Brits obsessed with web etiquette

Brits are a nation of goody two-shoes when it comes to chatting to friends online, a new report has revealed.

Sensible conversations with friends and family and the use of good manners are the top priority for British webcam users, Telewest Broadband's survey found.

Despite the much-publicised antics of soap star Leslie Grantham, aka Dirty Den, only 5 per cent of Brits admit to spicing up their love life via a webcam.

Instead of a saucy web encounter with blonde bombshell Jordan, 20 per cent of British males would prefer to chat to the Queen via a webcam.

Just 11 per cent of men wanted to chat to busty Brightonian Jordan, only 14 per cent eyed up a web chat with Hell’s Kitchen star Jennifer Elison, while 12 per cent fancied talking to model Nell McAndrew.

One in five women would rather have a webcam chat with Tony Blair than with actor pin-up Orlando Bloom (13 per cent).

Instead, almost nine out of 10 respondents used their webcam for face-to-face catch-ups with friends and family, with good manners an essential requirement for 42 per cent of Brits.

Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband, said: "As more people are getting hooked up to broadband internet, it's no wonder that as a nation we're becoming obsessed with 'webiquette'."

Experts from Living TV's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy UK show give their top tips to ensure disaster-free webcam usage:

1 Never, ever eat or lick your fingers while webcamming
2 Keep the lighting soft, desk clutter free and turn the music down to
keep the focus on you
3 Sit still and don't start moving around or fiddling with your
clothes - viewers will wonder what you're doing
4 Make sure you look clean and tidy and don't wear glasses if you can
help it, the reflection on the lenses is not flattering
5 Wear something with a reasonably high neck so that you don't look as
if you are naked