Flirts for you

Hannah ThompsonYouGovLabs and UK Public Opinion Website Editor
December 05, 2011, 2:58 PM GMT+0

33% Britons aged 25-34 say they are most likely to flirt over text rather than face to face

Around 3 in 10 (29%) of UK mobile phone owners aged 18-44 are more likely to primarily flirt with someone they are attracted to via text message than face to face, according to our recent poll.

  • The poll found that the popularity of flirting over text is highest within the 25-34 age bracket ‒ 33% would be most likely to flirt over text, compared to the national average of 19%
  • Compared to 30% of 18-24 year olds, 25% of those aged 35-44, and just 6% of those over 55
  • Mobile users in the West Midlands topped the regional results with nearly a quarter (24%) tempting each other with texts
  • While Londoners also scored highly with one in five (21%) mobile owners using text messages to initiate romance
  • Similar numbers of men and women say that texting is their most likely form of flirting, with 20% of men and 18% of women
  • Despite the popularity of texting, good old-fashioned face-to-face flirting has clearly not been forgotten, with almost half (46%) saying this is their most likely method

Mobiles ‘so much more’

Duncan Spencer, Managing Director of online mobile phone insurance specialist insurance2go.co.uk, contends that text flirting is a growing phenomenon.

‘Texting offers people a way to flirt with someone they may be attracted to without the danger of feeling embarrassed if their advances are not reciprocated’, he says.

‘Mobile phones, particularly smart phones, have become so much more than just something to use to make a call, now people’s whole lives revolve around them, and that includes their most intimate feelings.

‘That’s why we’ve found more and more people wanting to protect their mobile phones from loss or theft because people feel like they’ve had their right arm cut off if they end up losing their handset – and some might not want to put a budding romance in jeopardy!’