Now that cell phones have become very common, it is also the subject of widespread misuse. What you may think is passé, may actually be the cause of irritation for someone else. How then do you know that you are not stepping on someone else's shoes? The innocent text message that you send may confound, scare, terrorize, confuse, irritate or harass the recipient. Text messaging one of your female colleagues in the office to say you will be late, with a message that reads "I'm coming" may not be in very good taste and can have disastrous results.
While cell phone etiquette is followed by a few, a vast majority of people are still unaware of the ground rules. Here are a few tips on text messaging and online SMS:-
1) Don't send messages that tarnish someone's reputation.
2) Avoid vulgar language or messages with malicious content.
3) Be courteous and reply to someone who has sent you a message by mistake.
4) The jokes that you send should be amusing and entertaining and not depressing.
5) Sending a text message after midnight is a strict 'NO'; unless it is of a very urgent nature or in an emergency.
6) Information such as fires or accidents should be sent with the utmost care.
7) Don't try to play fool around and send an SMS about a bomb threat. It may create panic and you also may get sued for it.
8) Sending spiritual truths is good but you also have to consider the person's religious leanings.
9) When you are in company do not be busy text messaging. It will look that you are trying to be aloof.
10) Also do not text message near a gas station as it can be dangerous.
11) Repeatedly sending the same message can be quite irritating and should be discouraged.
12) Sending a smiley to convey an emotion is a good idea.
You could also do well to use the following abbreviations, characters, words and phrases for the meanings/expansions mentioned against them to keep your text message concise & brief:
@ - at & - and
? - what?
1 - one
2 - two, to/too
3 - three/tree
8 - eight
Attn - attention
b - be/bee
btwn - between
c - sea/see
coz - because
d8 - date
frens - friends
luv - love
plz - please
txt - text
thru - through
w/- - with
w/o - without
wen - when
All this should be enough for you to communicate effectively with friends. Also subscribe to a network that is widely used and you could get quite a few offers and save money.