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Watch where you point that thing: A survey of the sexting habits of 2,000 British adults has found that men are particularly bad at it, with some 16 per cent admitting they've sexted a family member accidentally. How intimately awkward.
Conducted by cell phone review website Recombu.com, the survey found that of the 47 per cent foolish enough to sext, some 11 per cent had misfired their racy missives to a wrong number, including some to friends and some to mom and dad.
Men seemed to have more trouble sexting to the right phone number than women, although 8 per cent of female respondents did admit to blasting one off to a family member.
The survey also peered in how partners communicate via text, when they actually reach the intended recipient. Women tended to send more sexts to partners than men, 48 per cent versus 45 per cent respectively. (Does that mean fewer men actually respond?)
Some 12 per cent surveyed said they have more moxie via text than in person, texting things they absolutely would not utter face to face.
As Tiger Woods and his harem of text-savvy mistresses can attest, sexts have long served as an impersonal gateway to infidelity: One in five respondents said they'd sexted someone other than their partner, with 25 to 34-year-olds most likely to "cheat by text." Tiger be damned, women were twice as likely to do it.
As for blossoming romance, both men and women said they'd typically bide their time for one hour before responding to a text from a potential date or new partner. Chivalry was expected: 1 in 5 women waited for a new boyfriend to initiate the texting after a first meeting, compared with one in 10 men.
The survey also revealed sexters pay keen attention to detail: 82 per cent said they count the number of "x's" at the end of a note, "x" being the British version of the North American cutesy signoff "xoxo," where x stands for kisses and o represents hugs.
The takeaways? Check your numbers, check your x's and pick up the phone some time.
Ever (accidentally) lobbed a sext at a family member? What was your recovery strategy?
Zosia Bielski