Tweeting, email, Facebook, text messaging, blogs, MySpace and instant messaging … with so many ways to communicate, one would assume that Americans are an intellectual, linguistic group with a plethora of important things to say all the time.

We’re not.

How it happened is unknown, call it ego, maybe a burning desire to feel important or trendy. Perhaps some people just want to feel as if they are a part of something.

Whatever the reason, somewhere along the way, many bloggers, texters, tweeters and obsessive cell-phoners have gotten the idea that everything they do or say is extremely important.

It isn’t.

Worse yet, they also believe everything they do and say is something people really, truly want to know about.

It’s not.

Sure there are times when a text message would come in handy, say if you are hiding in a closet from a burglar and trying to text the police. But why punch out a short message about what you are doing at the moment (sitting at a traffic light at Third and William)? Is it that important?

Just because there is a wide array of communication devices today, doesn’t mean each person has to use them constantly or share their personal life with the world.

In the past few months, national news has reported a bus driver who crashed his bus while texting and my favorite, a young woman in New York City who fell down an exposed cellar access in the sidewalk because she was not paying attention to where she was walking while sending a text message.

My question is, what did these folks do before texting, blogging and everything else came along?

Was their life less important then or did they write letters, send message via carrier pigeon, rent billboards, send smoke signals?

I would assume they kept their personal life pretty much to themselves and if there was really important news to be told, they phoned a friend or actually spoke with the person … in person.

Don’t get me wrong, technology and all its glory are great … I have two cell phones, the latest in technology, four laptops and send emails all day long. But, there is a time and place for everything and not everything needs to be told.

It’s almost become a cliché, the folks who enter a store, shop, check out and leave said store and never once stop talking on their cell phone or text messaging. I’m sorry, but that is just rude, especially to the store clerks, cashiers and wait staff.

If you’ve ever been forced to listen to these mindless drivel … it is nothing urgent that needs to said at that precise moment. And some folks are so clueless, by the time they are finished with their call, the entire store knows about their medical history, overdue bills, a rash that won’t go away and what they had for breakfast. (Many times, cold cereal and milk.)

Sure I have taken and made calls while I am out, but I keep it short, quite, and limited to situations that are urgent. A few seconds tops. I don’t share my personal life, however dull or exciting it might be.

Current statistics show that there are 270 million cell phones in the nation. On average, adult cell phone subscribers each sent, 407 text messages a month, while teenagers send a staggering 2,000 message per month.

Since a text message needs to be under 160 characters, the popularity of texting has also created its own form of language, with more than 1,000 different forms of abbreviations, such as LOL, CULTR, ?, OMG.

It’s like a secret code taken from Dick Tracey’s codebook.

What type of an impact does this have on today’s verbal communication? How does the increase in texting, blogging and other technology-based forms of communications impact on the way Americans — especially younger people — write.

For some people, trying to fill out a form or something as important as a resume, becomes a challenge since they are so accustomed to typing what they speak.

Maybe it’s time to start having face-to-face conversations, instead of staring at some characters on a screen.

It might be time to give the phone a rest, un-blog the blog and leave the tweeting for the birds — especially if you are in school or driving a car.