60% of Brits suffer from "Twitterphilia"

Are you a Twitterphiliac?

27 March 2009 12:22 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Following Vodafone's news of a return of its Twitter SMS service, the company has released results of research that shows 60% of Brits are hooked on social networking, with a further 30% admitting a need to access such sites anywhere, anytime.

The operator has coined a phrase to describe such an addict, a "Twitterphiliac", and defines the term as: "Someone who is addicted to social networking and suffers from uncontrollable urges to update their status - i.e. Tweeting, verb, to twitterbate".

According to the YouGov data, one in ten people said that not being able to access social networking sites on the move would ruin their day.

As far as the male/female split goes, 70% of all British women use social networks, compared to 50% of men, but men are 10% more likely to access social networks on the move than women.

In January 2009, Vodafone says 735,000 Brits accessed Twitter through their mobile phones, and we're guessing in April, thanks to the new SMS option, it will be higher.