“It’s just not that exciting anymore”: The changing centrality of SMS in the everyday lives of young Danes

Abstract

This article considers the centrality of short message system (SMS) texting in the communication repertoires of young Danes. Recent years have seen dramatic changes in the mediascape with a multitude of new possibilities for text-based communication; Facebook, in particular, has become popular among young Danes. Some have suggested that the role of SMS texting, a technology that was previously an entrenched part of young people’s communication repertoires, has changed in this diversified media environment. Based on interviews with 31 Danish high school students and drawing on the domestication approach, this article examines the use practices and meanings associated with SMS texting in today’s complex and evolving mediascape. This article argues that SMS texting is becoming re-domesticated, its meanings changing, and the technology finding a new position in the communication repertoires of users.