New couples who Facebook each other end up in bed quicker because they've already formed 'a digital intimacy'

• 72% of women admit to researching new lover's ex-partners on social network sites
  

As if teenagers and young adults needed another excuse to spend more time using their electronic gadgets.

Four out of five women and three out of five men believe texting, Facebook and other social networking tools cause new couples to jump into bed faster, a survey claims.

Thirty-eight per cent of women say they have actually slept with a date sooner because of so-called 'digital intimacy'.

Modern courtship: 80 per cent of women and 58 per cent of men said using social media leads to sex faster

Use of social media via smart phones and laptops are the new toys that lead to the bedroom, the researchers claim.

Clinical psychologist Dr Belisa Vranich said: 'The texting and all the social networking that's happening create anticipation.

'If your goal is to have sex, texting is actually helpful for that because it makes the correspondence between people sort of more titillating.

'It also gives the false impression that you've actually been together for a longer amount of time, so it's actually OK to have sex quicker.

'You may have gone out once or twice, but since there's been so much exchange, either in texting or Facebook, it feels longer.

'It actually feels like its been longer than just two dates.'

Texting is the number one way lovers stay in touch, the survey also found, with men sending mobile messages 39 per cent more often than phoning and women 150 per cent more.

Even before consummating a relationship, 70 per cent of women and 63 per cent of men use Google and other online tools to screen potential dates.

Sixty-five per cent of those polled said they had been asked out by text and 49 per cent through a Facebook message, according to the 1,200 women and men who took part in the survey by Shape and Men's Fitness magazines

Once the relationship clicks, 72 per cent of women report scouring a current partner's ex-girlfriends' Facebook pages.

Even in the heat of passion, some people just can't get enough of their digital devices, the survey found. When a call or text comes in during sex, 5 per cent of respondents said they glance to see who is calling and 1 per cent say they stop to answer the phone.

And when the spark is extinguished, digital dumping is the new way to break up, with 43 per cent of women and 27 per cent of men reporting getting a text along the lines of 'It's not you, it's me.'

For the heartbroken, the internet keeps hope alive, with 81 per cent of all respondents saying they won't de-friend an ex on Facebook and 75 per cent admitting to constantly checking a former sweetheart's page.