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We're used to spam calls and emails. How about spam texts?

Aug 1, 2023
Cutting off advertising conversations in your text messages "is a little bit of a game of whack-a-mole," Vox reporter Emily Stewart says.
A positive of SMS marketing? Companies "probably aren't going to inundate you the same way that they will with emails because there's a cost factor to it," says Vox reporter Emily Stewart.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Barely anyone used text-to-911 during Hurricane Harvey

Aug 30, 2017
Only a handful of texts were sent to 911.
A Sheriff's boat rescues people after Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston, Texas on August 28, 2017.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

The FCC takes action to deal with robocalls

Jun 22, 2015
Closing loopholes and allowing blocking could help stop annoying calls and texts.

Businesses start to text, and problems emerge

Nov 10, 2014
"I didn't get your text" has a real "The dog ate my homework”-feel to it.

Text vs. phone data: Which is more valuable to the government?

Jun 7, 2013
Government tracking of Verizon telephone records raises the question of just how valuable phone information really is. Would it be more useful to track text message records?

Chat apps overtake traditional SMS texting

Apr 29, 2013
Chat apps -- like WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage -- are now more popular than SMS, a service that has been around for decades.

An old scam becomes new again: Bill-cramming scams are going mobile

Apr 18, 2013
Unauthorized charges for things like dating advice and horoscopes are making their way to more cell phone bills. And now the FTC is cracking down.

For public good, not for profit.

Should cops be able to read all your old text messages?

Mar 20, 2013
When you send a text message or an email, should your Internet or phone company hang onto them in case the police ever want to take a look?

The golden rule of group texts

Feb 14, 2013
Janell Burley Hofmann, one of our resident tech etiquette gurus, is a Cape Cod Mother of five with strong opinions about how to behave with technology. Today's topic: Group text messages.

Texting turns 20, U.N. group begins talks over Internet control

Dec 3, 2012
Celebrating the text message as the technology turns twenty, and waiting on results from a UN summit on controlling the Internet.