A study by Motorola found that one in ten cell phone subscribers have a second phone that often is kept secret from other family members. These phones may be used to engage in activities including extramarital affairs or clandestine business dealings.[37]
Some organizations assist victims of domestic violence by providing mobile phones for use in emergencies. They are often refurbished phones.[38]
The advent of widespread text messaging has resulted in the cell phone novel; the first literary genre to emerge from the cellular age via text messaging to a website that collects the novels as a whole.[39]
Mobile telephony also facilitates activism and public journalism being explored by Reuters and Yahoo![40] and small independent news companies such as Jasmine New in Sri Lanka.
The United Nations reported that mobile phones have spread faster than any other technology and can improve the livelihood of the poorest people in developing countries by providing access to information in places where landlines or the Internet are not available, especially in the least developed countries. Use of mobile phones also spawns a wealth of micro-enterprises, by providing work, such as selling airtime on the streets and repairing or refurbishing handsets.[41]
In Mali and other African countries, people used to travel from village to village to let friends and relatives know about weddings, births and