Life, The Universe ...: Romantic Text Messaging On The Rise

Short, to the point, and sometimes discreet love notes are sweetening up cell phones as a result of wireless text messaging. Thirty-three percent of people surveyed say they communicate with their date or mate via text messaging in 2007, an increase of six percentage points from last year. Twenty-eight percent of users also report using text messaging to flirt.

For the fourth year, Cingular Wireless, part of AT&T, has commissioned a survey of adult cell phone users to determine how cell phones have affected their romantic lives. The survey was conducted in January 2007 by ICR (International Communications Research) among 1,006 wireless users and reveals that SMS and MMS-based communication between partners is on the rise.

Other findings from the survey include:

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that a date answered his or her wireless phone in the midst of a great dinner conversation while 31 percent said they had done the same.
Twenty-eight percent have used text messaging to avoid long conversations.
Seventeen percent reported that a wireless phone has saved them from an uncomfortable date.
Twelve percent have used text messaging news as a conversation starter with a date or mate.
Eight percent of respondents say they have ended a relationship over rude/offensive wireless behavior.
Five percent of respondents have called someone else he or she was interested in from a wireless phone while on a date and seven percent reported that their date had done so.
Six percent have judged a prospective date by the phone they use.

"Text messaging has become part of the social fabric of dating in America," says Jennifer Bowcock, director of consumer public relations for Cingular Wireless, the new AT&T. "People can text one another to make plans or even say 'I love you' when they may not have the time or ability to make a voice call. It is definitely a discreet and simple way to stay connected."

Also significant in the survey results, 59 percent of active daters use text messaging to communicate with their dates, while only 30 percent ofthose who are married, in a committed relationship or not dating do the same with their partners.

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