AT&T: Flirtatious Texting Bolsters ARPU

Have you ever sent a flirty text message to your partner? How about a quick “thinking of you?” Or something more, um, romantic? Or even an undying declaration of love via SMS?

If so, you’re among the 68 percent of adults 18 to 55 that have done just that. That’s right folks, love letters — well, love texts — aren’t just for mooning teenagers.

AT&T Inc. has released the results of a messaging survey designed to find out how people use texting. Keeping romance alive seems to be a big traffic generator: Thirty-seven percent of respondents ages 18-35 text at least three times a day with their significant other compared with 22 percent of respondents ages 36-55.

Think about it — it makes sense. First of all, texting is ubiquitous. Unlike e-mail, which requires an Internet connection and tends to involve desktops and notebooks and logging on and such things, sending an SMS message can be done from anywhere and quickly. Unlike mobile IM, texting isn’t very labor-intensive from a thumb perspective. And unlike picking up the phone and calling to say “I love you” (paging Stevie Wonder), texting doesn’t require the kind of time that a conversation does — a boon when you want to reach out to someone several times a day but you both have, you know, jobs and things.

It’s also a personality builder. The messages are short and encourage the sender to craft something that’s snappy, pithy and impressive. But it’s not real-time so respondents have time to craft an appropriate response without the pressure of a call or IM. And for those feeling awkward or shy, texting can be a good way to feel someone out without putting too much of yourself out there.

There’s something else that came up in the survey too: the text-based letdown. As in, perhaps you’ve fired off a cute, flirtatious, or even love-sick text ... and you’ve been waiting for a response. And waiting. And waiting. Cue the angst!

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