Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 61, August 2016, Pages 219-226
Computers in Human Behavior

Full length article
Sexualized behaviors on Facebook

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.037Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Internet and Social networks bring the opportunity to research the adolescence and youth's world.

  • Privacy settings are a facilitating factor for sexualized behaviors.

  • Girls tried to please through seduction to obtain social approval while boys presented themselves as seducers.

Abstract

Currently, social networks are places where young people socialize and develop their digital identities. One of the most common risky behaviors among young people is sexualized behavior, which is promoted in social networks due to an interface that makes content exchange easier, for example, by sharing pictures, messages, videos, etc. This study's aim is to analyze the sexualized behaviors displayed by adolescents and young people on their Facebook profiles and the factors that allow for their distribution over social networks. In order to achieve this objective, a content analysis was performed over the course of 12 months using 100 profiles of teenagers and adolescents in Spain between 14 and 21 years of age. The results revealed differences in gender for these types of behaviors, and vulnerability factors were found to be part of this problem. The self presentation in the digital egocentrism and digital narcissism strengthen sexualized behaviors. Selfies represent a particular way of communicating with others and are responsible for most of the sexualized behaviors.

Finally, avoiding the creation and/or diffusion of sexualized behaviors is highly important, and there is an urgent need to educate young people so they can learn how to manage their virtual media.

Section snippets

Adolescents' and young people's sexualized behaviors on Facebook

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) – the Internet and, more specifically, social networks – have revolutionized the way adolescents communicate with each other, and they have also become an important element of socializing for young people (The Cocktail Analysis, 2012). For younger generations, online life tends to be, in most cases, an extension of offline life (Tabernero, Aranda, & Sánchez-Navarro, 2010). However, online technology, which facilitates and amplifies social

Design

In order to perform a deep investigation without losing the young people's points of view, the methodology was based on the research codebook for the social networking sites one developed by Megan Moreno (Moreno, Egan, & Brockman, 2011), which began on the basis of health behavior theory and clinical criteria to consider intentions toward behavior and also included an emphasis on confidentiality.

One of the issues in the use of virtual social networks as an investigation tool is the nonexistence

Results

Regarding the analysis of the profiles, factors that characterize each profile personally and make adolescents and young people more vulnerable to the risks derived from spreading sexual content on social networks were taken into account.

Discussion and conclusions

The objective of the study was to identify the factors that facilitate sexualized behaviors among young people and adolescents on Facebook. A total of 100 profiles were analyzed. The results showed that privacy settings are a facilitating factor for sexualized behaviors. The role of profiles with more than 700 friends is one in which the person can be in the spotlight, disregarding the intimacy they are losing in exchange for fame.

Jacques Lacan called this “extremity” in 1958 (Tello, 2013).

Limitations

One of the main limitations is the sample because stratified sampling was not performed. The sample is not representative of the whole population of adolescents and young people using Facebook in Spain. The fact that Facebook is a social network that can be used by people from any race, culture or socioeconomic status must also be taken into account; it is a virtual representation of every type of group that exists in the offline world. It would be an anthropological matter to detect and

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