The Brandcast

I was flipping through channels last night during a commercial break and stopped for a moment on the Disney Channel. Disney is not part of my trifecta of typical programming (HGTV, Food Network, and TLC), but I was drawn in by a spot airing within a Hannah Montana marathon. In the sequence, Disney actors and actresses were speaking to the camera about their love for technology, namely their addiction to cell phones, and of course, texting.

“I need to be in contact with my friends 24/7!”

“In the car, my mom will be talking to me, and she doesn’t know I’m having another conversation with my friends at the same time!”

I watched the spot with interest, then smiled and shook my head. Those silly kids! I am aware that texting has reached past the teens and Millenials of this country, but I fully admit that it will never be something that I embrace easily - namely because it takes me longer to type out a message on my tiny phone keypad than it does for me to just pick up a phone. Yes. I. Am. That. Slow. Imagine my surprise when I heard about the LG National Championship that occurred over the weekend, and about the preteen who won. Morgan Pozgar, a 13 year old from PA, was awarded $25,000 by texting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” on her cell phone, in a succinct 15 seconds. 15 seconds!
It is interesting to think about how texting will grow as these teens and current college students age. Will it translate to a greater ease of transition to blackberries in the working world? Will Instant Messaging programs dominate workplace computers moreso than they do now? Will our phones become more dependent on the typepad design that is gaining in popularity? How will marketing play into this as the fad grows? Will our national slang become more acronym based?
This could be, AFAIC, TEOTWAWKI, BWDIK?*

(Translation: “This could be, as far as I’m concerned, the end of the world as we know it, but what do I know?”)

*Thanks to www.netlingo.com for the List of Acronyms & Text Messaging Shorthand