Today is the 25th anniversary of the first-ever Text Message sent, and the text message sent was “Merry Christmas.” On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old software programmer, sent the first ever SMS from a computer to his colleague Richard Jarvis at Vodafone. Do you remember receiving your very first text message, and not understanding the point of them? Why wouldn’t you just call? Then, within a few years, that’s all most people did, they hardly ever called, and still don’t. It is weird to hear that texting has turned 25 today as many of us have lived in a world where texting has always been around.

To imagine a time when there was no such thing as texting is bizarre.

Revolution of texting

Texting, it is short and mostly sweet, and it has been around a lot. If you think about it, we have come so far with cell phones. How did people back then survive without texting? People had to rely on house phones or pay phones and if you couldn't meet up with someone or we're going to be late you didn't have the capability to text them. Texting is something that we highly rely on whether it is meeting up with someone for work or just a friend.

Swinburne University's Belinda Barnet, who is an expert in the history of technology, claims that no one knew how popular text messages would become. Ultimately, text messaging has changed the way we communicate.

The extraordinary thing is it was far more powerful and influential then we thought it would be. It was actually an addition to the cell phone world at the time, and nobody anticipated it to turn into the prime resource of communication. It has transformed the world of communication. Before texting, when you had to speak with someone you had to pick up the phone and converse with them, or you had to be sitting at your desk and await an email response from them.

Texting is a mix of writing and speech. You write in short form and slang, and it has become the second platform of advancement for language.

Texting has become such a huge thing that it has made its way through social media. We are now able to send social messages through apps like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat, with the help of the internet.

Texting has evolved so much though, as we now take texting to a whole new level with smiley faces, emojis, and GIFS. It just makes texting so much more fun and enjoyable. We are able to express our emotions and feeling through emojis and GIFS.

Negative side of texting

While texting has mostly been a positive technological revolution in the world, at the same time there have been downfalls with it. We have become so fixated and glued to our phones that when we are out with friends, instead of talking, we are all on our phones. In addition, texting has become a hazard in terms of driving and as of recent also with crossing the street. Some countries have even gone so far as to ban texting when crossing the street. Our phones are something we heavily rely on for many things but overall have we abused texting?
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