New Media and Young Adults

America is the home of fast food, fast cars and fast money. This fast-paced lifestyle has given way to many technological advances which make it easy to keep in touch with friends and communicate ideas while living a life without pause. These advances include the use of text messaging on cell phones, social networking websites that connect millions of people and blogs that can turn any man or woman into an instant journalist. The necessity of these particular advances is debatable, but there is no denying the impact they have on the everyday lives of many people.

At 11 a.m. on any given Monday, Chelsea Montagu should be taking Art History lecture notes. But instead of scribbling important dates and the names of famous artists, she is pressing the super-small buttons on her newly-purchased CRAZR mobile phone to send her girlfriend a text message about her plans for the night. According to a study titled "Chatting with teenagers: considering the place of chat technologies in teen life", SMS (short message service or text messaging) is generally used for event planning and homework discussions when utilized by young adults.

The study states that teenagers feel a need to be available to their friends at all times, something that SMS technology easily provides. "It's convenient because I can text whenever and wherever I want, even if that means I'm in class," Montagu says. "Actually, that's when I text the most!"

SMS is also used not only as a means of communication within itself, but also as an outlet to arrange times to communicate using other media. It is not uncommon for a text message to simply say, "Call me later?" The ability to be available to friends, colleagues and loved ones at all times is considered a fabulous commodity to some and a burden to others.

But perhaps the most prominent impact text messaging and other messaging services have provided is the use of new slang. Smiley faces produced with symbols and abbreviated words are commonplace in text messaging, but have started to work their way into the mainstream, if only when being parodied.