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54 per cent of women use texts to 'deepen relationships'

Zen Terrelonge
54 per cent of women use texts to 'deepen relationships'

But men just use the platform for function, rather than feelings.

The proliferation of instant and social messaging has been widely regarded as an SMS-killer, but 92 per cent of smartphone users still send texts despite access to the former, according to Acision.

The messaging firm enlisted the support of psychologist Graham Jones to analyse the reasons that people in the US and the UK are so keen on SMS.

Men actually send texts to an average group of 17 people, while women only communicate with 13.

However, blokes send shorter messages for function to avoid lengthy phone calls, and to get straight to the point, while 41 per cent of women send longer texts, with 54 per cent saying 'I love you' to deepen relationships.

Interestingly, 15 per cent of Brit mobile users have even sent a sick message into work, rather than calling in and laying on the croaky ill voice.

18-25 year-olds send an average of 133 texts per week, communicating with friends, in comparison to 55 per cent of over 55s that send texts to reach family members.

69 per cent of all respondents claim they would be 'lost' without texting, and 46 per cent say the platform is more reliable than other messaging formats.

Jones, said: "Older people tend to find typing with thumbs comes less naturally, which could lead to texting being less common. As mobile and text is a technology that young people have grown up with, they will naturally send more text messages.

"While teens thirty years ago may have phoned their friends as part of growing up and social development, nowadays they send text messages. The social reasons haven’t changed, but the preferred communication method has.

"The findings of this study show that text messaging remains popular, and I believe this comes down to trust and reliability. If a user sends a message via a social network, it may feel less immediate, and there are more technological hurdles which could hinder the delivery."

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Tags: instant messaging , sms , text message , acision , social media , Market Data

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