Revenge is a dish best served cold – and online

More than half of the UK population claim to be contemplating revenge – and social networks are the preferred platform for getting even, research has found.

The rise in popularity of Twitter and Facebook has made it easier and quicker to settle scores, and 69 per cent of people polled said online tools were responsible for people’s thirst for payback.

More than half (52 per cent) said they were thinking about getting their own back on someone, while 38 per cent confessed they had already sought revenge out of anger, jealousy or spite. Work colleagues were the most popular target, followed by friends and bosses.

Adultery is the transgression most deserving of revenge according to a third of Britons, followed by lying (19 per cent) and stealing (9 per cent).

Research also found 13 per cent believe people in the public eye deserve abuse on social networks if they are perceived to have done something wrong.

Half of the 2,000 people polled to mark the launch of Hell on Wheels, a new series from TCM charting the vengeful exploits of a band of outcasts in post-civil war America, said they believed most revenge now took place on Facebook.

The ease of typing a quick message was seen to be the primary reason, with 57 per cent saying it was easier to take revenge online than in person.