POSTED BY: | September 2, 2010

Pew Internet & American Life Project

Pew_cell_phone_text_chart

Texting by adults has increased over the past nine months from 65% of adults sending and receiving texts in September 2009 to 72% texting in May 2010.

Still, adults do not send nearly the same number of texts per day as teens ages 12-17, who send and receive, on average, five times more texts per day than adult texters.

Adults who text typically send and receive a median of 10 texts a day; teens who text send and receive a median of 50 texts per day.

5% of all adult texters send more than 200 text messages a day or more than 6,000 texts a month. Fully 15% of teens ages 12-17, and 18% of adults ages 18 to 24 text message more than 200 messages a day, while just 3% of adults ages 25 to 29 do the same.

Heavy adult texters—those who send and receive more than 50 texts a day—also tend to be heavy users of voice calling. Light texters, who exchange one to 10 texts a day, do not make up for less texting by calling more. Instead, they are light users of both calling and texting.

The original purpose of the cell phone is still the most universal—nearly every cell phone user makes calls on their phone at least occasionally.

The average adult cell phone owner makes and receives around five voice calls a day.

Women tend to make slightly fewer calls with their cell phones than men—while 53% of women make and receive five calls or fewer per day, 43% of men say the same. Men are a bit more likely to make slightly more phone calls in a day; 26% of men send and receive six to 10 calls a day, while 20% of women exchange that many calls. Men and women are equally likely to be represented at the extreme high end of callers, with 8% of men and 6% of women making and taking more than 30 calls a day.

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