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Also known as: text messaging
Written by
Alan Stewart
Freelance Journalist. Author of Gathering the Clans: Tracing Scottish Ancestry on the Internet.
Alan Stewart
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Also called:
text messaging

texting, act of sending short messages with cell phones, usually using the Short Messaging Service (SMS). SMS was developed in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, and the first text message was sent on December 3, 1992. An SMS commercial service was launched in the United Kingdom in 1995. Text messaging did not take off, however, until it became possible to send messages between the four main British cell phone networks in 1998. Because typing text into a telephone keypad was cumbersome and the number of characters in a text message was limited, a form of shorthand evolved, especially ...(100 of 414 words)

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