35% of college students admit to texting or scrolling during sex, per a Yik Yak and Sidechat survey.
24 students said they paused mid-sex to reply to their mothers.
The poll covered 10,000 to 100,000 U.S. students aged 18+ across hundreds of campuses.
7% had sex with a roommate awake, 15% waited until they slept, and 23% had a roommate present.
70%+ met partners in person, challenging the Gen Z “sex recession” narrative.
A new survey of U.S. college students shows that screen time is invading even intimate moments, with more than a third admitting they have checked social media or texted during sex. The findings, released by campus social apps Yik Yak and Sidechat, provide an inside look at Generation Z’s romantic and digital habits, from phone use in the bedroom to hookups in shared dorm rooms.
According to the joint poll, 35% of college students say they have either scrolled social media or sent a text message during sex. That means roughly one in three respondents prioritized their phones during sexual activity. Among the most surprising details, 24 students admitted they paused mid-sex to answer texts from their mothers.
The survey highlights how deeply smartphones shape the daily lives of young adults, even in moments traditionally considered private and distraction-free.
The People report states that 10,000 college students participated in the poll through Yik Yak and Sidechat. The survey covered campuses ranging from Ivy League institutions such as Harvard University, Brown University, Yale University, and Columbia University to large public universities including Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts. Sidechat gathered responses from students across 23 campuses, while Yik Yak’s polling extended to more than 480 colleges nationwide.
The New York Post reported on a broader version of the survey, noting that 100,000 U.S. college students aged 18 and older participated via the same apps. The larger data set confirmed the 35% statistic and offered additional insight into student behavior.
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Beyond phone use, the survey explored campus relationship dynamics and privacy boundaries.
Seven percent of students said they had sex while their roommate was present and awake. Another 15% said they waited until their roommate was asleep before hooking up. The New York Post reported that 23% of respondents had sex with a roommate present, without distinguishing whether the roommate was awake or asleep.
The poll also revealed trust issues within relationships. Twenty-two percent of students said they regularly check their partner’s phone. Another 15% admitted they had checked once and regretted it afterward. Additionally, 15% said they left a date to hook up with someone else and would do it again.
Despite heavy smartphone use, most respondents still met their current or most recent romantic partner in person rather than online. More than 70% reported meeting in real life, while about 29% said they met online.
(Rh/ARC)