Giving texting a bad name

Two campaigns this week urged us to shut down our gadgets. One is Shutdown Day taking place this weekend, the other is Distracted Driver Awareness Day on April 30th, which was just observed in Virginia.

So my question is, have we become so obsessed with being constantly connected that we now have days devoted to raising awareness about being too wired? Probably.

The biggest problem right now seems to be texting etiquette. People just don't know when to stop texting, which sometimes lands them in really bad situations. Now I don't think we should blame modern technology for everything, after all we're the ones causing all the trouble, but we should take some responsibility and a hard look at why we need to disconnect once in a while.

In the spirit of powering down this weekend, I want to highlight a few stories of people that just give texting a bad name, yet remind us why it's sometimes a good idea to keep our phones out of sight:

Sleep texting: The Stateman has a story about sleep texting. I've never heard of the term, but according to the site, sleep texting occurs when people send SMS messages in their sleep. These so-called sleep texters apparently have all the keys memorized, and even the key patterns that go with creating and sending out a text message. The so-called sleep texter in the story had a heavy reliance on text messaging for communication, slept with a cell phone, and typically sent out more than 100 text messages a day. The worst part is sleep texters don't even remember sending out their after-hours messages. Something tells me it's time to kick the phone out of the bedroom.

Drunk texting: Oh, we're all too familiar with the nuisance that is drunk dialing, but in today's society, drunk texting is the new black. In case you haven't received a late night text by a drunken friend, let me just tell you that these incoherent text messages sent by intoxicated people are still happening and spreading to other online communications. One Google survey found that 13 percent of webmail users have sent out tipsy e-mails. If you're a habitual texter, turn off your phone or lock it in the glove box before you start sipping margaritas on Cinco de Mayo. That's just my advice.

Texting while drunk driving: Alcohol and texting don't mix, especially when you're behind the wheel. Twenty-one year old Mary Elizabeth Bowen, a former Virginia Tech student, ran into a crowd of people outside a sports bar injuring eight people. The reason: she was texting while driving drunk! According to Roanoke.com, the woman was convicted on three felony counts of maiming while under the influence, and is now awaiting sentencing. Seriously folks, stop texting and driving for your own sake.

Texting slang in schools: Teachers are complaining that texting slang is infiltrating their student's homework. A recent survey found that two-thirds of students used texting slang in their school work, and a quarter confessed to using emoticons in their papers. We all love taking shortcuts, but four in ten students are annoying teachers with texting acronyms. It all may sound cute right now, but I'm afraid some of this texting slang may someday find a permanent place in our vocabulary like DUI, AWOL, and other acronyms already have. The wide acceptance of some texting acronyms will eventually determine if it's ok to use them outside our short text messages (the mainstream media uses them plenty), but for now teachers like Brian Barr from San Ramon see it as pure laziness. Maybe they should discourage the use of slang with extra homework or detention. That oughta teach them, right?

What do you think is the most annoying thing texters do?