• Engadget, Tuesday, April 26, 2011 12:07 PM

According to a new report by research group Mobile Youth, consumers between 15 and 24 are increasingly abandoning SMS text messaging in favor of instant messaging apps, with texting expected to drop 20% over the next two years. Who or what could be to blame? BlackBerry Messenger, which now boasts over 39 million users (many of whom, granted, live outside the United States).

"In fact, it's in the UK, Indonesia, South Africa, and Brazil -- all popular markets for BBM -- that Mobile Youth expects texting to dwindle the most," notes Engadget. "Apparently, those young'uns just love their BBM ... And if BBM is to blame, well, that drop-off could be just the beginning." By that, Engadget is referring to the fact that the BBM Social Platform recently became available to interested third-party developers.

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