Why doesn’t this surprise me anymore?

Read the report by GMANews below:

Philippines still text messaging champ -US study
TJ Dimacali, GMANews.TV

US-based technology and social media news blog Mashable.com today released an infographic detailing text messaging trends in the US and around the world, aggregated from various news sources. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Philippines continues to be the text messaging capital of the world.

Citing collated data from Reuters, the New York Times, CTIA.org, UPI.com, Pew Research, Kvue.com, Matzav.com, and Portio Research, the infographic showed that, in 2009, the average Filipino mobile subscriber sent an average of 600 text messages per month, or 43 percent more than their US counterparts.

“SMS statistics vary widely by source, but the trends and comparisons are generally consistent,” researcher Shane Snow noted.

“The cost of a cell phone and SMS plan compared to that of a computer and a broadband connection has made texting extremely popular in developing countries, and “unlimited messaging” plans have made it the communication medium of choice for teens everywhere (beating face-to-face conversation and e-mail in popularity),” he explained. – GMANews.TV

I just wish people would stop texting while driving!

I do text fast, and on QWERTY keypads at that, but I have slowed down from at least a year ago when I stopped text blasting my friends and contacts. However, it seems that there are still millions of Pinoys who can’t get enough of it. Now if only the Philippines can get richer with every text message sent, then I will be more than willing to join the fray again. But that is if I can part away with my dear Blackberry which has become indispensable to my daily existence and which has pulled me away from sending a lot of SMS. 😉