Recent numbers from Nielsen show that there are clear divides among different demographic groups regarding their use of voice minutes and text messaging.
African-Americans are the chattiest group of Americans, using an average of 1,300 voice minutes per month. Hispanics followed behind with 826 minutes a month, while Asians/Pacific Islanders averaged 692 minutes a month. Whites averaged 647 voice minutes per month, according to Nielsen.
When it comes to texting, African-Americans send and receive about 780 SMS messages per month, while Hispanics send and receive 767 per month. White send and receive 566 texts a month, while Asians/Pacific Islanders send and receive 384 texts a month.
Nielsen complied voice and text data from April 2009 through March 2010.
The company notes that, on average, women burn 856.3 minutes of talk time per month, 22 percent more than the 666.7 minutes men use.
Women in the U.S. also text more often, sending and receiving an average of 601 SMS messages per month, 34 percent more than the 447 SMS messages men send and receive per month.
As expected, teens under 18 dominate the texting landscape, sending and receiving 2,779 SMS messages a month. Mobile users between 18-24 send and receive 1,299 text messages per month, while those between 25-34 send and receive 592 per month.
According to a survey from AAA, 73 percent of teens were engaged in adjusting the radio while driving, followed by 61 percent who ate while driving, and 60 percent who talked on a cell phone while driving. About 28 percent said they texted while driving.
Of all age groups, mobile users between 25-34 used the most voice minutes at 952 per month, followed by users between 18-24 with 981 per month, and users between 35-44 with 896 per month.
Nielsen found that Americans in the South use the most voice minutes per month. The company notes that Florida, which boasts one of the oldest median ages, ranks high in terms of voice minutes used, but very low for SMS messaging. Mississippi, meanwhile, ranks high for both talking and texting. The Northwest uses the fewest voice minutes per month.
According to numbers gathered by Tatango, the average e-mail user receives an average of 1,216 e-mails per month, while the average Facebook user gets 9,100 messages a month. This compares to just 178 text messages per month for mobile users.
The company also shows that while e-mails have an average open rate of 22 percent, text messages boast a 98 percent open rate.
While text messages might be a way to get revenge on a pop star's rival in North America, in Africa they're being used to verify anti-malaria medicines. To fight the rise of counterfeit medicine, several governments in the continent are enabling users to scan a label under the medicine's cap. A central server will analyze it and send a text message back to the user with an "OK" for genuine anti-malaria medicines.
Sources:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/african-americans-women-and-southerners-talk-and-text-the-most-in-the-u-s/
http://tatango.com/learn/compare
http://mashable.com/2010/08/17/text-messaging-infographic/
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/08/sms_text_messages_used_to_authenticate_real_medicine_in_africa.html
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/08/survey-says-86-of-teen-drivers-distracted-%E2%80%93-but-not-by-what-you-think.html
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