Have you ever wondered what the words like LOL or Gr8 mean? Have you ever been confused by such words received through a text message? Well if you don not know then these are the abbreviated forms of the words which are used by the senders of text messages. LOL actually means Laugh Out Loud and Gr8 simply implies Great. But given the space and time constraint, the text messages are written in this manner.

Text messaging or SMS or Texting simply refers to the exchange of short and brief messages between two users having either the fixed lines or the mobile phones over a particular network. The person sending the text message is referred to as the sender while the process may be called by many different names like a text or a texto in North America and Australia. It is called a text in United Kingdom while Europe calls it SMS and it is known as TMS or SMS in the Middle-East and Asian nations.
Users of Text Messaging Services: Text messages are increasingly being used by people from all walks of life. They are most often used between private mobile phone users, either as a substitute for voice calls or where vocal communication is not possible.

They are also used as a medium of promoting a particular brand of product. Many companies use the text messaging service to create awareness about their products as well as their services.

Text messages are a rage among the students who use it extensively to communicate with their friends and teachers. Some of the Universities have adopted the facility of text messaging the latest updates to their students and staff.

With the increasing use of text messages, some companies use it for the purpose of conducting interviews with job seekers. They send out interview dates through the text messages.

One of the prominent sections of the society, the teenagers is increasingly using this facility. They send their images, voices and messages through the SMS. Some of them even go to the extent of proposing to a boy or a girl through text messages.

Prominent Text Messaging Countries: The facility of text messages is worldwide given by almost all the service providers. But there are few countries which lead the way in this field. The Philippines is supposed to be one of the foremost text messaging countries which has almost one Filipino in two a mobile phone subscriber. This has resulted in the users sending almost 10-12 messages per day as compared to the 3 sent by users in United Kingdom.

Japan was among the front runners in the introduction of the text messaging services. But now due to the prevalence of the mobile internet e-mail services, text messaging has taken a back seat.

Text messaging is very popular in the European nations like Italy, Spain and United Kingdom. The cost of the text message varies from each country and also the service provider. In Italy, Germany and England, the number of text messages sent vary from 35-40 per month per user.

The Asian countries too have a huge clientele who are involved in communicating through the text messages. If we look at the scene in urban India, texting is gaining much popularity among the students. They use this facility to keep in contact with their families as well as friends.

Health Hazards of Texting: Even if there are no direct health hazards related to texting, yet its repercussions can be felt up on the psycho-social set up of an individual. It has been observed that there are far greater chances of accidents happening where the person behind the wheels is engaged in texting. It diverts the mind from the work at hand and may result in fatal accidents.

Secondly the constant use of the thumb and the fingers on the small keypad of the mobile phones also results in pains which can really turn serious.

Thus even though the facility of texting messages is widely adopted and is increasing by the day, yet there are serious concerns related to the psycho-social and physical behavior of the user which at times might need a lot of attention.

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Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: text messages, various mediums for text messages, text message history, short message service, text