News Commentary: The Opportunity Cost Of Texting

On Sundays I offer comments on some of the most interesting information technology stories that I have found on the web that week.  Please feel free to join in the discussion or suggest other stories.

Today, Gizmodo, the awesome technology gadget website has a wonder article discussing the amazing amount of time and energy that teenagers put into text messaging, or texting.  Please give it a read here –

Gizmodo- Texting Is the Scourge Of This Generation

“Nielsen stats put the average teen’s texting rate at about ten per hour during the day. This, and basic math, leads to some terrifying conclusions!”

Obviously, there are many factors at play here, but I became enamored by their analysis of amazing amount of time that teens put into this.  Essentially, their point is that teens spend an incredible amount of time texting and write quite a few page equivalents worth every month doing it.  I especially like their comparisons to the number of novels that these same teens could generate per year with the length of their texts.  For us Enterprise Information Technology Professionals, though, I believe that the real thought piece is what the opportunity cost of these activities are for our users. 

On one hand, it is tempting to think that writing 80,000 words worth of text messages is a complete waste of time and a productivity killer.  On the other, though, I believe is a much more promising outlook.  First of all, time will get filled somehow.  If not texting then what other activity will fill the void?  Personally, I think that having people communicate, regardless of the means, is better than mindless TV watching or Internet surfing.  Also, I am sure that some of this texting is being done for efficiency purposes, like I text.  I know that I can accomplish more with 2-3 text messages than I can with a five minute phone call.  The elimination of the expectation of pleasantries, openings, and closings alone makes it 50% more effective or more. 

My opinion, is that I really like this article.  It is a good thought stirrer.  I am not very concerned though, because I think that more vice less might actually  be getting done by these same people because of texting.  They are text messaging, not becoming involved in worse activities, and by its very nature, texting gets things done.

What do you think about this topic?  Do you agree or disagree with me? Do you have a recommended news story for next week? Please share your ideas below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for February 14, 2010  by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Sprout

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