Pew survey: Half of phone texters prefer voice calls

20.09.2011
Three-quarters of American adults with cellphones send and receive texts, but more than half of them prefer voice calls instead. Although that changes if someone texts a lot.

Those findings are from a new Pew Research Center survey of cellphone user habits, based on a spring 2011 nationally representative phone survey of 2,277 adults ages 18 and older by Pew's Internet & American Life Project. The survey found that 83% of American adults own cellphones, and 73% do texting.

The survey asked more details of the texters, and found that 31% prefer texting to voice calls, but 53% prefer talking to someone. For 14%, the preferred contact method depends on the situation.

MORE ON TEXTING:

The more you text, the more likely you are to prefer text. Fully 55% of texters who exchange more than 50 messages a day prefer text to a call.

The full report is viewable or downloadable .