A new study has confirmed what we probably already know, that those aged under 35 would far prefer to text or message a friend than talk to them in person.

The study was by online messaging tech firm LivePerson and was based on the responses of 4,013 Gen Zs (teenagers) and Gen Ys (18-35 year olds) from the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France and Japan.

According to the study’s researchers, the results show that “the smartphone has truly become an extension of [young people’s] hands”.

It found that 65 per cent of respondents would prefer to interact with each other digitally than in real life, with apps and messaging the most popular choices.

Interestingly, the research flies in the face of another report published on B&T last week that found 95 per cent of Zs and Ys to a survey by youth site 9Gag would rather 10 real-life friends over 10,000 ones on social media. You can read that report here.

Other findings of the LivePerson study included:

• 69.4 per cent preferred messaging apps to phone apps.
• 70.1 per cent of respondents said they slept with their phone at arm’s reach.
• 64.5 per cent of respondents said they took their phones to the toilet with them.
• 52.2 per cent said they checked their phones if they happened to wake-up during the night.
• 41.6 per cent said it was fine to text during family dinner time.
• 27.7 per cent said it was fine to text during an in-person conversation.
• 61.8 per cent agreed they’d rather leave their wallet at home over their phone.
• 69.5 per cent said they could imagine a future where all purchases are made online.

Commenting on the study, Rurik Bradbury, the global head of communications and research at LivePerson. said: “We wanted to look more closely at the younger consumer audience, across different countries, and in more depth than the well-known trope that young people love their smartphones.