(CNN) -- Every time her cell phone rings, Christy Harness thinks of her husband. More consumers download ringtones to their cell phones than  full-length songs. The 34-year-old native of Jackson County, Georgia, set her ringtone to Sugarland's "All I Wanna Do," a song that, she says, perfectly expresses the way she feels about him. "I kind of put myself in [the singer's] place because ... she's in love with this guy. If he's not around, she misses him. Basically, I think the song relates to me and [my husband] and our relationship," Harness said. These days, ringtones do much more than alert mobile phone users of a call. Ringtones seem to have become vital fashion statements, a way for people to showcase their personalities and even their feelings about who is calling.
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Ringtones are one way for people to showcase their personalities and feelings
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One third of cell-phone users download ringtones; 40 percent change ringtones often
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Virginia woman uses Destiny's Child's "Bugaboo" as ringtone for dreaded callers
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Utah man customized a pro-Obama ringtone to annoy Republican co-workers
"@placeholder," about a woman irritated by a male caller, contains such lines as, "It's not hot that you be callin' me."