Thinking of proposing that girl you’re so helplessly in love with a text message? Then, you better be warned, as a ‘I love you’ text message might ruin your romance even before it takes off. A new Australian study says that women may have embraced the digital era, but they prefer a face-to-face declaration of affection to an “I love u” text, and find men addicted to their mobile phones a major turn-off. The study was carried out by romance publisher Mills & Boon. The 2012 Australian Romance Report found 91% of woman expected to be asked out on a date with a telephone call rather than via a mobile phone message.
And 86% of respondents were more comfortable saying "I love you" in person than via text. The least romantic of gestures was declaring one’s love via a relationship status change on Facebook. When it came to relationship deal-breakers, a Blackberry/ iPhone dependency and Facebook photos with ex-lovers rated highly as turn-offs. Asked what they most wanted in a partner, women were mostly traditional, nominating a killer smile, a great sense of humour and an accent as their biggest turn-ons. The rules of dating for women are no different in India. "I would never want my guy to say ‘I love you’ with a sms. It has to be personal and romantic. And I would want him to look straight into my eyes when proposing," says Sonali Guha, an interior design student.