As respondents use mobile devices to take Web surveys at increasing rates, researchers are finding that related technologies may also be a useful tool for communicating with these respondents. Recent work surrounding text (SMS) messages as a means of communication with respondents both at the survey invitation stage (Mavletova & Couper, 2012) and as a data collection mechanism (Brenner and DeLamater, 2012; Schober et al., 2012) has suggested promise for the communication method, while at the same time raising questions about optimal use. With this literature in mind, we focused on the processes of consent, mode of invitation, and type of URL used (due to space limitations with SMS) as we invited college students at one Midwestern university to participate in a short, rapid-response survey evaluating alcohol use over the past month. We will begin by comparing those giving consent to receive SMS messages (obtained in a baseline survey) with those who did not consent to be contacted in this way. Then, we will describe the results of a randomly assigned experiment conducted among 1367 students, in which we varied both communication type (email versus SMS) and URL composition (short, commercial “tiny URL” service versus full research domain URL). We will discuss the relationship of these treatments to both data quality indicators and substantive measures, using baseline and follow-up data in our analysis. Key measures explored will include response rates, break-off rates, item missing data rates, substantive mental health and alcohol use measures, and respondents’ self-reported use of technology. Further, we will address the practical challenges of incorporating short SMS messages into a data collection protocol focusing on sensitive behaviors-- including issues related to message content length, IRB approval, consent processes, and SMS technology.