TEENAGERS here are not surprised at the trends shown by the Sulake survey but some admit that the preferences for SMS and virtual communication can be unhealthy.

The global survey - which polled 58,486 youths aged between 11 and 18, in 31 countries worldwide - revealed that fewer Singapore teenagers prefer face-to-face communication with their friends compared with their counterparts in the rest of the world. Instead, more of them like to "talk" to their friends through SMS or instant messaging.

Youths here say that SMS and instant messaging make it easier and more convenient to keep in touch with their friends.

This is because it is "hard to find a common free time to meet up", said student Lim Hui Juian, 18. She finds SMS a more efficient way to keep in touch with her friends.

Miss Lim said: "Their phones are with them for the whole day, so I can get a reply faster."

She also reads seven to eight of her friends' blogs daily, spending close to an hour on them.

Similarly, Outram Secondary School student Lee Jing Ru, 15, updates her blog every day, and spends about half an hour visiting five to seven of her friends' blogs daily.

This is "so that I can know about what they do every day", she said.

This is on top of talking to them on the phone for about four hours almost every night. Miss Lee said that meeting up at night and in the early hours of the morning is impractical.

For student Bryan Tan, 16, instant messaging is the preferred communication tool. He spends five hours on MSN Messenger each day, though he sometimes just leaves it on while he completes other tasks.

Director of youth services at the Singapore Children Society Dr Carol Balhetchet was not surprised at all by the results.

With the busy schedules teens have, "socially, the computer and the phone brings them faster to their friends", she said.

She also felt that there is a lack of places where youths can "just hang out and talk face-to-face, without making a nuisance of themselves."

Because of the youths' active engagement with the Internet and SMS technology, electronic marketing is an area with "tremendous growth opportunities", said Ms Reene Ho-Phang, director of branding agency BrandStory.

She cited one of her clients, MTV, which is "actively showcasing their activities on their Facebook site". The company frequently sends out messages to its members in its Facebook group, she said.

For data processing supervisor Aw Yoke Leng, 45, having three secondary school-going children, one of whom is an avid SMS-texter, means having to foot expensive mobile phone bills. She spends $180 in total, on their bills.

She said: "I was annoyed because they're not using their SMS quota to communicate with me, but with their friends instead."