Created: 11/19/2008 11:51:20 AM 
Greensboro, NC -- According to a national study, cell phone users are texting more than they may be talking.
The study showed an increase in text messaging among one cell phone company's North Carolina customers by more than 600 percent in a two year period.
Greensboro came in second behind Charlotte as the most "textiest' city in the state.
But with all of this messaging - - the question arises what are we losing?
Step on any college campus in the Triad - - and it's a flurry of digital conversation.
MBA student Jennifer Kelley says, "I can write about 60 characters in about 4 seconds."
"I text 24 hours a day like even when I'm asleep I'll wake up to answer a text message," says UNCG junior Paislei Suggs.
"I like it with my mom because I don't have to answer so many questions. [laughs] - I had to teach her how to text so I use that quite often with her," said freshman Jacob Street.
Texting is so rampant, that some people will send a message to someone who's standing right beside of them instead of talking to them.
"Because some things don't need to be said out loud. Sometimes you need to text it," added Suggs.
Some people worry we're losing connection in the communication.
"I think the young people are really the ones that have lost it because they're texting and faxing and computering everything these days," said Dottie Ward, a receptionist at the Senior Center.
Dottie Ward doesn't do digital.
She says, "I don't have a computer. I don't have a cell phone. I don't want one. I'm happy with my rotary telephone on the wall."
She likes to keep it simple at home and at the Senior Center.
"Too often we think one will displace the other but the fact is when the stakes are high we still demand the face to face interaction," says UNCG professor Roy Schwartzman.
Professor of Communication Studies and author of Fundamentals of Oral Communication, Roy Schwartzman lives on the type of communication tools he studies.
He says, "I got 6 brand new email messages during that time we conducted our interview. And one of them is from someone two doors down the hall."
He admits new technology presents a challenge to the way we communicate.
"A lot of people will use the electronic technology to kind of pull away from meaningful face to face communication. - A lot of people will avoid the technology and wind up in their own way also becoming isolated," says Schwartzman.
Schwartzman says the key is using the technology effectively and not obsessively.
"There's a difference between genuine presence and just being there while your head is in another place. Maybe here," he says, referring to his Blackberry.
WFMY News 2
