Short Message Service-SMS

The Short Message Service (SMS), often called text messaging, is a means of sending short messages to and from mobile phones. SMS was originally defined as part of the GSM series of standards in 1985 as a means of sending messages of up to 160 characters, to and from GSM mobile handsets. Since then, support for the service has expanded to include alternative mobile standards such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, satellite and landline networks. Most SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well.

The term SMS is frequently used in a non-technical sense to refer to the text messages themselves, particularly in non-English-speaking European countries where the GSM system is well-established.

I first got into short messaging service (SMS) when my siblings went overseas for studies and my sister who married off to Australia. It does seem awkward at the beginning but the usefulness and often less intrusive method of communication due to different time zone or if they are too busy to speak on the phone, soon made this service really popular with me.

Nevertheless, there is one disturbing trend that I abhor with this service and that is the culture that goes with it. The text abbreviations that completely decimate the English language- grammar, spelling and vocabulary. As a tutor involved in academic education, I cringe at spelling mistakes and the fact that folks using the SMS services just "spell" words according to the homophone of a word rather than the actual spelling.

Personally, I tell whomever that is messaging to type as completely a sentence as possible and I always answer in full sentence and full spelling. What about you? What are your experiences with SMS?