Texting by American adults has increased significantly over the past year, but still does not approach the level of text messages exchanged by young people, according to a new report from Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Nearly three quarters (72%) of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages now, up from 65 percent in September 2009. The majority (87%) of teen cell users text. Teens text 50 messages a day on average, five times more than the typical 10 text messages sent and received by adults per day.
The majority of African Americans and English-speaking Hispanics own cell phones compared to 80 percent of whites. Twelve percent of African American and 14 percent of English-speaking Hispanics make and receive more than 30 calls a day on their mobile phones. Four percent of whites report placing and receiving that many calls. African American and Hispanic texters typical send and receive 10 texts a day; whites who text typically send and receive 5 texts a day.
“Texting among adults has reached the mainstream and the charge is being lead by African-Americans, Hispanics and young adults,” said Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist at the Pew Research...
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