Is Texting Making Us Less Smart?

Of the many questions concerning the nature of modern life, few generate as much debate as the role of texting and social media. For one camp, they represent an existential threat to literacy, attention spans, and intellectual culture. For the other, the concerns are just the latest in a long tradition of older generations grumbling about the habits of the young — the same kind of alarm that greeted comic books, television, and computer games. 

That said, evidence is mounting that the sheer quantity of time spent on screens and social media is having a measurable effect on our brains, possibly including our reading ability. This is perhaps most concerning when it comes to children, as adolescence is a critical period for brain development and they, unlike many of us, have spent their entire lives accompanied by social media. But the picture is perhaps more nuanced than either side tends to admit, especially regarding the notion that texting is making us worse at writing — and possibly less smart.   

One paradox at the heart of this debate was expressed by historian Niall Ferguson in a 2011 essay that remains just as relevant today. Teenagers, he noted, “are avid readers and prolific writers” — but they do a large portion of their reading and writing in text messages. The concern is not that young people have stopped using language, but that the kind of language they are using — abbreviated, rapid, emoji-assisted, and optimized for emotional signaling rather than complex thought — is quite likely superseding the slower, deeper engagement with language that sustained reading (for example, reading books) demands.

The numbers on book reading are sobering. According to surveys highlighted by the National Endowment for the Arts, the proportion of Americans reading books for pleasure has fallen steadily for decades. In 2022, for example, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that 48.5% of adults reported having read at least one book in the past year, compared with 54.6% 10 years earlier. Similar studies also showed noticeable slumps in the number of 9- and 13-year-olds reading books for pleasure. 

This isn’t a uniquely American problem. In Britain, for example, the National Literacy Trust’s 2025 Annual Literacy Survey — drawing on nearly 115,000 responses from children ages 5 to 18 — found that the percentage of children and young people who enjoyed reading was its lowest in 20 years. Only one in three children ages 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time — a 36% decline since 2005. It’s a huge drop in traditional reading habits — while, at the same time, texting and social media are growing ever more popular. 

The effects of the shift from reading and writing to texting and sharing became clearer in 2025 with the publication of a major study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Drawing on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, researchers from the University of California used various models that showed a clear link between social media use and poorer cognition in children ages 9 to 13. The analysis showed that “even low levels of early adolescent social media exposure were linked to poorer cognitive performance.” 

Kids who spent more time on social media scored lower on tests of reading, vocabulary, and memory, compared with those who used little or no social media. But the effect was not confined to heavy users. As the study’s lead author, pediatrician Jason Nagata, told NPR, “What was notable actually to me and perhaps surprising was that even the low social media users, so those who had about one hour a day by age 13, did perform on average 1 to 2 points lower on the reading and memory tasks compared to the non-social media users.” In other words, social media use is problematic among frequent users, but also measurably harmful even in small doses.

But what about us adults? We might not have been brought up as social media users, but most of us do now spend a significant amount of time online, whether texting, posting memes, or watching cat videos. In fact, the average American spends about six hours looking at a screen each day — and it does seem to have a detrimental effect. According to a 2025 study by the Satani Research Centre, which looked at participants ages 18 to 45, social media use caused “marked alterations in brain wave activity.” The findings showed that social media usage triggers “brain reward pathways akin to those seen in addictive behavior,” with the potential to interfere in both our emotional regulation and attention span.

Generally speaking, none of this means that texting itself, specifically, is making us less intelligent. Studies have found that texting and the use of “textisms” — abbreviations such as “u2” (you too) or “2nite” (tonight) — don’t tend to have a negative impact on the development of grammar and spelling. For example, a 2014 study by Coventry University and the University of Tasmania found that young people’s tendency to make grammatical mistakes while texting didn’t have a negative effect on their performance in grammar and spelling tests. Similarly, a 2024 study by researchers at Saint Columban College in the Philippines found that among Bachelor of Secondary Education students, there was no statistically relevant correlation between participants who texted frequently and spelling ability. 

What the evidence does suggest is that the sheer volume of time young people spend using social media is displacing the activities — particularly sustained reading — that build vocabulary, memory, and attention span. As psychologist Mitch Prinstein of the University of North Carolina told NPR, teens who are heavy social media users become attuned to its “rapid, constant feedback.” Because of this, Prinstein said, their brains become optimized for social media activities at the expense of other things — often things that require more concentration and for longer periods, such as reading a book.  

So, perhaps the more pressing question is not whether texting is making us less smart, but rather what will happen to a generation whose brains are being shaped by an environment that rewards speed, brevity, and emotional reaction at the expense of slower and deeper learning experiences.