging. Registering your phone on the "National |
| second quarter of 2008, the average U.S. cell phone | | | | Do Not Call Registry" only prevents phone calls, not |
| user sent or received 204 voice phone calls per | | | | text messages. It is usually advisable to not respond |
| month and sent or received 357 text messages per | | | | to text message spam. Often random numbers are |
| month. Teenagers in the United States, on average, | | | | tested for a response. If you reply with "Stop |
| send and receive an average of more than 1,700 | | | | sending me messages!", unfortunately, your number |
| text messages per month. | | | | has just been confirmed as a cell phone, and you will |
| SMS was originally developed to allow the deaf to | | | | probably receive more messages. |
| use cell phones, and is similar to paging (does | | | | Obama's VP announcement was just part of his text |
| anybody still use a pager?). In the United States, the | | | | message campaign. His effort was an effective |
| term is colloquially called "texting", but in some parts | | | | device for collecting millions of voter contacts. It also |
| of world, the term is "SMSing". SMS is available on | | | | signaled that Obama could connect with young |
| most cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDA), | | | | people. With SMS messages, the Obama campaign |
| and is compatible with a wide range of networks | | | | conducted surveys, sent reminder messages about |
| (including 3G). However, not all text messaging | | | | voter registration, promoted other Democratic |
| systems use SMS. For example, the BlackBerry uses | | | | candidate in the recipient's district, and reminded |
| standard mail protocols such as SMTP over TCP/IP | | | | people to vote. |
| (internet protocol). | | | | Shorthand has emerged because SMS messages are |
| If the target cell phone is off-line, the Short Message | | | | cumbersome to enter with cell phone keypads. |
| Service Center (SMSC) will store the message for a | | | | Abbreviations such as 'C U L8er' for 'See you later' |
| later attempt. The message can be stored for | | | | are used not just by young people, but also by |
| several days. Successful message delivery is not | | | | adults. There are books and websites dedicated to |
| guaranteed and the delay, or unfortunately, even the | | | | translating this shorthand, for the "non-text-lingual". |
| loss of a messages, is not uncommon. This most | | | | More than 2.5 trillion SMS messages were sent from |
| often occurs when sending messages between | | | | cell phones worldwide last year. SMS text messaging |
| different networks. The sender of an SMS text | | | | revenues are expected to exceed $165 billion by |
| message can receive a confirmation notifying them | | | | 2011. |