SINGAPORE teenagers - more than their counterparts worldwide - prefer to socialise via instant messaging and through SMS text messages, rather than meet face to face.

About 69 per cent of local teens said they preferred using SMS compared with 58 per cent of global respondents. For instant messaging, 81 per cent of the 728 local respondents favour it compared with the global average of 76 per cent.

These are the findings of a survey conducted by Finnish multimedia company Sulake for virtual community Habbo, which allows teenagers to interact online with friends.

The survey involved 58,486 youths, aged between 11 and 18, from 31 countries worldwide such as Peru, Italy and Japan.

They were asked questions on topics such as friends and social networks, and media use, values and attitudes.

One teenager who typifies the survey results is student Lim Hui Juian. The 18-year-old, who is awaiting entry into Ngee Ann Polytechnic, talks to her friends mostly through SMS or via instant messaging. She sends up to 1,000 SMS messages amonth, which cost her more than $40 monthly.

She sees her close friends once a week, but meets other friends only once a month. Social worker Joe Chan, 28, from Reach Family Service Centre, who works extensively with youths, said this is part of the trend in the post-modern age.

"Young adults are the same as well. But some adults are still forced to develop (real life) inter- personal skills because of their work," he said.

With this trend in mind, branding specialist Reene Ho-Phang, director of BrandStory, said: "I am actively encouraging clients to advertise on blogs and via SMS messages."