Text messaging is an ideal medium for communicating with people who can not be reached easily through any other method. While large segments of the U.S. population have regular Internet access and utilize email, a significant number of people do not. The segment of the population that doesn’t have Internet access is heavily concentrated in specific groups, including non-English speakers, people with disabilities, and those living near or below the poverty line. In all, more than 30% of the population does not have reliable Internet access and therefore reliable access to email as a means of communication (Pew Internet and American Life Surveys (2005–2007)).

In many cases those underserved by Internet access have the greatest need of public health–related communication because of their adverse social and economic conditions. This gap in Internet access, often referred to as the digital divide, is much smaller with respect to mobile phone usage. Mobile phone usage is nearly equal or quickly approaching equal across virtually every segment of American society. Mobile phone penetration is approximately 85% of the U.S. population, throughout most segments of the population. In many cases, text messaging is more common among populations that are underserved by Internet access. Hispanics and African Americans, for example, both utilize text messaging at a rate 3–5 times greater than the general population (m:metrics (2007)).

If you’re interested in learning more about using mobile technology to reach underserved populations, see Mobile Commons’ chapter, “Reach Out and Text Someone” in Texting 4 Health: A Simple, Powerful Way to Change Lives, published by Stanford University Press.