In what has to be the most jaw-dropping survey of the week, The Sun’s Agony Aunt 'Dear Deidre' has uprooted some staggering figures about the UK’s internet use in regards to sex.
In a poll of 4,000 readers, the red-top found that a quarter of those surveyed had used the internet to cheat, one in three had used the web to start sexual relationships and 10 per cent of the last band had had sex with 11 or more partners they met online.
Number crunching
Let’s break that down into real numbers. Of 4,000 people, 1,333 (and possibly a recurring .3) have used the internet to cheat. The Sun itself calls that figure ‘staggering’ and for once it cannot be accused of hyperbole.
Some 10 per cent of those 1,333 – that’s 133 (.3333 etc) have slept with 11, yes 11, people that they met online.
Less staggering, bearing all this in mind, is the revelation that 80 per cent (that’s 3,200) have looked at pornography online.
How to have safe sex on the internet
“As Agony Aunt of The Sun, hearing from readers every day, I have been amazed over recent years by the way the internet and mobile phones have affected how we form relationships, how we behave within them, how many sex partners we have and even what we do with them in the privacy of our own homes,” Deidre writes.
“Sex education these days needs to include the rules for safe sex on the internet – and tactics to help the addicted wean themselves off quick online thrills and move on to real-life, caring relationships.”
Deidre – it seems – has opened Pandora’s box in terms of the UK’s sex lives – but TechRadar has two questions. 1) How did we miss out on all this action, and 2) was the survey conducted among liars and/or the internet sex club?
More from Deidre
We contacted Deidre who was good enough to send us a lengthier version of her article - and a little more information.
"We’re not talking about simply using the internet to extend their social network and meet a partner for a serious lasting relationship, but effectively cruising for casual sex," the renowned Agony Aunt writes.
There were also some statistics on webcams: "Half of those with a webcam use it to show themselves and see other people sexually, half use it to show themselves or see other people pleasuring themselves sexually, and a third use it to watch other people having sex. One in four reveals their face during webcam sex – and worryingly, it’s the teens who are more likely to."
Truly amazing...
