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The x-texting Metrotextual comes out of the closet

C u in pub x

It's time for the chaps out there who commonly end their text messages to chums with an affectionate "x" to come out of the closet - because demonstrating your "metrotextuality" is apparently nothing to be ashamed of.

That's according to T-Mobile, which found that a shocking 22 per cent of blokes "regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates".

This has prompted the mobile phone outfit to hail a new generation of touchy-feely "Metrotextuals", most heavily represented among 18 to 24-year-olds, of whom a disturbing 75 per cent are "regularly sealing texts with a kiss".

In fact, so severe is the collapse in SMS morality that 23 per cent of that age group "even appreciate an 'x' in a text exchange from people that aren't close friends".

"Confirmed Metrotextual" Nick Kirkham, who is 25 and works in insurance, verified that he and his mates have been x-ing each other for years. He cheerily admitted: "In fact, apart from my boss or a work client, there's no one I wouldn't send a kiss on text to."

Clinical psychologist Ron Bracey was on hand to explain to Reuters that men have "traditionally been reluctant to share their emotions with friends and tended to keep their feelings bottled up".

He explained: "However, the advent of mobile phones and social media means more communication is done non-verbally, and through this it seems men can more easily share their feelings with others - especially their male friends." ®

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