Text messaging turns 20: Is Facebook killing SMS?

BANGALORE, INDIA: "Merry Christmas." That was the world's first SMS sent on December 3, 1992.

Since then, the short message service (SMS) has a long history of saving lives, reuniting families or ruining relationships. And not to forget the debate of SMS corrupting the language or promoting modern and globalized English.

According to Guardian.co.uk, 22-year-old British engineer Neil Papworth used his computer to wish a "Merry Christmas" to Richard Jarvis, of Vodafone, on his Orbitel 901 mobile phone. Papworth didn't get a reply because there was no way to send a text from a phone in those days. That had to wait for Nokia's first mobile phone in 1993.

Though over four million people use SMS there are signs that SMS is losing its popularity with the advent of advanced communication devices.

According to Ofcom, the number of texts sent in Britain reached a peak of 39.7 billion at the end of last year, but have now dropped to 38.5 billion.

 

"The availability of a wider range of communications tools, like instant messaging and social networking sites, means people might be sending fewer SMS messages, but they are communicating electronically more than ever before," 'The Independent' quoted James Thickett, Ofcom's director of research, as saying.

Perhaps 800 million users of Facebook find it convenient to send messages on the Net rather than typing messages on the phone. Facebook-like messengers offer the ease of group chat if someone wants to organise a party. And they ensure there is no delay in sharing of photos.

Engineering student Spoorthi Kalloli says: "Except during emergency, I don't feel the need to send text messages. All my friends are on Facebook and I am glued to it almost 20 hours a day."

However, given the internet penetration in countries like India, it is too early to decide the future of short message service. Do you think text messaging is losing its popularity? Do let us know.