photo: kiwanja/ BY-NC-SA

It’s obvious that teens text frequently. Phones are being made to make texting much easier and faster by adding a full keyboard. But just how often do teens text? A study done by Nielsen breaks down just how many texts a teen sends in a day and in an hour.

Nielsen, best known as the people behind the TV ratings that always manage to cancel your favorite show, also has a division that measures and analyzes how people interact with digital platforms. The company analyzed over 40,000 cell phone bills to get a better understanding what customers spend their money on.

“American teenagers are using 3,146 messages a month, which translates into more than 10 messages every hour of the month that they are not sleeping or in school. Even the under 12 segment are sending 1,146 messages per month, which is almost four text messages per waking hour that they are not at school.”

The study also points out that text messages increased during the holidays such as, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Caleb Johnson from Switched points something even more interesting that benefits cell phone providers.

What does all this mean? Well, it means parents might want to consider talking with their kids about their texting habits. But it's also not great news for American cell phone service providers. Why? Well, these kids are sending plenty of text messages, but they're doing it for practically nothing. Looking at the Nielsen data, only a very small percentage of people use the pay-as-you-text method, which costs about $0.20 per message. Instead, they purchase plans that cost $10 or $20 a month and thus lower the cost of sending a message to about $0.01. It's like paying for a magazine subscription at a huge discount in lieu of purchasing each issue at a newsstand. You'll pay a large chunk on the front end, but it saves money in the long term.

I know my cell phone provider is benefiting from my texting addiction. I’m constantly texting, that is why I bought a phone with a full keyboard—making my texting addiction much pleasant and easier.