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Parents Get the Text Message

By Kate Rockwood, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 11, 2008 8:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – Moms are leading the charge in taking text messaging beyond the teen set. Adolescents and adults in their forties and fifties are the two most active groups sending texts, the Washington Post reports. In the past two years, texting increased 130% among people 45 to 54, while text-saturated teens saw only a 41% bump.

Mobile carriers have introduced flat-rate data plans, and guides on texting lingo (“C U L8R”). But most parents who start texting are prompted by their kids. “I just stood there frozen and realized I had to figure out how to reply,” says one mom of a text her son sent her asking to be picked up at a game. Now, it’s a staple of her family’s communication, she tells the Post.

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Teens are still the largest group of text message users, but they're increasingly prodding their parents into joining in. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Teens play a big role in pulling their parents into new technologies, like text-messaging. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

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In this Cingular commercial, the mom is the only one out of the texting loop, but a study shows that her demographic is actually the fastest growing adopter of this technology. (temamoda)

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