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"Who knew texting at the dinner table, during class and all hours of the day would eventually pay off? \nSeventeen-year-old Austin Wierschke from Rhinelander, Wis. \u2014 a high school senior who can type up to six characters in just one second \u2014 won $50,000 for the second year in a row at the sixth annual texting event LG U.S. Texting Championship held on Wednesday in New York City.\nStanding on a stage in the middle of Times Square, Wierschke beat out 10 other finalists, who competed in a series of rounds using a LG Optimus Zip QWERTY keyboard smartphone, which were provided by the manufacturer. The preliminaries started several months ago when the competition had about 100,000 contestants.\nFinalists ranging in age from 16 to 24 were tested on three skills: speed, accuracy and dexterity. Challenges included spelling out texting abbreviations as quickly as possible and completing texting tasks while blindfolded. In one round, competitors had to text with the device behind their backs. After finishing a texting task, finalists raced to put their keyboard phones down and hit the send button, which transported their entries to a judges room nearby. Each round eliminated several contestants until only two remained.\n\nSEE ALSO: Are Text Messages Declining Worldwide? [VIDEO]\nThere were a few technical glitches that happened throughout the competition, and some finalists questioned whether or not the results were largely dependent on the carrier used to send the texts to the judges' room and not their speed in finishing the tetxing challenge. (LG hasn't responded to a request for comment).\nWhat could have also made the competition more compelling to watch would have been the inclusion of real-time stats on how fast and accurate the texters were texting. None of that information was provided by LG, so audience members had to take the company's word for who won each round.\nBut glitches and transparency aside, it was clear Wierschke was the one to beat after soaring through each phase with ease, completing each round way ahead of everyone else. He beat New York City-native Kent Augustine in a final showdown to clinch the title.\nIn collaboration with this year's event, LG teamed up with Cartoon Network\u2019s \u201CStop Bullying: Speak Up\u201D campaign to help raise money for anti-bullying toolkits that will be sent out to middle and high schools across the U.S. \nDuring a \u201CText for a Cause\u201D round in Wednesday's event, the crowd was asked to help prevent bullying by texting \u201CJoin LG\u201D to 27777. For every text received, LG will give $1 to the campaign.\nIn August 2011, MTV featured an hour-long documentary called Thumbs that chronicled teen texting culture in America and young competitors' journeys to become the fastest in the country at the LG U.S. National Texting Championship. \nDo you think these contestants would be just as fast using a touchscreen? Should there be a round for such devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/08/09/lg-texting-championship/>