Lovers turn to text message to say it's over

U R dumped--one in seven say they have suffered the same fate as Britney Spears' ex-husband and been told it's all over via text message or e-mail, a survey said on Friday.

While hiding behind technology might appear a cowardly way of splitting up, it contrasts with the 4 percent who simply drop all communication with their lovers without notice.

"Most of us send e-mails and texts everyday, so it comes as no surprise they are now being used to ditch someone--however distasteful this is," said Rob Barnes from Moneysupermarket.com, which carried out the survey.

"The results show 1 percent of the population would use a social-networking site to dump a partner. It would be interesting to see how this changes as sites such as Facebook and MySpace become more apparent in our everyday lives."

One of the most high-profile victims of dumping by text was Kevin Federline, who reportedly received news that pop singer Spears was filing for divorce while being filmed for a television show.

The survey said 15 percent of the 2,194 people questioned had been dumped by text or e-mail, although a quarter of those in the most tech-savvy 18- to 24-year-old age group would choose the traditional method--a letter.

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