MUNCIE, Ind. -- A new Ball State University study indicates that text messaging has far eclipsed e-mail and instant messaging as college students' favored way of staying in touch as smart phone access soars.
 
The findings showed that 97 percent of students now send and receive text messages, while only about a quarter of them use e-mail or instant messaging.
 
Ball State journalism professor Michael Hanley also found that smart phones now account for 49 percent of mobile communication devices on college campuses. That's up from 38 percent in October 2009.
 
"College students are increasingly adopting the smart phone as the core mobile communication and entertainment device for their hectic lifestyles," Hanley said.
 
About 90 percent of students with smart phones access the Internet from the device, and 97 percent use the devices' cameras to take and send pictures, while 87 percent take and send video.
 
"The use of smart phones by college students has nearly doubled in one year, and along with it comes heavier Internet use and an increased desire to use mobile commerce, like coupons and incentives," Henley said. "Smart phone ownership is driving increased consumption and usage of mobile technologies."
 
Hanley said that except for studying, students are quickly leaving computers and e-mail behind.
 
"In the next few years, I see smart phones saturating the collegiate market, but at the same time, devices similar to the iPad will become increasingly popular among young people," Hanley said.
 
Hanley said college students' hectic lifestyles are behind their embrace of smart phones and texting. He's surveyed 5,500 students for his ongoing research since 2005.