Anecdotally, everyone knows someone who has seen his or her life unravel because of injudicious texts sent (or received) and then not deleted from a mobile phone. Men and women alike try to verify their suspicions that a partner may be unfaithful by sneaking a peek at the records left damningly on a handset and then there's hell (and alimony) to pay, observes Martyn Warwick.
And now comes some sort of allegedly empirical evidence to support the widely held belief that cheaters are keen texters.
Believe it or not in the UK there exists what is coyly described as "an extra-marital dating website". It's called IllicitEncounters.co.uk and claims to have more than 310,000 "members" (presumably that refers to the male contingent) with a further 400 or so signing-up every day.
The site claims that those up to a bit of extra-curricular jiggery-pokery send nine texts a day to the object of their desires as opposed to those on the straight and narrow who can only manage it threes time a day - the average number of texts sent per person according to the Mobile Data Association.
Unsurprisingly, 62 per cent of the members of IllicitEncounters admit to owning at least two mobile phones. Necessary to maintain the subterfuge no doubt but still damned tricky to manage, especially after a night out on the tiles.
Commenting on the "research", Sara Hartley, a spokeswoman for the site says, “Planning an affair is a tricky business. One mistake can bring the whole thing crashing down.
Most of our members have a separate email account to receive correspondence from lovers, and many have separate phones as well. It doesn’t surprise me that our members text more than faithful people – all the alibis to organise, and the secret liaisons must keep their thumbs very busy!”
And that's not all. Like thay say, "Once a king, always a king, but once a knight is enough." Or perhaps not
The blurb on the IllicitEncouters web page reads, "The aim of the site is to create a safe and nonjudgmental environment, where married men and women can meet each other. Illicit Encounters is a profile-based website, where each member has a personalised space stating who they are, what they’re looking for and their interests. Users can talk freely on our new-improved chat system, or send each other messages through our internal mailing system. The average Illicit Encounters member is a professional, often working in management or as an executive, and between the ages of 36 and 40. We have the most balanced ratio of men to women online than any other dating site."
What it doesn't say is "and it makes us a lot of money>"
Just thought you might like to know.
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