Lenny Smith
4/27/2016
Dr. Curzo-Duchart
Media Panics
Sexting & Facebook The usage of the Internet over the years has become something of second nature in today’s world. Everywhere people go they are exposed to the Internet whether they can help it or not. As “smartphones” become more and more incorporated into our everyday lives we are almost forced to use the Internet. The endless amount of Internet access that kids have today leave a wide landscape as to what they are seeing on the Internet, mainly from these social networking sites. In a quote from Sheldon and Geyorgyan’s work stating, “Facebook, with its 21 million registered users and 1.6 billion page views each day, is one of the fastest growing social network sites” (pg. 2). This also
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As sexting is more of a person-to-person “issue” the Internet is for everyone to see whether you choose or not. Continuing with this idea sexting is left up to the people that are sharing the content to each other, whereas the Internet you do not need any permission to view what you choose to view. In other words the Internet has less boundaries than sexting. Another key yet subtle difference is that there are certain degrees of trust when it comes to this newly formed sexting, as opposed to the Internet you basically just log on and view whatever you would like to. Now this level of trust is a key thing to realize because people, particularly girls and women, are sharing things that they are not supposed to. As evidence of the possible dangers of unauthorized sharing of a “sext message” Hasinoff shows that, “Though people may enjoy sharing sexual images consensually, teenage girls report being disturbed and traumatized by the unauthorized distribution of their private images” (pg. 450). In contrast to this there seems to now be a better, although not full, understanding that whatever makes its way on to the can and will be seen by more than just your intended audience. Releasing unauthorized photos or messages that initially were not intended to be seen by others would be another reason as to why sexting and Internet content do vary. There seems to a level of betrayal that comes with releasing sexualized messages compared to the Internet where it seems to be up to the other users how the interpret, share, or even look at the content on the Internet. Although there may be some differences in the way that these two “media panics” are used, each do share some commonalities as
It’s no secret that internet and social media has become a major part of our society. In the last 14 years the number of internet users has increased by a whopping 566% and 2,495,518,376 people in this world have access to the internet. 70% of them use the internet on a daily basis. On average that 70% will spend 3.2 hours daily on social media, such as Instagram, Tumblr, Google+ and YouTube.
In today’s American society, almost everyone, even children as young as six, owns a cell phone with a camera. Although convenient, camera phones also open the door to massive problems concerning child pornography that stem from sexting, or sending nude or lascivious photos. According to a 2010 Federal Bureau of Investigation survey1 of 4,400 middle and high school students, “approximately eight percent of students reported that they had sent a sext of themselves to others while thirteen percent said they had received a sext.” The main problem with sexting, aside from being child pornography if it is a picture of minor, is the ease of dissemination of the sext to other contacts or even the Internet. The United States alone has seen several students commit suicide after a sext intended for one person’s eyes goes viral or is sent to the entire high school. Such was the case of Ohio high school student, Jesse Logan, who sent nude photos to her boyfriend who then sent them to other students who harassed her until she committed suicide.2
When the car industry comes to mind, you think of Detroit. When oranges come to mind, you think of Florida. When pornography comes to mind, you think of the Internet. Almost everything in today’s society has its place, and the place for the pornography industry is the Internet. Being almost inevitable, pornography has become part of everyone’s Internet experience. Whether its junk e-mail or a nasty pop-up for $3.99 a month subscriptions, its hard to say that there isn’t anyone out there who hasn’t been exposed to Internet pornography in one way or another. One reason for this is the overwhelming size the pornography industry has grown to become. For some, the easy access to the industry has allowed for millions of dollars to be made. For others, this has caused serious problems. Parents who have children know what troubles Internet pornography can bring. Not only do actual pictures and services provide a venue for profits to be made, but software preventing the easy access has became more popular as well.
According to Amy Adele Hasinoff and Tamara Shepherd’s article “Sexting in Context: Privacy norms and Expectations” (2014) the modern Internet is seen by many as the place where privacy goes to die. With youth at the forefront as the ones quickest to jump on social media and the first ones blamed for the decline of society and moral values. The article examines the privacy expectations of youth when sharing intimate material also called sexting: a topic that is often seen in extremes and surrounded by shocking claims of sexuality, rebellion and risk. The authors of the article feel to create policies and programs that help decrease the damage a shared sext image can have, an understanding of the privacy expectations of youth when sexting is necessary.
is at its peak in the media. In today's society, the young are able to
Technology is used by many people and there are more social media sites than ever before. Therefore, sexting is bound to become a bigger and more scrutinized issue. The reason that sexting is under such intense scrutiny is because of the way males and females are seen and treated differently and the role each gender has in these situations. First, females and males have very different roles in regards to sexting. Males are portrayed by the media as the ones that ask
Sexting is ‘the act of sending, receiving, or retaining sexually explicit text messages, pictures, or video using cellular phones’, ( Crespi, Segool, 2013). It is viewed that those who participate in sexting are part of a deviant subculture. As technology has further advanced over the years, mobile phones in particular have the ability to record and send photos and videos and with this also comes the increase in sending explicit and suggestive material, mainly among teens. The content being sent can be anything from texts, semi nudity and even sexual picture and videos. From one generation to the next, teenagers and adults have already been exchanging sexually explicit messages and images, so sexting shouldn’t come as a huge shock. However one of the real concerns about sexting is how easily these images and videos can be spread and shared among large groups of people. Pictures or videos thought to be shared privately among people, can quickly become viral and can be seen by everyone and anyone. A prime example of this can be seen...
Technology and things like social media have a great effect on sexual views, behavior and practice among generations. Recent advances in technology are influencing sexual behaviors because of things like computers, smartphones, sex technology (sex toys, pornography, etc.). The list is growing and so are the many possible uses of these technologies. In fact, one in every ten websites is a pornography website, (Krotoski, 2011). This alone gives individuals access to the erotic, fantasy world of sex. These advances in technology, and the availability of this information has made it easier than ever to enter the world of sex.
First, the definition. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sexting as : The sending of sexually explicit messages or images by cell phone (Merriam-Webster). Now, what is considered a sexually explicit image? Well a sexually explicit image is usually any photo that shows any nude or seminude
Sexting is an issue that many people are still unclear on. Sexting is the exchanging of nude or seminude pictures or videos by cell phones (Hewitt and Driscoll). These media files can be exchanged by teens as young as 11 to married adults in their 40s. Sexting can hold serious consequences, such as being charged with child pornography, having to register in the sex offenders list, and even facing jail time (Hewitt and Driscoll). Even after knowing the gravity of the consequences, people continue to sext. The reason behind this phenomenon is still a mystery. Some believe that some individuals want to sext in order to gain the attention that they aren’t getting from significant other. A woman who had participated in sexting even claimed that a man she sexted with made her feel wanted (Tapper). The same article states that men believe “if you get a woman to send you a naked picture, you’re cool. It’s an ego boost.” Although many know sexting can be a crime, many individuals who sext do i...
Sexting can be referred to as sexual content communicated through text messages, smart phones, or visual and web 2.0 activities such as social networking sites. It has been defined as the ‘exchange of sexual messages or images’ (Livingstone et al., 2011) and ‘the creating, sharing and forwarding of sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images’ (Lenhart, 2009) through mobile phones and/or the internet. There are many factors associated with sexting. This includes that fact that it is coercive, this means that sexting does not refer to a single activity but rather to a range of activities which may be motivated by sexual pleasure but are often linked to harassment, bullying and even violence. (Ringrose, Gill, Livingstone and Harvey, 2012, pp 7).
There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand, parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media allows students to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and for many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bullying can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information. Social media sites such as Facebook are one of the most popular social media sites that has 700,000-750,000 members joining each day.
Pornography has been the topic of discussion in the court systems for years. Many would like to see legislation against it and software to filter it. The problem is it's not that easy and making laws against it would pose a problem against the first amendment. There have many issues brought up on the grounds that it is demoralizing to women and is filth for the eyes of children. But, is pornography really that harmful?
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Parascope, Snapchat, and Linkedin are all a part of the huge trend taking over the world. Social media had become big about ten years ago and keeps growing. Social media is not in just one or two countries yet it is worldwide; people in almost all countries are liking statuses and posting updates and pictures. It was indicated that 73% of adults online, 73% of teens online, and 72% of young adults online use some sort of social media (Fleck and Johnson-Migalski 135). With social media came many positive and negative effects. People worldwide are addicted to it, spending hours upon hours on the Internet reading about what other people are doing. The United Nations has declared access to the internet to be
In the twenty -first century, teenagers live in a life of social networking and life’s online. It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed over the decades, especially in technology. Technology helps people to contact relatives and friends from long distance more easily and conveniently. People can now talk to each other from everywhere in the world simply through chat and video calls. By time, internet connections have spread throughout households and social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram has increased gradually. However, the internet and several modern technologies have wasted many times and has hurt the society. Social media plays such a big role in people’s lives that some people couldn’t even imagine