Athens was named the “world’s most flirtatious city” by the compilers of the largest ever study of online flirting. New York only just makes the top 100, ranking 89th.
The study of “flirtation behaviour” worldwide analyses 12 million flirtations made during a month on Badoo.com (http://www.badoo.com), the world’s largest social networking site for meeting new people, with 108 million users chatting and flirting in 180 countries.
Athens tops Badoo’s “World Flirtation League”, which ranks nearly 200 cities by the number of online flirtations initiated per month by the average user in each.
Moscow ranks second, Rome 8th, Paris 38th and London 57th.
The average Badoo user in Athens initiates 25.7 online flirtations per month – twice as many as in Rio (12.4) or Prague (12.6) and far more than in Paris (20.7), London (19.0) or New York (16.1).
Tunis, birthplace of the “Jasmine Revolution”, is among three Arab cities (Kuwait, Tunis, Beirut) to make the world top 10, with three former Soviet ones (Moscow, Kiev, Baku) and three Italian (Turin, Rome, Bari).
“Athens was the birthplace of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and Western philosophy itself”, says Lloyd Price, Badoo’s Director of Marketing. “Once again, it leads the world.”
Dr Simon Hardy, author of “The Greeks, Eroticism and Ourselves”, comments: “It’s probably fair to say that the Athenians perfected the art of flirtation in ancient times, especially at the time of symposia [flirtatious drinking parties] described by Plato”.
Modern Athenians have continued the tradition, says Victoria Kyriakopoulous, author of The Lonely Planet Guide to Athens: “Athens is a seductive city, with a hedonistic lifestyle. Flirting and sexual banter are part of social interaction.”
“Old Athenians flirt. Married ones flirt. Now, young Athenians are simply using technology to do what Athenians have always done.”
WORLD TOP TEN
RANK CITY SCORE*
1 Athens 25.7
2 Moscow 25.5
3 Kuwait City 25.4
4 Baku 24.9
5 Tunis 24.7
6 Kiev 24.5
7 Beirut 24.0
8= Turin 23.7
8= Rome 23.7
10 Bari 23.6
* Number of flirtations initiated monthly by average Badoo user there.
SOME OTHER MAJOR CITIES
RANK CITY SCORE
38 Paris 20.7
47 Montreal 19.9
57 London 19.0
79 Berlin 17.7
89 New York 16.1
151 Rio 12.4
Source www.eturbonews.com
