LottoByText: 20 Years of SMS

Did you know on the 3^rd of December 1993, texting as we know it today was born.

While keyboards on phones hadn’t been invented yet, SMS was about to catapult communication into the 21^st century and transform how you and me were to talk ever after.

To mark this momentous occasion, LottoByText, the leading SMS based lottery syndicate operator in the UK, feel obliged to discuss the history of SMS and how far we have come over the previous 20 years.

To get us started, here’s a few examples of how texting has changed the English language and even influenced the way we speak:

BFF – Best friends forever

Swak – Sealed with a kiss

TTFN – Ta Ta for now

LMAO – Laugh my a** off

TTYL – talk to you later

XOXO – Hugs and kisses

LOL – Laughs out Laugh

We have got to thanks the Daily Mail for this entertaining list.

These phrases have actually infiltrated the political establishment. It was only this year, that through the Leveson enquiry, we discovered Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron were on ‘texting’ terms. In one text, she wrote ‘Brilliant speech. I cried twice. Will love ‘working together’. In another the Prime Minister wrote: ‘The horse Charlie Brooks put me on. Fast unpredictable and hard to control but fun DC.’ He also signed off his messages LOL – thinking it meant ‘lots of love’ instead of  ‘laughs out loud’.

Ha, Lolz.

The collusion between politicians and journalists is one thing. SMS has also brought down governments & ideologies. In January 2011 with phone lines and emails being monitored, text messages were the ideal way for activists across the Middle East to organize events and rally support during the Arab Spring. Text communication became so powerful that SMS was blocked in Egypt on January 27^th 2011.

Harnessing the power of SMS has been a focus for LottoByText throughout our stewardship of being the leading mobile lottery syndicate operator in the UK.

Through SMS we are able to offer lottery results and lines, direct to your mobile, at the touch of a button.

If you want to find out more about starting a lottery syndicate on your mobile phone, check out our lottery syndicates guide here. We’ll even give you 5 free lines so you can try out the service.

It’s an estimated £69 M jackpot and your syndicate has every chance of winning it. In fact, playing in one of our syndicates increases your chances of sharing the EuroMillions jackpot.