Real Time Biography

I was intrigued by this Mashable report on the latest texting research:

Average Teenager Sends 3,339 Extremely Important Texts per Month

“Last we checked, teens were sending or receiving a measly “nearly 3,000″ texts per month. A new study says that number is now 3,339 texts per month. This is more than six per hour they’re awake! [Mashable]”

Now in previous eras (and in our library archives) we have written correspondence and business records, letters and diaries. Does texting have the potential record thought and activity on a scale hitherto unimagined? I wonder. Crazier things have happened. There is that guy who is filing his life. And the other folks who take a picture of their every meal or of themselves every morning in the mirror or with their webcam/phone. I have some friends who tweet more than they seem to work too.

Some people say that this self-reflection activity is healthy. I still wonder. They must be better keyboarders or thumbers than me.

Stephen