So if text messaging can be used to find commonalities among people, is it true that it could be used to catch crooks? It does look that way.

Mobile phone users’ text message ‘accents’ could be used as evidence to cage criminals, eports Life Style Extra.

Researchers at the University of Leicester (UK) say texters can be identified by their messaging style and that groups of people pick up similar styles, in the same way as regions and gangs have particular accents.

Now forensic psychologists have launched a study to assess the similarities and differences between individuals and groups of people.

In 2002, a court heard that the alibi of Stuart Campbell, the builder who murdered his 15-year-old Danielle Jones, was flawed. It rested on Danielle sending him SMS, but analysis showed the texts were not written in her style. Campbell was convicted of the murder. Dr Tim Grant, one of the project leaders, said this showed texts could be invaluable in evidence, and said he hoped the research would take the forensic implications of text evidence further forward…. Source: textually.org