By now most of the free world has gotten the word that Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama plans to announce his choice for vice president over text message and e-mail soon.

Aside from the gee-whiz (yesterday was neat-o, now it's gee-whiz. I can't explain it) and "shaking up tradition" factors, what does it really mean that a major party candidate for president is sending out major decisions the same way you make weekend plans with your friends?

The Obama folks have made a point of saying it's the best, direct way to reach out to people and find new voters.

The coverage and conventional wisdom seems to be that this plays into the Obama campaign's outreach to "the young people," since the kids love their cell phones so much.

We also can't ignore the simple fact that the news of the announcement coming over text is going to drive more people to sign up for messages from the Obama campaign just so they can get the news "first." (Which, in turn means a bigger database of potential voters for the Obama team, and potentially a quick and dirty get-out-the-vote network for election day.)

But since we know that an election can't be won or lost without the help of people over the age of 30, isn't there a bigger point here? Is this part of text messaging growing up here in the U.S.?

An Op-Ed in the New York Times points out that many other countries already have developed vast uses for text messaging for daily information or during national emergencies.

We largely haven't seen broad uses of text messaging by the government on the local or federal level in the states. There are some, including Maine state government that offer text services to residents, and in large cities police departments offer rewards for tips over text message. After the shootings at Virginia Tech last year Maine college invested in a emergency alert text system for students.

But for the most part text services are offered by commercial companies for things like weather alerts, breaking news, or account information from banks.

For the most part text messaging in the U.S. is seen as a sport for the young. But with texting becoming a growing part of cell phone plans, and an expanding crop of text-based services, was it only a matter of time before text messaging expanded beyond the demographic that crazy for the Jonas Brothers?

Fad? Pander to the young? Way of the future?

Sound off!

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