Statistics are fascinating. Also, to me, how folks use their mobile phones is a fascinating study as this medium and tool infuses into our society.

The Pew Research Internet and American Life recently conducted a survey to gain insight into mobile customers in America and their communication preferences when it comes to their phones. Yes we know that the majority of Americans have a mobile device, which Pew says ownership is up to 83% nationwide and about three quarters of these mobile toting customers utilize text messaging.

One more interesting note is that about a third (31%) prefer to be in touch via text messaging over voice. Looking at the other point of view, 53% of respondents say they prefer to a voice call to a text message. However, digging a little deeper, young adults aged 18 to 24 prefer text messages by a wide margin! People in this age category send an average of 109.5 messages per day, which is a total of almost 3,200 messages per month.

So, as you can plainly see, there’s a huge generational gap as to how Americans are utilizing their phones. Youth prefer messaging while older mobile users want to talk via voice. Personally, I’ve seen many parents and grandparents switch over to text messaging out of necessity. That is, in order to interface with their kids or grandkids, they’re adopting text messaging as it’s the only way they can get adequate responses.

As for my habits, I used to prefer voice calls because I found them to be a more efficient use of my time. However, as I grew more accustomed to SMS and now use it more heavily, I prefer this method of communication.

What method do you prefer?  Let’s chat below in the comments!

(Photo credit: Flickmor)