Thanks to all of our awesome customers -- yes, that means you -- for nominating us! Now, we need your support just one more time so that we can win. So, we humbly ask if you could please take a second and vote for us.
Every vote counts.

Here’s how:
1. Go here
2. Vote for textPlus
3. That’s it!

You can vote once a day until March 30. To learn more about the overall awards program visit awards.about.com.

Thanks everyone!
-the textPlus team

Because we’re interested to know whether or not it’s OK to say “I love you” via text, we went ahead and asked our users about their habits when it comes to digitally sharing their love. What’s ok to say in a text? What’s not? For instance, can you say “I love you” for the first time to your crush in a message?

The answer: Yes! Half of textPlus users think its perfectly fine to share those three big words for the first time in a text message instead of in person. Not only that, 64% have even been told “I love you” for the first time in a message.

In addition, gone are the days of just typing “I love you” in a text. textPlusers say “I Love You” in rather creative ways. Have you tried any of these?

luv
L<3VE
te amo ♥
:-*
ily
‎143 ♥

However you say it, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone from all of us at textPlus!

<3 Amy

Love to text?
Simply text five different people and wish them a Happy Valentine’s Day from now until Tuesday, February 14 at midnight. When you do, you’ll be automatically entered to win one of five $50 Visa Gift Cards.

Love to talk?
Just call five people from now until February 14 at midnight to be automatically entered to win 1000 free minutes on textPlus. Even if your Valentine is not on textPlus, your call will still count towards your entry. But remember- if they are on the textPlus network- your call is free!

All winners will be notified either via email or by a textPlus message to their textPlus Username on or about February 16, 2012. Winners will need to respond to the textPlus notification message within twenty-four (24) hours of it being sent or else an alternate winner will be selected.

Check out all the details of our Text Your Valentine Sweepstakes here.

Check out all the details of out Call Your Valentine Sweepstakes here.

Will you be my Valentine this year on textPlus?

<3 Amy

Well, 62% of all users surveyed said they plan to text during the Super Bowl this Sunday. What will you be texting about? According to our survey, it certainly won’t be the half time show. It’s all about who’s going to win!

- 51% percent will text during the game about the score
- 44% will text during the game about who they think will win
- 54% plan to text after the game about who actually won

And that makes sense when someone isn’t physically there. But shockingly, 71% of 13-17 year olds said they will text friends and family during the game -- in the same room!

How can you participate?

Join any of our featured Super Bowl Communities to talk to fellow fans:

Or, talk smack with your friends about that other team by creating a private Super Bowl Community-- they’re great for organizing your party this weekend, too.

Now let’s watch some football!

]]> http://www.textplus.com/2012/02/texting-and-the-%e2%80%9csecond-screen%e2%80%9d/feed/ 1 http://www.textplus.com/2012/01/texting-and-walking-dangers-abound/ http://www.textplus.com/2012/01/texting-and-walking-dangers-abound/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:41:00 +0000 Amy Higgins http://www.textplus.com/?p=12287 This just in! The latest danger in the world is texting and walking.

Stop the presses! Alert your neighbors! Lock your doors!

Because, we never know where or when this monstrous behavior will attack a neighborhood near you:

Video credit goes to Casey Neistat who made it for the New York Times.

But seriously, do you think texting and walking is dangerous?

Does texting and walking encourage walking into doors? Falling into fountains? Stepping on dogs? Or can you text and walk with the greatest of ease while avoiding oncoming foot traffic?

Take our survey and tell us what you think here. Results coming soon!

Stay safe,
Amy
Community Manager
tP amywhiggins

About the Author: Amy Higgins is the Social Media and Community Manager of textPlus. She is also an opera and bacon enthusiast. Connect with her about textPlus on Twitter @textPlus or on our Facebook Page.

And while many of us will be at Super Bowl parties with friends, sometimes we’re still away from home. Maybe you’re a New Yorker and avid Giants fan that lives in LA. Or you’re a Patriots fan who is stuck in New York and, well, it just might be better not to publicly show your support. Don’t worry, textPlus is here to help with ways to show your team pride:

1. Create or join one of our awesome featured Super Bowl Communities.

- Talk smack about the Patriots with fellow Giants fans or vice versa.
- Talk about who you think should win MVP this year-- Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Rob Gronkowski, or Jason Pierre-Paul.
- Share your favorite guacamole recipe (well, you get the point)

2. Create your own private Community in textPlus.
- Plan an epic Super Bowl Sunday party with your pals.
- Create a fantasy football league with your textPlus friends.
- Talk even more smack about the game and no one else will know!

3. Change your avatar and show support for your team.
- It’s easy! Just tap More- My Profile- then tap your profile image.
- Take a look at some of our favorite team avatars in textPlus right now.

How do you plan to use textPlus during the Super Bowl XLVI? Let us know here.

Go 49ers! Oh wait, they lost. *FacePalm

-Amy
Community Manager
tP amywhiggins

About the Author: Amy Higgins is the Social Media and Community Manager of textPlus. She is also an opera and bacon enthusiast. Connect with her about textPlus on Twitter @textPlus or on our Facebook Page.

The answer: Absolutely. Starting today, you can both earn free minutes AND purchase minutes in textPlus for Android. Plans start at less than a buck -- just 99 cents -- for 40 minutes. You can also purchase 100 minutes for $1.99, 550 minutes for $9.99, and 1000 minutes for $14.99. Talk about saving money-- especially considering the typical phone bill can cost you up to $30 per month.

To purchase, tap “Get Minutes” in the lower left hand corner of your textPlus keypad. Then tap “Purchase Minutes” and choose which group of minutes you want to purchase.

Note: In order to purchase minutes, you will either need to set up a Google Checkout account and add a credit card at time of purchase, or bill directly to your mobile carrier. Check with your mobile carrier to see if they support mobile payments.

Besides the ability to make extremely inexpensive calls to your friends and family in the US who aren’t on textPlus, our latest Android update also includes even faster calling connections. Of course, you can always call free in-network, so do your friends a favor and tell them about textPlus too. Update now!.

As always, thanks for all your feedback and support.

- Amy
Community Manager

PS - iOS update coming soon.

About the Author: Amy Higgins is the Social Media and Community Manager at GOGII, makers of textPlus. She is also an opera and bacon enthusiast. Connect with her about textPlus on Twitter @textPlus or on our Facebook Page.

And as an iPhone and iPod app, we would be honored to have your vote!

It’s easy to nominate textPlus.

Step 1: Visit http://ipod.about.com/od/ReadersChoiceAwards2012/a/Nominate-Your-Favorite-Iphone-Ipod-Accessories-And-Apps.htm.
Step 2: Scroll down the page to choose the following category- “Best iPhone texting app”
Step 3: Add a nominee (textPlus) and press submit- that’s it!
Step 4: As an added bonus, you can share your vote for textPlus on your Twitter or Facebook profile.

Nominations are open from Jan. 18 to Feb. 15, 2012.

Thanks from the textPlus team for your support!

Part of our commitment to you -- our awesome users -- is providing a safer environment for you to communicate in. Whether it’s texting your friends one-on-one or participating in our Communities, your safety, security and privacy is of the utmost importance to us. That’s why we have a zero tolerance policy towards inappropriate content or behavior in textPlus -- regardless of age.

We have an entire team in place whose sole focus is the protection of our users and policing for inappropriate content and behavior. We want you to be aware of what we do and how you, as members of the textPlus community, can help.

If you haven’t done so already, we ask that you review our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines and our Safety, Security and Privacy Tips. While we want you to be as free as possible to express yourselves using textPlus, there’s certain content and activities that are strictly forbidden on textPlus. We take these rules very seriously.

The rules of the road:

Don’t post inappropriate images: You are not allowed to use textPlus to post inappropriate images, including images that display nudity. If you see someone else on textPlus attempting to post inappropriate images, please let us know and we will respond immediately.

How can you let us know? Simple. Just tap on the image and click on the flag icon that’s found below every image found on textPlus, including user avatars. We review and remove inappropriate images immediately.

Keep it clean in Communities: Public Communities may be open forums, but they’re not open for inappropriate content or topics. In fact, we use filtering technologies that help us identify and remove Communities that violate our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

And while we try our hardest to identify and remove these Communities, no system is perfect. That’s why we give you the ability to report inappropriate or abusive Communities to us, should you come across any. Just open the main page of any Community and tap the flag icon in the top right corner.

Control your privacy settings: We let you control how your Profile is displayed to others on textPlus in several ways. First, you control whether your Profile comes up at all when other people use the User Search function. If you don’t want it to, just disable the “List me in Search” tab that is found under My Profile. You can also choose whether your age, hometown, description and joined Communities are listed in the public view of your Profile. These setting controls are also found under My Profile – Display in my Profile Settings.

Manage interactions with other users: Lastly, if someone you don’t know and don’t want to know is trying to contact you, we give you the ability to Block them immediately. Blocking someone is very easy and will prevent them from being able to message or otherwise contact you. Just tap their avatar and hit the “Block User” tab at the bottom of their profile. That’s it.

Of course, if someone is harassing or threatening you, first Block the user and then report them to us (abuse@textPlus.com), and we’ll investigate. We don’t tolerate harassing, threatening or other abusive behavior on textPlus. Just to be safe, you should also talk to a parent, a friend or the police in clear cases of harassment. We regularly work with law enforcement and you shouldn’t feel as if they are not available to you if you’re being cyberbullied – that’s what they’re there for!

Remember, users who violate any of our Terms of Use or Community Guidelines will have their textPlus accounts and privileges revoked. Period.

We know that the vast majority of our millions of users are respectful and play by the rules - and we thank you.

Have fun and stay safe, guys!

- Ilan Goldman, Chief Security Officer

But never fear -- because we have some tips on how you can make CES (and any conference/event) work for you by using textPlus in these situations.

- You can use textPlus to text and call for free from a litany of devices including iPod touches, iPads, iPhones, and Android phones and tablets. And one account works on multiple devices.
- Can’t get a signal to make a call? Get on WiFi at the convention center, hotel, airport, etc and make a free call on textPlus. You get free minutes just for signing up, and calls to other textPlus users are always free.
- Need to text a ton of people at once? Use the group texting feature in textPlus to organize that dinner, gather the troops for that party or find out the hottest panels. You can text up to 100 people at once.

Want to catch up in person? Come find team textPlus at the following locations:

- Digital Hollywood’s Hyper Connected Consumer, SmartPhone & Tablet Conference: Our CEO Scott Lahman is speaking on a panel about the “Hyperconnected Mobile Consumer” on Tuesday, Jan 10 at 10:00 am
- Showstoppers: Tuesday, Jan 10 from 6:00-10:00 pm (media only event)

See you in Vegas, baby!
- team textPlus