One third of Britons only use phone calls to speak to their parents, survey claims

Research shows many people prefer to communicate over social media rather than use phone

A fifth of adults said they would rather not communicate than ring someone if they could not use social media (Rex Features)

Britons send millions of texts, WhatsApp and SnapChat messages every day but still save use the phone to call their mum, according to a new poll

Researchers who carried out a survey found people were most likely to send texts to their partner, while friends were the most likely recipients of WhatsApp messages.

Social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were also a popular choice for friends to keep in touch with each other on a daily basis.

It emerged more than half of the respondents found communicating through social media more convenient than talking on the phone.

The research found one in three claimed their parents were pretty much the only people they speak to on the phone.

“We have more people to keep in contact with now than ever before," said Sophia Ahmad, Director of Sky Mobile, which commissioned the poll. ''But making a phone call isn’t always the most popular way of talking to friends, family and loved ones. For some, there will be people they never speak to over the phone, and instead only chat to over sites like Facebook or through messaging.''

The poll also found respondents made just three calls a week from their landlines, usually to call their mum. But they will call 14 times from their mobile phones, with parents and their partner the most likely recipients of calls.

It also emerged 24 text messages per week will be sent from their mobiles, as well as another 24 messages via WhatsApp.

The study showed Britons tend to have various “group chats” with two friendship-based conversations, two for family members, one for work colleagues and one for a club or sports group.

A quarter of people also had several variations of group chats to exclude certain people, like a family group chat without the parents involved.

If they ran out of mobile data, a fifth of adults said they would rather just not communicate with someone than pick up the phone to call them.

SWNS