Texting and the young and single

In most of the discussion about the relationship between magazines and various kinds of new media and technology, texting hasn't figured very much. Magazines seem much more concerned about "monetizing" their websites and making them effective sub-generators, but they may be missing a bet.

Instant messaging is still the preferred means of communication for youth, but recent research demonstrates just how important text messaging is to 18 to 24 year olds. (This was driven home on a recent visit to both Glasgow and Dublin -- the latter a very "young" city -- where cellphones seem to be everywhere, but used mostly more for texting than phone calls. )

BIGresearch's newest Simultaneous Media Survey (reported in Media Digest), says the use of new media has a counterintuitive effect among the younger age groups. Joe Pilotta, BIGresearch's VP of research said "...users of new media are using radio, magazines and newspapers more, while TV has suffered the overall negative effect. Some new media have more effect on the traditional media than others, e.g. blogging, IPOD/MP3 usage, and text messaging."

Percentage of Respondents Who Regularly Or Occasionally Use New Media
New Media Usage	18-24	25-34	35-54	55+
Blogs	29.6%	21.7%	15.5%	11.4%
Instant Messaging	79.8%	68.3%	58.1%	43.1%
MP3/IPODS	45.3%	29.9%	17.5%	6.7%
Satellite Radio	12.2%	12.5%	9.5%	5.5%
Picture Phones	30.6%	22.7%	14.1%	5.2%
Text Messaging	58.3%	46.1%	27.6%	8.3%
TiVo/Replay TV	17.0%	21.5%	14.6%	8.3%
Web Radio	44.4%	42.6%	33.0%	13.5%
Source: BIGresearch, June 2005