Once upon a time SMS messaging was all the rage for staying in touch with family and friends, however it appears that the age of the SMS text is in decline, the reason it would appear is the rise in popularity of the social network with many opting to send their Christmas messages via Facebook, Twitter and others.

According to an article over on Forbes, during the Christmas period, the dominant carrier in Finland, Sonera, on Christmas Eve sent out some 8.5 million text messages, still a fair few, but quite a drop when you consider that on the Christmas Eve of 2010 they sent out 10.9 million texts.

Forbes says that traditionally SMS texts on Christmas Eve form the largest or second largest SMS day of the year only being beaten by SMS messages sent on New Years Eve in some areas, and that it appears that those countries where SMS messaging boomed in the 90’s are now the first to see a steep decline.

Thus they predict that in the US a decline in SMS messaging could possibly hit carriers such as Verizon and AT&T this year or next, which could be a treat to operator growth over the next two years as roughly 20 percent of carrier earnings come via text messaging.

Personally although I do sometimes use social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and even IM to deliver my Christmas greetings, more often than now, and throughout the year I stick with text messaging as my preferred way of communicating with others.

So what we’d like to ask our readership is have you turned away from sending SMS text in favour of social networks, IM, iMessage and such or do you still use texting as often as you did?

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