Sexting

S

exting is the practice of sending or posting sexually suggestive text messages and images, including nude or semi-nude photographs, via cellular phones or over the Internet . In a study conducted in 2009 by Amanda Lenhardt, her participants identified three main contexts for sexting:

1. Exchange of images solely between two romantic partners
2. Exchanges between partners that are shared with others outside the relationship
3. Exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where at least one person hopes to be.

Sexting has become much more prevalent in the era of smartphones and social media, and, while it is done by people of all ages , it is more notably associated with adolescents and young adults. Because sexting's popularity is still relatively recent, both the ethics and legislation surrounding it are still being developed. Sexting can be seen as acceptable in certain relationships, but there are many circumstances where it is a negative concept. Since it’s development, sexting has prompted privacy concerns, created a whole new form of sexual harassment and bullying, raised new issues regarding consent and sparked the creation of legislation.

Snapchat

Snapchat was first created in 2011 by Stanford alum Bobby Murphy and Stanford dropout Evan Spiegel for a product design class. The application was rated for users twelve and older with the company description of:

“Snapchat is the fastest way to share a moment with friends. You control how long your friends can view your message- simply set the time up to ten seconds and send. They’ll have that long to view your message and then it disappears forever. We’ll let you know if they take a screenshot! Build relationships, collect points, and view your best friends Snapchat is instantly fun and playful. Show your friends how clever you can be and enjoy the lightness of being!”

Since its launch, Snapchat has been notoriously known as a sexting application . Snapchat was even name “the greatest tool for sexting since the front-facing camera” . People feel a sense of safety and in sending their nude photos because they disappear, or are deleted, from the company’s server. However, what happens when those photos are not permanently deleted or removed but, instead, stay in circulation on the Internet and its platforms?

There are ways that receivers of snapchats can save them forever . They can screenshot the snapchat, which notifies the sender, or they can use someone else’s phone to take a photo of the snapchat which avoids the screenshot notification. In the latter, the sender would be under the false assumption that their photo had disappeared because they never received a screenshot notification. Apps have been created for purchase that will also save snapchats without notifying the sender of it. This is an invasion of both physical privacy and decisional privacy, for the original sender of the photos no longer has the freedom to decide who views the photos of their exposed body . These photos are going on and being shared to wide audiences and appearing on various social media accounts; for instance, the Twitter accounts like ‘Sexy Snapchat Sluts,’ ‘Snapchat sluts’ or ‘Snapchat_Sluts.’ These public Twitter accounts share the nude photos of strangers for anyone to see, allowing anyone to become voyeurs. As Tony Doyle stated in Privacy and Perfect Voyeurism, “Persons are worthy of having their autonomy respected because they are persons,” and accounts like these blatantly take away people’s autonomy.