Sexting (broadly defined here as the electronic sharing of nude or semi-nude images) is an increasingly common element of American society. It is visible in studies on online dating and digital abuse, the law, news coverage, and popular culture. However, our collective understanding of sexting often involves a rigid dichotomy that separates sexting into two categories: flirtation or harassment, love or revenge, consensual or nonconsensual, and victim or perpetrator. As a result, the ways in which individuals actually engage in sexting remains opaque.

How do young people sext? What separates a satisfying sexting interaction from an unsatisfying one? And is sexting really just about sex? My dissertation answers these questions using in-depth survey and interview data that explore how college students think about and engage in sexting. I show how sexting is not one uniform action; it consists of a wide range of diverse practices. By analyzing the processes through which these practices take place, I reveal how young people use nude images to bond with one another. I also show how these processes may reproduce or challenge inequalities within and between men and women.

This is the only comprehensive study of sexting that explores how and why young people share nude images and the consequences of these actions, drawing attention to how sexting interactions vary across contexts and relationships. Using the stories told by my interviewees, I show how young people use nude images to build and break social bonds. It may not be surprising that sexting plays some role in how young people pursue and end romantic relationships online. As technology has become more engrained into our social lives, intimate relationships frequently include digital communication. The book’s shocking conclusion is that, in line with Durkheim’s work on religious rituals, sexting is not only responsible for bonding romantic partners to one another, it also bonds society together.

MIXED-METHODS APPROACH

Online Survey: I designed a comprehensive online survey of sexting behaviors and collected responses from 1,917 undergraduate students from seven universities across the United States. The survey captures data on respondents’ engagement in four types of sexting: sending images of the self, receiving images from someone else, sending images of others, and receiving images of others. This quantitative data provides measurable insights into the prevalence of these four types of sexting among young people and the characteristics that define them.

In-depth Interviews: I conducted follow-up interviews with 101 survey respondents. Interviews generally lasted 60-90 minutes and explored each interviewees' sexting history, personal life, college experiences, and plans for the future. I found that interviewees often appreciated having an impartial space in which they could talk openly about this “taboo” topic. This qualitative data reveals how and why young people engage in different types of sexting and how their sexting practices may evolve over time.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

This research has been supported by grants from the Graduate and Professional Student Council, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute at the University of Arizona. Thank you to my advisor, Dr. Louise Roth, and my dissertation committee members for the feedback and support they have provided throughout this project.