Sexting – Peer Pressure In The Information Age

Sexting (a portmanteau of sex and texting) is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs electronically, primarily between mobile phones.
Wikipedia Link

Greetings Earthlings.
I suppose the time has come for me to offer my insight into this matter, and interestingly enough, there is already plenty of pimpformation in depth regarding this subject found within these walls, yet as usual, there comes a time when squares need to form some type of a term to describe things in order for them to be put into context and discussed, take the term Pimp-Hop as an example.

How can we keep it simple?
According to what I know, every action has a reaction, and any effect is a result of the cause, or as the old folks say, you reap what you sow.

In this day and age, as in past times, individuals will be found behaving in ways that are in harmony with their peers, without analyzing what the potential end results will be from their actions other than being in line with the rest of the group who none of which have a clear idea of the the end result other than the same as other individuals who are following the group.

If that is too scientific sounding, you can call it a monkey see, monkey do mentality, or a blind leading the blind scenario.

My stance is that whether it is a message in a bottle, or a message in an inbox, somewhere in the equation, the subject of sex will arise, as if communications first app was developed as a means for males and females to express their thoughts and emotions, beginning with the one that leads to birth in the first place which is known as sexual intercourse and interaction which like all things begins with and idea and feeling, then moving to a communication of this feeling.

The sexting trend is being emphasized as something that is an adolescent phenomenon, yet in all actuality, since minors do tend to learn from adults, it begins with adults as adults are the creators of the goods and services that allow the communication in the first place.

Lets do a walk through and see what we come up with.

In earlier times, the boy meets girl scenario begins with boy seeing girl and girl wanting to be seen by boy. The next step entails that boy finds a way to strike up a conversation with girl, and girl choosing to acknowledge attention and respond or not respond with the first goal of gaining the attention of boy being accomplished. From this point, nature and natural selection will take its course.

In the digital age, the scenarios are the same mentally and emotionally with a change in the physicality of the boys and girls. Boy now sees
image and words of girl, and decides to initiate a conversation in which girl will whether or not to respond, and to what extent she will respond, with the goal of gaining attention of boys accomplished, yet she is gaining the attention of boys  to her images and words, and not her actual physical person in real time.

Possible Outcomes.

When girl becomes accustomed to the convenience of gaining attention through the use of the Internet to her words and images as opposed to her actual person, she may choose to display images which show what she looks like in an intimate setting as opposed to how she would appear in a public setting, with a feeling of importance due to the fact that she
(her images and words) make her feel like the object of desire,with a be seen and not be touched mentality. At some point, boy will most likely recognize it as a vain pursuit and loose interest, which she was attempting to gain.

Boy will then attempt to revert back to non digital methods, only to learn that girl with the use of cell phone is still seeking the attention of her images and words on the screen as opposed to her physical person, due to concerns about her physical, mental, and emotional safety.

Girl will become accustomed to acting through an avatar, while out in the world at large, and risk the potential of assault from sexual predators who are present in the world at large, similar to a recent scenario at UCLA, in which a sexual predator targets females who are texting while walking around on campus neglecting to pay attention to immediate real world environment.

According to police, the suspect’s pattern was to wait in the path of a female victim who is distracted by her cell phone. As the victim approaches, the suspect reaches out to grab the victim’s crotch. News Link.

Boys with a lack of social skills may attempt to lure women with the offer of money, gifts , or other forms of enticement, and enact his frustration on victims as seen by the Craigslist Killer , who kept souvenirs of his conquests which were most likely reminiscent of items often shown in sexually explicit images online, or man who shot innocent women in an L.A. Fitness Dance Class as a result of his social shortcomings.

The end result leading to a greater concern for security, which is served through the comfort and safety of familiar physical boundaries, with the side effect of depression due to self imposed isolation, similar to what is seen

with incarcerated individuals who’s only means of communication with the opposite sex are through mail, telephone, and guarded visits.

These are just a few of my own theories about the possible outcomes, which stem from dishonest and non authentic communication, known in the information age as sexting.

The Solution?

What You See Is What You Get.

Stay Tuned.

A different perspective to consider.