With a rising number of children and teenagers now owning a mobile phone in Britain, the UK’s leading mobile phone comparison website has commissioned a study into a new ‘random text’ trend, which could be putting youngsters at risk.

In a new poll of 1,382 teens aged between 13 and 16, www.rightmobilephone.co.uk has found that there is an increasing number of young people engaging in what is potentially a dangerous text messaging trend, involving sending a message to a random number and awaiting a reply.

19% of the respondents who took part in the poll admitting having previously done this, despite the risk of speaking with strangers and 22% claimed to have played ‘text roulette’, a slightly different trend that involves typing an obscene text message before scrolling through the contact list and sending it to whoever it lands on.

Further findings of the study by rightmobilephone.co.uk included almost two thirds, 64%, of the young respondents admitting to adding or accepting somebody they didn’t know as a friend on Facebook.

Of those who admitted to sending random texts to unknown numbers, 11% said it was ‘loneliness’ that prompted them to do so. 31% said it was ‘just for fun’ whilst 9% were ‘dared’ to do so. 42% said ‘boredom’ was the reason they sent random texts to strangers. More than half, 54%, said they had received a reply from the unknown number they had texted.

In terms of Facebook and those who admitted adding or accepting people they didn’t know, 72% said they just wanted to ‘look more popular’ by having more friends.

Of the teenagers that admitted to playing ‘Text Roulette’, 1 in 3 claimed it had landed them in trouble with the recipient.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, said;

“We’d hope young people realise the dangers of texting strange numbers and adding people they don’t know on Facebook, although judging by the findings, this is not the case. As more young people now own mobile phones, I would encourage parents to keep a closer eye on how their children are using them.”

“We were surprised by the number of teenagers that have actually taken part in these risky ‘games’ like Text Roulette and what was even more worrying is that the majority of the teenagers had a reply from texts they had sent to random numbers.”

LINK http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange interviews with Neil McHugh, please contact Shannon Haigh of 10 Yetis PR Agency on 01452 348211 or email [email protected]

Editors notes

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.

New research by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website has revealed how women can read in to text messages they are sent, in the run up to the most romantic day of the year.

A recent nationwide study of 1,067 women by www.rightmobilephone.co.uk has revealed how women really analyse text messages from their partner or love interest, despite the fact that the sender may think it is a relatively normal text. 88% of women thought a text without kisses on the end meant the sender was annoyed or angry with them in some way and 57% thought that texts written entirely or partly in capital letters signalled anger or shouting.

These latest findings by rightmobilephone.co.uk come at a time of year notorious for romantic messages and gestures, but the site wanted to find out if there was more to certain texts than met they eye. Over half of the women asked, 53%, said an “I love you” text wouldn’t mean as much to them if the sender used text language such as ‘luv’ instead of the correct spelling, a word of warning to men this Valentine’s Day.

When it came to kisses, 71% said they always put at least one on the end of a text to their partner, unless they were having an argument and wanted to show they were annoyed. Just over 1 in 3 of the women, 34%, said they preferred it when their partner or love interest used affectionate terms such as “babe” or “gorgeous” within a text message, as it made them feel special.

49% of the women quizzed admitted feeling concerned if they didn’t get a reply from their partner or love interest within half an hour of sending a text message.

Rightmobilephone.co.uk offered five handy tips for men who would be texting this Valentine’s Day;

1. Always uses kisses, even if it’s just one.
2. Write ‘love’ in proper English.
3. Use affectionate terms wherever possible.
4. Avoid writing entirely in capital letters at all costs.
5. Don’t send message to the wrong person.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, said;

“It can often be hard to work out the attitude or meaning of a text that is sent, such as if the sender is being sarcastic or feeling annoyed. It’s easy to over-analyse SMS messages and there will always be the danger of someone reading too much or too little into a romantic message.

He continued, “I think the key thing for men to remember this Valentine’s Day is, if they are going to send a romantic message to their partner, think about how it sounds and looks before you send it, or you could find yourself getting the cold shoulder!”

LINK http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk

ENDS

For further information or to set up interviews with Neil McHugh or James Zielinski please contact Shannon Haigh , 10 Yetis PR Agency, [email protected], 01452 348211.

Notes to editors

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.

Revealing research by the UK’s leading mobile phone comparison website has shown that on average, Brits will send at least 282,000 text messages in a lifetime and spend nearly 8 whole months talking on their phone. The number of texts sent cost the equivalent of a top sports car for pay as you go users.

A nationwide study of 2,038 people in the UK by www.rightmobilephone.co.uk has revealed statistics detailing the amount of time people spend using their mobile on average in a whole lifetime. It was revealed that the average number of texts sent in a month was 500, whilst minutes used totalled 600 in a regular month.

Whilst some children are as young as eight years old when they receive their first mobile phone, the study by rightmobilephone.co.uk found that most believed 13 to be the age at which young people started using their handset properly and regularly, whilst the age at which usage considerably slowed was thought to be 60.

This means that in the 47 years over which the average person actively uses their mobile phone, almost two thirds of a year, 235 days, are spent talking on the phone and 282,000 text messages are sent.

68% of respondents felt they spent more time texting and calling their friends than actually spending time with them and 41% of them felt the same when it came to their partner or love interest. For over half, 54%, their mobile phone was the main means of communication, whilst just under a third, 31%, were more used to staying in touch via Facebook. Only 4% said their main way of communication was face-to-face.

For the 52% of mobile phone owners on pay as you go in the UK, they will spend an average of 0.10p on every text they send, totalling £28,200 over the years in which they actively use their handset; the same amount of money that could pay for a Lotus Elise, 76,216 Mars bars or 61 iPhones.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, commented on the findings;

“Our latest study really highlights how much time and money we spend communicating; I’m sure it will surprise people and I’m sure most would rather be spending 8 months of their lifetime doing something a little more exciting.

He continued, “I think it can be easy to spend more time on your mobile phone than you need to, especially if you are on contract and have a good deal on texts and minutes, but even so, perhaps 8 months of your lifetime and £28,200 is a little extreme when you consider what that could buy you, a sports car, a round the world trip etc, it’s amazing many of us will be spending that on text messaging instead”

ENDS

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For further information or to set up interviews with Neil McHugh or James Zielinski please contact Shannon Haigh , 10 Yetis PR Agency, [email protected], 01452 348211.

Notes to editors

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.