男性互发短信留热吻成潮流
'Metrotextuals' seal messages with a kiss
Men have become so openly affectionate with each other using mobile technology that they've taken to signing off text messages to male friends with a kiss (x), giving rise to a new generation dubbed "Metrotextuals".

New research from mobile phone firm T-Mobile reveals nearly a quarter of men (22 percent) regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates, T-Mobile said in a statement.

"Metrotextuality" is most widespread among 18-24 year old males with three quarters (75 percent) regularly sealing texts with a kiss and 48 percent admitting that the practice has become commonplace among their group of friends.

Nearly a quarter of this age group (23 percent) even appreciate an 'x' in a text exchange from people that aren't close friends.

But it's not just younger men that have become Metrotextuals - one in 10 men over 55 often completes a text to another male with a kiss, according to the poll.

The research also revealed there's a certain etiquette within metrotextuality. A lower case 'x' is the preferred sign-off for most (52 percent) compared to 17 percent for a bolder upper case 'X', with one in three sharing the love in a big way with multiple lower case kisses (xxx).

Clinical psychologist, Ron Bracey, said that men have traditionally been reluctant to share their emotions with friends and tended to keep their feelings bottled up.

"However, the advent of mobile phones and social media means more communication is done non-verbally, and through this it seems men can more easily share their feelings with others - especially their male friends," Bracey said in the statement.

Confirmed Metrotextual Nick Kirkham, aged 25, who works in insurance, said he and his friends have been sending kisses to each other for years.

"In fact, apart from my boss or a work client, there's no one I wouldn't send a kiss on text to," he said.

(Read by Chantal Anderson. Chantal Anderson is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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 如今的男性表达情感的方式越来越大胆，竟有这样一群人在互发手机短信时，在结尾处互留热“吻”符号(x）。这就是最新兴起的“都市美信男”（译者注：Metrotextual为metrosexual一词的变体）一族。

开展该调查的手机运营商T-Mobile公司在一份声明中称，近四分之一的受访男性（22%）在给同性朋友发短信时会“献上一吻”。

“都市美信男”以18岁至24岁的男性为主。其中四分之三（75%）的受访者常常“以吻封信”。48%的受访者称，这种做法在他们的朋友圈中已经很常见。

这一年龄段中近四分之一（23%）的人甚至能接受来自并不亲密的朋友的吻。

但并非只是年轻人爱在发短信时留个吻。调查发现，在55岁以上的受访者中，有十分之一的男性会这样做。

调查还表明，“都市美信男”们还有自己的一套规矩。多数（52%）人在留吻时选用小写的x，17%的人会更大胆地使用大写X，其中三分之一的人则连发几个小写的“吻”(xxx)大表“爱意”。

临床心理学家罗恩•布里斯称，过去，男人们都不太愿意与朋友分享情感，而是更愿意把感情埋在心里。

布里斯在一份声明中称：“然而，手机和社会媒介的出现使得不用言语就可以进行更多的交流。这似乎使男性可以更容易地与他人，尤其是男性朋友们交流情感。”

从事保险工作的25岁的尼克•科克汉姆自称为“都市美信男”。他说自己和朋友在短信中互留吻已经很多年了。

他说：“其实除了老板和客户，我和其他人发短信都可以来上一‘吻’。”