June 12, 2005, 1:03AM

POP CULTURE

Text messaging — the impersonal touch

TEXT SHORTHAND

Some common shortcuts include: LOL — laugh out loud U — you L8R — later BRB — be right back 2nite — tonight :) — smile ;) — wink TTFN — ta-ta for now BTW — by the way FYI — for your information TMI — too much information B4 — before XOXO — kisses and hugs THX — thanks K — OK GR8 — great

After meeting a guy through a friend, Erica Miller knew she wanted to get to know him better.

Calling him was entirely too intimidating. So she text-messaged instead.

"It was easier, because of shyness," said Miller, 17, of Katy, who has been with that crush ever since they got textual last July. "You don't have to actually speak to the person. You're just typing."

Nearly 5 billion text messages — instant, concise communiques sent and received via cell phone — are sent in the United States every month, according to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.

"Text messaging is just another example in this trend toward ubiquitous communication," said Texas A&M University communications professor Eric W. Rothenbuhler. "It comes to be normal for people to always be in touch and strange or unique for someone not to be."

Early credits to the text-messaging trend abroad, where it has been widely used for several years, include combating truancy (some schools text-message parents to tell them if their children aren't in class) and facilitating communication for the hearing-impaired.

In the United States, it's being used to distribute Amber Alerts, personal-ad information and phone numbers from directory assistance.

"While the U.S. has been behind the rest of the world, we're catching up big-time," said Greg Wilfahrt, co-founder of SMS.ac, an online text-messaging company with 35 million subscribers.

Most cell-phone companies charge flat fees of about $10 a month for unlimited text messaging — also called "short-message service" — or collect about 10 cents per message. Some companies, including SMS.ac, offer group and club memberships to subscribers for a fee.

"Is there ever a drawback to having anytime, anyplace connectivity?" Wilfahrt said. "That's probably up for debate. It's so addictive that you can do it anytime."

In the United States, text messaging is predominantly a youthful pursuit. Among cell-phone users ages 18-27, 63 percent regularly text-message, compared to 27 percent of all adults, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Emily Bourgoine, a 16-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., resident who recently visited Houston for a soccer tournament, said the number of text messages she sends to friends every day is "in the hundreds."

Her mom, Alice, doesn't mind — within limits.

"She can't use it at school; she can't use it during dinner or if we're watching movies," Alice Bourgoine said. "If it's family time, she's not to be using it."

Alice Bourgoine said she's tried texting but didn't find it attractive.

"If it's that important, I'll call," she said.

Karina Garcia, a Conroe native who attends Texas State University, said text messaging is vital in situations where calling is inappropriate, such as in class or a restaurant.

"It just gets right to the point, and you don't have to deal with whatever they have to say or how their day's been," said Garcia, 21.

Jeff Mathes, 23, also from Conroe, has his own reasons for text messaging. "It's a good way to drunk-dial," he said, referring to the tendency of 20- and 30-somethings to call one another late at night after the bars close. "It keeps you from having a real conversation."

Regardless of its usefulness, said Dr. Michael G. Brown of the Hand Center, all that dialing can damage your digits. The center has seen an increase in text-messaging-related complaints in the past six months, with people now coming in almost daily.

"Maybe a few days of intensive text messaging may bring this problem on," Brown said. "If they start waking up in the morning and their hands are swollen, they need to try to decrease that at least for a few days."

Brown said people with symptoms should treat themselves with anti-inflammatories and cut back on text messaging. If they don't, they risk ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome and trigger finger.

In addition to some physical drawbacks, text messaging has had deadly consequences in Kentucky, where a toddler was hit and killed by a teenager who allegedly was text-messaging while driving.

Houston Police Department Sgt. Mark Bearden said texting is far more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving. "You're typing and looking at what you're typing, and it takes your attention off the road." Bearden advised drivers to keep both hands on the wheel.

That's good advice, said SMS.ac's Wilfahrt, who predicts that text messaging eventually will be used for everything from unlocking car doors to voting for president.

"Mobile phones will become your everything-in-one device," he said.

Rothenbuhler said he is unsure of the overall impact text messaging will have.

"There's a new set of predictions about the end of culture and youth and morality," he said. "These things never end; they just change. My guess is we're riding trends, and we won't really know what's going on until we can look back and see these things as history."