"Where are you?"
"I'm running late!"
"Transfer 200 dollars"

We may think of texting as just a means of day-to-day communication used by Generation X, Y & C, but text messaging is actually consistently growing more mainstream here in North America and globally enabling a new ingenious way to improve the lives of people every day. 

FACT: There are 4.2 Billion texters globally - In layman's terms: 3 out of 5 humans send text messages.

*That's the population of the entire planet in 1975
*It's 5x the number of Facebook (News - Alert) members
*It's 4x the number of monthly Google users

In short, text messaging is increasingly the chosen form of interaction among people.  

FACT: Texting is the number one data service globally.

*There were almost 7 trillion text messages sent in 2011
*Or 193,430 text messages sent every second
*Since 2007 texting has increased over 300 percent

Would it surprise you to know that feature phones (AKA dumb phones) are the #1 selling mobile phones in the world? How about that cell phones in the developing world are both cheaper and more ubiquitous than many basic services we take for granted domestically, such as brick-and-mortar banks or even electricity.

FACT: 48 million people globally have mobile phones but do not have electricity.

These people often use car batteries to charge their phones.

FACT: 1.7 billion people have a mobile phone but no bank account

Mobile phone subscriptions outpace bank accounts by 75 percent in developing countries.

FACT: Entrepreneurs and social activists alike have taken advantage of this fact in some incredible ways.

*HP developed a system to verify that medicine is not counterfeit for Ghanaians and Nigerians.
*Former Philippines President Macapagel-Arroyo set up texting lines for 54 government agencies.
*NATO increased Afghani police officers salaries 36 percent using mobile phones.

What ways do you think text messaging could be used to help improve lifestyles?