For many parents and teachers, texting can mean unexpected sky high cell phone bills, acronyms creeping into English papers, texting answers under hoodies or maybe texting your son or daughter to pick something up at the store. Here's a new way to view the positive potential of texting -- it just may revive our democracy by increasing voter turnout among young people. There was a recent study by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Michigan that found:

- Across the board, text message reminders increased the likelihood of an individual voting by 4.2 percentage points.

- Of the different messages tested, a short, to-the-point reminder was most effective, with a boost of nearly 5 percentage points.

- In a follow up survey, 59% of recipients reported that the reminder was helpful, versus only 23% who found it bothersome.

For many teens and young adults, cell phones have become an extension of self, while texting has become fully integrated into how they communicate with their friends. If they register to vote and opt in to receive reminders, it makes complete sense that the reminder would actually work and be welcome. It's funny how all the slick voting messages from pop stars on MTV didn't really move the needle, but a text message actually made a difference.

For other positive uses of texting see:

Virgin Mobile's Re*Generation campaign
Mobile Active