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Sexting is a composite term that combines “texting” with “sex” and refers to the transmission of sexually explicit text messages, images, or videos through computers or mobile phones. The text messages often contain abbreviated words that are used like a coded language, as in “UDP” (“unsolicited dick pics”) and “FWB” (“friends with benefits”). The information is typically self-generated but can also be adapted from different social media platforms. Recent research identifies additional definitions of sexting (Barrense-Dias, Berchtold, Souris, & Akre, 2017; Ouytsel, Walrave, Ponnet, & Temple, 2019) that reveal its complexity, including the specific content (i.e., text, visual, video, or any combination of the three), actions (i.e., active or passive, consensual or non-consensual), transmission mode (i.e., posting online or received/sent from an individual), and sexual characteristics (i.e., the kinds of sexual...
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References
Barrense-Dias, Y., Berchtold, A., Souris, J. C., & Akre, C. (2017). Sexting and the definition issue. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61, 544–554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.05.009
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Frankel, A., Bass, S., Patterson, F., Dai, T., & Brown, D. (2018). Sexting, risk behavior, and mental health in adolescents: An examination of 2015 Pennsylvania Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. Journal of School Health, 88, 190–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12596
Hasinoff, A. (2012). Sexting as media production: Rethinking social media and sexuality. New Media & Society, 15(4), 449–465. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812459171
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Ouytsel, J., Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., & Temple, J. (2019). Sexting. In Renee Hobbs, & Paul Mihailidis (Editors-in-Chief), Gianna Cappello, Maria Ranieri, & Benjamin Thevenin (Associate Editors), The international encyclopedia of media literacy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118978238.ieml0219
Phippen, A. (2017). Sexting: “The teen epidemic”. In Children’s online behaviour and safety (pp. 81–99). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57095-6_5
Ringrose, J., Harvey, L., Gill, R., & Livingstone, S. (2013). Teen girls, sexual double standards and “sexting”: Gendered value in digital image exchange. Feminist Theory, 14(3), 305–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700113499853
Spooner, K., & Vaughn, M. (2016). Youth sexting: A legislative and constitutional analysis. Journal of School Violence, 15(2), 213–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2014.974245
Walker, K., & Sleath, E. (2017). A systematic review of the current knowledge regarding revenge pornography and non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit media. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36, 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.06.010
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Orchard, T. (2020). Sexting. In: Lykins, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_16-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_16-1
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