• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, November 26, 2013

Digital media is encouraging people to have more sex -- or maybe it’s less? Either way, it’s definitely doing something to our sex lives. Probably. That’s according to two new studies of digital devices, social media, and sexual habits by Meredith’s Parents Networks and the National Centre for Survey Research in Britain.

First the (apparently) good news: Meredith Corp.’s Parents Network surveyed 1,102 Millennial moms (meaning those born between 1977 and 1994) and found that 21% said their mobile devices have improved their sex lives; meanwhile 57% of Millennial moms said they’ve sent flirtatious texts and 41% have sent a racy photo of themselves.

That may be because 30% of Millennial moms say they now text their partner of spouse more than they speak with them. And 26% said they have used social media to rekindle an old romance (maybe because their husbands never talk to them anymore?).

Of course there are also some perils inherent in digital media: 13% said they have accidentally sent an inappropriate photo of themselves to someone for whom it wasn’t intended.

Now on to the (seemingly) bad news: social media also appears to have precisely the opposite effect, at least in the U.K. According to the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, published Tuesday in The Lancet, Britons ages 16-44 are having sex less often, due to a number of factors. In an interview with the BBC University College London researcher Dr. Cath Mercer put some of the blame on digital media technology in general and social media in particular: “People have tablets and smartphones and they are taking them into the bedroom, using Twitter and Facebook, answering emails.”