The number of text messages being sent every Saturday and Sunday night has increased by two million as X Factor viewers contact friends about the latest twists and turns in the popular talent show.

Before the current series of the show began last month, the average number of texts sent and received during its time slot was seven million, according to figures provided by Meteor.

This figure has rocketed to almost nine million on Saturday and Sunday nights as Irish viewers scramble to exchange opinions on contestants such as Dublin's own Mary Byrne, Rebecca Creighton and Niall Horan.

Meteor spokeswoman Amanda Carroll said the public had become judges in their own right. "Meteor has seen a massive 26% increase in the number of texts sent during the X Factor live finals and results shows on Saturday and Sunday evenings," she said. "Customers are becoming more like the X Factor judges themselves and texting their opinions and performance critiques to their mates through the show."

A spokeswoman for 3 Mobile said it too had seen a rise in texts sent during the time slot of the television programme. "3 experienced approximately a 7% increase in text volumes over the past two weeks during the X Factor show," she confirmed.

Social media websites such as Twitter have also seen an explosion of Irish usage as tweeters flock online to talk about their favourite performances.

Damien Mulley, who runs specialist online PR firm Mulley Communications, said that the overwhelming majority of tweets on weekend nights are about the X Factor.

"It is a fact that 80% of those who are on Twitter in Ireland during the time the show is on are tweeting about the X Factor. What is interesting is that social media sites like this are actually making more people watch the show because that is what all the discussion centres around," he said.

"When I heard online about Mary Byrne's performance I had to go and look it up on YouTube because that is what the discussion all around me focused on. People see all this debate and then they want to know what the hype is all about."

Twitter has helped make the show one of the most-watched this year,
Mulley said. "During the time slots when the show is on, if you were to type the X Factor tag into Twitter you would see tens of thousands of entries all from Ireland.

"People are tweeting and texting and posting online non-stop, helping to make this year's show one of the most watched so far."