Maybe I should start practicing my texting skills because I think I am the slowest text messager out there! I had no idea you could actually win huge amounts of money by texting the fastest. A 13 year old from Pennsylvania recently won $25,000 for spelling supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins in 15 seconds. I'm not sure I could spell it correctly in that amount of time, much less text it. IMHO, texting is taking over our way of communicating with others. It's being used in some really interesting ways though. Just last week, we reported that the University of Arkansas was looking into starting a mass text message warning system in case there is an emergency on campus. On the other hand, text messaging could be our downfall as well because it's being used instead of a friendly phone call, much like email has replaced hand-written letters or phone calls. I'm guilty of it... who isn't these days? It's so much easier to send out an email or quick text message and let the person reply at their own convenience compared to actually picking up the phone and calling someone. It amazes me that I used to spend hours as a teenager on the phone with my BFF talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Having a 13 year old win the fastest text message contest just proves how much teens text these days. The young girl said she sends over 8,000 messages a month! OMG! I send maybe 10 to 15 texts a month and that's on a busy month! I guess I need to start practicing my texting skills soon before I get left behind!

BTW, I'm such a terrible text messager that I actually had to look up the texting abbreviations before using them above. In the process, I found some interesting ones. So parents, visit the following web address to see what your kids might be saying (typing) right in front of you.

Text Messaging Abbreviations