It should come as no surprise that text messages are taking over as a primary means of communication. On average, more than twice as many text messages are sent from a phone than phone calls, according to a 2009 study by NeuStar. 

It’s perfectly acceptable to text your friend for evening plans or text your study buddy for homework help, but is it socially acceptable to dump a significant other via 160 mobile characters? You’d be surprised.

According to a recent survey, an astounding percentage of mobile users gave their partner the text message kiss-off. MocoSpace, a mobile social network, surveyed 20,000 of its users and found that 57% of those individuals had used their mobile phone to break up with someone; 47% of that percentage had delivered the news in a text message! 

Remember the outrage when Carrie Bradshaw was dumped via Post-It note on Sex and the City? Sure, the technology-challenged columnist didn’t have a cell phone and that episode was a whopping seven years ago, but has relationship etiquette really changed so much since then that people really don’t bat a lash at dismissing their loved one so coldly?

Something tells me Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda wouldn’t approve.

— By Ali Straka, University of Missouri