Here’s a really really long text message, an apparent attempt to recruit Helga Weber, a blogger and designer from the Philippines:

Hello! Greetings!!!:-)
My name is [redacted], Marketing Officer for [redacted] ([redacted]).
I would just like to take this bold opportunity to announce this WONDERFUL NEWS about a RARE PROMO OFFER for a FULLY-FUNCTIONAL website development service that we would like to provide you for your competitive business need to GAIN A STRONG POSITION in the industry, as well as to REALIZE/MATERIALIZE today’s untapped potential markets. For ONLY PhP 30,000, our Web Development Team shall ensure your PROMINENCE and UNMATCHED OUTPUT CALIBER, which …read more

Nothing makes you feel older—our out-of-touch with American youth culture—when you realize you don’t understand half of what those SMS-friendly abbreviations mean. Luckily the Wall Street Journal was kind enough to orient its old-fogey readership!

UG2BK
You got to be kidding

GBTW
Get back to work

NMP
Not my problem

PIR
Parent in room

GFTD.
Gone for the day

FYEO.
For your eyes only

BI5
Back in five minutes

DEGT
Don’t even go there

BIL
Boss is listening

PAW
Parents are watching

99
Parents are no longer watching

PCM
Please call me

IMS
I am sorry

TOY
Thinking of you

KUTGW
Keep up the good work

CID
Consider it done

FWIW
For what it’s worth

HAND
Have a nice day

IAT
I am tired

NRN
No response necessary

4COL
For crying out loud

WRUD
What are you doing

LMIRL
Let’s meet in real life

^5
High five

Of course, …read more

The proposed limit isn’t for censorship purposes mind you; To deal with rampant text spam, the government will put a cap on the number of messages a mobile number can send in a day, reported the state media. The scheme calls for limits of 200 messages per hour and 1,000 messages per weekday.
eems SMS spam is really bad in China, with Reuters reporting that “dozens” of unsolicited messages received in a day “is not unusual”. China’s three major service providers, China Telecom, China Mobile Limited and China Unicom have agreed to implement the government SMS limits.
It makes sense to limit …read more

A growing number of psychiatrists and doctors are worrying about the effects of constant texting on the youth, according to The New York Times:

[they] say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.
Dr. Martin Joffe, a pediatrician in Greenbrae, Calif., recently surveyed students at two local high schools and said he found that many were routinely sending hundreds of texts every day.
Personally, I disagree. Obviously, there are some bad cases like that of Reina Hardesty. The article featured her one-month of 14,523 texts, and related her academic problems caused by an actual …read more