A Third of Us Would Rather Text Than Talk, Survey Says

What’s your preferred means of cellphone communication: text or talk? A new survey from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project says a slight majority of Americans–53 percent, to be exact–prefer a voice call to a text message. But 31 percent of cellphone users would rather get a text.

The remaining 14 percent say their talk vs. text preference depends on the situation.

The mobile phone has become a pervasive communications tool in our daily lives. Eighty-three percent of U.S. adults own cell phones, and three-quarters of them (73 percent) send and receive texts, Pew found.

Heavy Texting

Fifty-five percent of cellphone users who exchange more than 50 text messages a day prefer a text to a voice call.

OK, no surprise there. Texting can be faster, allowing you to convey a message succinctly and bypass the conversational niceties of a voice call. (Yes, texting lets you get straight to the point, avoiding the often tedious, “Hello, how are you,” chatter.)

[RELATED: It’s Still True – Texting and Driving Don’t Mix]

Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are the most enthusiastic texters, exchanging an average of 109.5 messages a day, or 3,200 texts per month, the survey found.

Cellphone users make or receive an average of 12 calls per day, while text messaging users exchange an average of 41.5 messages per day. Both figures are largely unchanged from Pew’s 2010 findings.