One More Sext

I selected this topic by knowing the popularity of sexting within our society but not knowing the implications. My goal was not to get overwhelmed with many news cases of
sexing cases but rather do an analysis of the subject at large.

I began by establishing an understanding of what sexting was through a definition and news video. I then spotlit the social implications and how sexting has affected the lives of those not even involved in the act through mis-sent messages. I also looked into how prevalent has become as seen by its influence of everyday art and music. This in mind, public service announcements on the subject have been prevalent; I took a look at these and evaluated their ability to persuade and make me laugh. I then discussed the legal implications of these scenarios and what a state of Arizona has passed to further prosecute these cases. As seen below, many question if this is the best method for dealing with the issue.

Some of my most interesting posts discussed how companies have been dealing with this matter. I began by discussing Apple's decision to remove sex related applications from their AppStore. Competitor Microsoft had to mitigate the collateral damage following an advertisement that some felt encouraged sexting. Finally I took a look at how companies nationwide have been dealing with employees utilizing their mobile devices for this use and how the Supreme Court is evaluating the legal implications.

I concluded this blog by emphasizing the scope of this issue through a variety of in-depth statistics. While there are many interesting statistics on which demographics are more prevelant to this naughty trend, I found the desire for power across groups to be most interesting. It is clear that the implications of this trend have pertinent implications on our societies and a variety of stakeholder's in it.

A Power Move

I ran into a study that investigated the relationship between sexting and power. It found that two-thirds of the group sexted. The frequency of doing this with those in ages up to 26 was higher as seen below:

• When considering only teens, 13-19 year olds, 65.5% sexted.
• When considering only young adults, 20-26 year olds, 73.5% sexted.

When looking at the group as a whole (ages 13-72) "sexters did have a significantly higher power score as compared to non-sexters. Yet, when observing teens there was no difference in the power scores between sexters and non-sexters. This means that sexting may serve different purposes for people aged 26 and younger vs. those over age 26."

The study also highlighted some interesting statistics that were not mentioned in the previous statistics that I had mentioned:

Use of Company Commuication Property for Peronal Use: Workers privacy to be defined by Supreme Court

Generally employees know that they should not use company property for personal use unless permitted by their organization. The majority of the time --as seen by the statistics to the right-- this is made clear by a companies terms of use police. Years ago when the lines between work and personal life were clear this was very simple to do. Today that line is blurred as many work form home or travel work and take advantage of technological advances (laptops, email, and internet enabled mobile phones). Given these advances and a recession, employees are working harder and longer hours with many battling to maintain a work life balance. The result of which often has employees attempting to save time by utilizing company equipment to address personal matters via a phones voice, text, and email capabilities.

In this day in age it is pretty well known that company email should be used for business use, as it is not 'private'. While this is known, 79% of employees admit to utilizing work email for personal use. “Employers have both a right and a responsibility to ensure that e-mail is used for the good of the organization and is not used in an unlawful or damaging way,” says Mark Levitt, a retired attorney and vice president of collaborative computing and the enterprise workplace at IDC, the research firm in Framingham, Mass. To address the issue many companies monitor employees emails - please refer to the figure to the figure to the left for stats.

When it comes to the debate over privacy, Levitt says an employer's owns the e-mail systems -- which includes the software, network access, computers, and so forth. Therefore, the company has the legal right to oversee how its systems are being used or abused. In one sense, e-mail monitoring is a way to protect the organization’s confidential business information. “Employers need to know if employees are sending e-mails to competitors containing confidential information about product designs or strategies,” says Levitt.

Many organizations allow associates to pay a portion of a bill to make it their personal phone. In these cases employees will use this for personal use after reaching an agreement. While this is convenient for the individual, what does this mean for their own privacy? In a world where work life and personal life are in a state of imbalance, it is my belief that is best to keep it separate. Deloitte Consulting for example allows employees to pay for personal use of company iPhones. In a recent study 45% of business iPhone users use it over 3/4 of the time for personal use. While the iPhone is marketed and utilized more as a social device than the blackberry for instance, the poll reinforces the personal use of business devices. Regardless, labor experts say personal information on a company device is subject to monitoring Yet for those who opt in to the cost saving measure to avoid looking like a drug dealer, the debate over their personal privacy is more complicated as seen in the case below.

In other news,

"The future of employee privacy rights in the workplace may hinge on a case that the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up involving a cop and sexting.

Jeff Quon, a California SWAT sergeant, was given a pager from his employer, the Ontario Police Department. He was later found to have used the device not only for work but also for pleasure, often sending sexually explicit text messages to his wife and his mistress.

Quon’s employer found out about his personal use of the pager after an investigation looking into excessive texting at the department.

uon cried foul, saying he thought the messages were confidential.

As a result, Quon; his wife Jerilyn, who is also a police officer; his mistress, April Florio, who is a department dispatcher; and another sergeant, Steve Trujillo; sued the department, the city of Ontario, and the paging service company, Arch Wireless Operating Company, for violating their privacy rights.

A lower court decided in the employees’ favor in 2008; the defendants appealed. Now the highest court in the land has decided to hear the case, and privacy advocates and labor law experts are waiting to see how the court will decide.

“This could be a game changer when it comes to monitoring by employers and electronic privacy for employees,” said Nancy Flynn, executive director for The ePolicy Institute and author of “The e-Policy Handbook.”"

this last bit below is brought to you by Eve Tahmincioglu, msnbc.com contributor.

Statistics

While we all know that sexting is frequent in our society, I ran into some in-depth statistics that are shed more light on the subject.


The following is from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The full refer to pages one to four of the full study entitled 'Sex Tech' for more information on the statistics

The percent of teenagers who have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves:

• 20% of teenagers overall
• 22% of teen girls
• 18% of teen boys
• 11% of teen girls ages 13-16

The percent of teenagers sending or posting sexually suggestive messages:

• 39% of all teenagers
• 37% of teen girls
• 40% of teen boys

• 15% of teenagers who have sent or posted nude or seminude images of themselves say they have done so to someone they only knew online.

• 48% of teenagers say they have received such messages.

• 71% of teen girls and 67% of teen guys who have sent or posted sexually suggestive content say they have sent or posted this content to a boyfriend or girlfriend.

• 21% of teenage girls and 39% of teen boys say they have sent such content to someone they wanted to date or hook up with.

• 44% of both teen girls and teen boys say it is common for sexually suggestive text messages to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.

• 36% of teen girls and 39 % of teen boys say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.

• 51%of teen girls say pressure from a guy is a reason girls send sexy messages or images;
only 18% of teen boys cited pressure from female counterparts as a reason.

• 66% of teen girls and 60% of teen boys say they did so to be “fun or flirtatious”; their most common reason for sending sexy content.

• 52% of teenage girls used sexting as a “sexy present” for their boyfriend.

• 44% of both teen girls and teen boys say they sent sexually suggestive messages or images in response to such content they received.

• 40% of teenage girls said they sent sexually suggestive messages or images as “a joke.”

• 34% of teen girls say they sent or posted sexually suggestive content to “feel sexy.”

• 12% of teen girls felt “pressured” to send sexually suggestive messages or images.

Technology Giant's Sexting Stance: Apple Agaisnt & Microsoft Pro

Awhile back I had posted regarding Apple's removal of sex related apps on the iPhone. This major move established a stance and it seems that their top competitor may not take the topic as seriously.

Microsoft recent ad for it social media phone the Kin which has a male teen taking a picture under his shirt and sending it to someone. Writing for Consumer Reports' electronics blog, Mike Gikas observes that Microsoft's video "comes uncomfortably close to advocating sexting."

While sex has been a common theme in advertising for years some see this acquisition as a little far-fetched. While this add would clearly not be Apple's without it's clean white background, some believe if it was would be viewed as edgy not offensive.

See the ad for yourself Microsoft has responded by snipping out the short portion of the ad on the Kin website.

New Arizona Law Makes Sexting = Shoplifting

Last month the Arizona House passed a bill that makes minors sending or possessing sexts to another minor a class two misdemeanor. Those in support say this is an important move as the law is the first in the state specific to the crime. Prior to this law the only thing applicable to prosecute on would be a general child pornography charge. Sending explicit pictures between two adults remains legal under the new law.

Chris Segrin, UA department head of communication and psychology professor says that the consequences when caught sexting underage are similar to that shoplifting. Court can even be avoided if an underage naughty texter goes through minor participates in a 90-day diversion program, which can include counseling, community service or life-skills training.

Segrin says, “Only about 10 percent of the people that do it end up getting caught doing it, and these are minors." While it is certain that the new law will increase the amount of prosecutions towards these types of cases, it is unlikely that it will reduce the amount that teens partake in the activity.

Sexting Inspired Art

Below are some of my favorite images from the group of pieces entitled [SEXTing] from the portfolio of Juan Antonio Rendon:

Safe Sexting Capaigns - Reviewed and Rated by Me

While public service announcements regarding safe sex have become common place in our society it seems that Safe Sexting PSAs may be the wave of the future. While they span across the scale of seriousness seen below, these aare marketing dangers and precautions. Listed below are my rankings and reviews of sexting campaigns.


6. National Crime Protection Council

• My Rating: Not Funny At All
• Review: Informative yet boring

5. Angels Against Abuse (Student Lead Group at East High School in Denver, CO)

• My Rating: Funny But Not 'LOL'
• Review: Catchy low-budget PSA
• Their mission is to raise awareness about teen dating violence and educate their peers about healthy relationships.
  
• The club plans and sponsors a number of awareness events including assemblies, outdoor events, poster campaigns and fundraisers.
• They have been featured in educational videos, local media and recently participated in the making of a PSA in collaboration with the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

4. United Way's Sexting Campaign

• My Rating: Just Humorous
• Review: Eye catching
  

3. LG's Give it a Ponder Campaign

• My Rating: Funny but not 'LOL'
  
• Review: Good message, random beard
  
• Feature's Inside the Actors Studio's James Lipton and his beard
• GiveitAPonder.com features social networking, videos, and free apps
  

2. College Humor's "Let's Talk About Sex(t)"

• My Rating: Genuinely Funny
  
• Review: Best method to spread and bring light to relevant age groups affected
  
• College Humor has updated Salt-n-Pepa's 1991 hit "Let's Talk About Sex" for a new generation. While young folks today have to remember to keep themselves safe in the bedroom they also have to remember to keep themselves covered-up online.

1. iPhone App by MountainDev

• My Rating: Mockingly Funny
• Review: I don't know where to begin
  
• With Safe Sexting, perverted kids can now continue to enjoy texting naked pictures of themselves and as an added bonus … they’ll stay out of jail. Before your next sexting session, simply launch Safe Sexting … which will automatically open up a safe sexting camera with four options to censor you naughty bits: Small Box, Large Box, Head Box (for the introverts) and a teasing semi-transparent Red Silk. Take picture and safely send away.

Ludacris' Sexting Song

A single off Ludacris' new album set for release in about a week hits on our topic. Lyrics and music below:


[Ludacris - Chorus]
So I’m just sitting in this rehab class
trying to get myself unhooked on ass
so then my teacher asked me a question
like Ludacris are you over there sexting

ha ha OMG LOL KIT Smiley faces X and O’s LMFAO
my girl went through my cell phone
my girl went through my cell phone
my girl went through my cell phone
my girl went through my cell phone
i said my girl went through my cell phone
[repeated]

[Ludacris - Verse 1]
So I’m getting treated for my sex addiction
in my private clinic and I need you to be sensitive about my condition
cos I’m in it to win it and I really don’t want to further disappoint my fans
and my teachers a cougar so I wish she’d lend a helping hand
damn, calm down, BBC TXT or MSG
after class come with me and can I get a little bit of TLC
she replied what the f-ck
FYI you’re gonna flunk
SMH it’s such a shame
you ain’t learned a damn thing

[Chorus]

http://lyricsmusicvideo.blogspot.com/2010/02/ludacris-sexting-lyrics-video.html

[Ludacris - Verse 2]
So I’m sitting in the crib just chillin and I’m minding my business
got a text with a tongue out from a number I didn’t recognize
I replied who is this
quick back got a hit back
said this is Stacy and I’ve been missing you
had to change my number so I went and got a new phone and new tattoo
a what, a new tattoo wow,
arrr yeaah, hurry click
can you send a nasty pic
so I can see right where it is
and I promise I won’t show my friends (yeah right)
she replied, well ok BTW by the way
SMH its such a shame that you aint learned a damn thing

[Chorus]

[Ludacris - Verse 3]
So I pull up to the club stunting in a Yellow Lamborghini
half bent, black tint, five percent make it a little hard to see me
stepped out, fresh out headed straight for the door and to the VIP
next thing I got a text from a freaky Latina saying is that you I see
is that you papi
so I bbm’ed abbreviate yep and before the night gets too late
let me hit you with a little Q&A
can I tap that ass tta
she replied it all depends
it’s me plus one can I bring my friends
and all I can think was that it’s such a shame
that I aint learned a damn thing

[Chorus]

Why some say he is slamming Tiger, he defends him in the clip below, "If I'm making fun of Tiger Woods, I'm also making fun of myself," Luda said in an interview. "This is what happens," he explained of the inspiration behind the song. "So I'm just bringing to light what's really going on in the world. It's very entertaining. And I do feel as though he may have handled it wrong...I would say, 'Let's go play some golf and talk about it -- I take that back -- I'd say, 'Let's go to the sex-rehab place together and let's discuss it. Let me know where your sex-rehab place is and I'll let you know where mine is. We got some things to get off our chest.'"

MTV's ' 'Sexting In America: When Privates Go Public' Premieres On Valentine's Day

Michelle Trachtenberg, Asher Roth, All Time Low and Boys Like Girls join MTV's A Thin Line campaign against digital abuse.

MTV News special "Sexting in America: When Privates Go Public" is set to premiere on Valentine's Day as part of MTV's A Thin Line campaign to stop the spread of digital abuse. And before the show, Boys Like Girls, Michelle Trachtenberg, All Time Low and Asher Roth have teamed up with MTV to inform people about serious harm sexting, cyberbullying and online harassment can cause.

The special will take an in-depth look at the recent rise of "sexting" in pop culture, including in the celebrity world. It will also take an in-depth look at the frequency and consequences of sending or forwarding nude, sexually suggestive or explicit pictures on your cell or online. It will explore why some teens and young adults hit "forward" instead of "delete."

In addition to the celebrity participants in the special, young people will talk openly about sexting. The special will look at real-life stories from people like Ally, whose reputation was destroyed after sexting her ex-boyfriend, and Phillip, who was charged with child pornography after forwarding photos of his underage girlfriend and is slated to remain on the sex-offender registry until he's 43 years old.

A Thin Line works to stop the spread of digital abuse. A recent MTV and AP study found that three in 10 young people have sent or received nude "sext" messages, and over 60 percent of those who sent a nude photo reporting that they were pressured to do so at least once. Additionally, the research found that those who have sexted are four times more likely to have considered suicide.

Over 75 percent of young people state that digital abuse is a serious problem for people their age. However, few consider the more serious consequences and risks of their behavior, with only 51 percent believing that their digital actions could come back to haunt them, and only 25 percent considering that these actions could have legal consequences.

The MTV News special "Sexting in America: When Privates Go Public," premieres Sunday, February 14, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

A Mis-Sent Sext....

I was doing my daily facebooking and ran into one of my friends statuses:

While initially i thought this was hilarious, it is relevant to the broader topic.

• How often do sexts get received by those who don't even know the individual? More than likely a decent amount, of which the receiver could be a child which would than make it a crime.

• Also for something like this to happen it would more than likely mean that a message was sent to a person who is in the sender's phone book -- which makes me ask how well the sender knows the individual.

Video Overview of Teen Sexting

I ran into this video which gives a good overview of some of the dangers of teen sexting


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Sexting Defined