How Queerness Goes Online

In this chapter, the author challenges the commonsense claim that the internet provides equally accessible resources that are free from stigma, prejudice, or discrimination. Through the stories of university students in their own words, this intersectional analysis explores how the internet certainly offers substantial benefits to queer and nonconforming youth; however, interpersonal bias and systems of oppression pervade online forms of communication and social media applications. Additionally, the author troubles the notion that the internet is experienced as a ‘safe space' for anonymous or uninhibited explorations of queer identity. In fact, despite the internet's practical affordances of identity work, there are severe limits to tolerance and inclusion in online sociality, and because of this, doing queer identity work online has the potential to exacerbate the isolating effects of homophobia and discrimination.

Barriers in Women's Romantic Partner Search in the Digital Age

What are women's experiences of searching for and making romantic connections in the digital age? Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 111 Asian, White, Black, and Latina, heterosexual, college-educated women between the ages of 25 and 33, the author finds that, regardless of race, women searching for romantic partners encounter cyberaggression and men who are intimidated by their educational background and/or career achievements. Women of color also experience cultural sexual racism, and Black women additionally contend with being excluded as potential romantic partners by Black and non-Black men. She argues that these experiences constitute barriers to relationship formation in the digital age. Furthermore, this research contributes to scholarship that explores the intersection of race, gender, and technology and its impact on individuals' lived experiences.

The Influence of Technology on Privacy Boundary Management in Young Adults' Sexting Relationships

Sexting (the sharing of sexual messages, images, and videos via communication technologies) emerged from the development of new communication technologies (CTs). As such, CTs are a vital component of sexting, and young adults continue to have more platforms to choose from to use for sexting. This chapter uses a relational approach to technological affordances and communication privacy management (CPM) theory to understand how technologies influence sexting among young adults. Empirical evidence is provided about how the affordances of a platform moderate the relationships between self-disclosure, partner trust, privacy, and risk. As such, an additional type of mediated dyadic privacy boundary is established where shared information can belong to one or both individuals and the medium used for sexting. Finally, the moderation results imply that the features of the platform matter in young adults' decisions to sext since the features can afford them more privacy, more trust, and less risk.

Transformation of China's Most Popular Dating App, Momo, and Its Impact on Young Adult Sexuality

This chapter explores China's most popular dating app ‘Momo' and its impact on young adult sexuality. It examines three interrelated questions at three different levels: First, at the macro level, in what social situations and institutions were mobile dating apps such as Momo invented in China? Second, at the meso level, if we consider Momo as a constantly changing social process, what are the transformations it has experienced, and, during this process, what societal forces have impacted the trajectory of changes and in what ways? Third, at the micro level, how the transformation of Momo's ‘intimate infrastructures' at different developmental stages has impacted the sexuality and intimate relationships of its young adult users? It argues that mobile dating apps have to timely transform their design, functions, and market positions to adapt to the changing market competition and governmental regulations in China. The transformation of the intimate infrastructures of the mobile dating apps has also shaped the young adult users' intimate practices and sexuality.

Sexting at a Young Age

This chapter applies a social psychological approach to contemporary dilemmas with personal photographs used in “sexting” by young people. Specifically, Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1917-2005) Ecological Systems Theory is used to examine a collection of agents and agencies attracted to sexting. The theory identifies five types of nested environmental systems responsible for human development namely microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. This chapter examines how an unexpected diverse collection of people now play roles in controlling sexting as a social and technological practice. These include parents, teachers, peers, school administrators, police, judges, lawyers, software developers, the ACLU, media and sports celebrities, social scientists, the news media, among several others. Specific attention is given to how these systems and roles interact as a result of sexting practices and the attention given to visual issues. The author seeks to offer a “larger picture” and offer a sense of where and how pieces of the visual, cultural, and social fit together.

Battling Against Demeaning and Abusive Selfie Sharing

Image-based sexual abuse is a growing issue among young adults, and challenges remain as to how to support those who have had intimate photos distributed without their consent. This chapter begins with an exploration of image-based sexual abuse, including motivations for perpetration. The focus then shifts to address how victims might transform their feelings of helplessness into empowerment through challenging victim blaming, legislative avenues, and digital justice. Recommendations and solutions focus on engaging in activism. Throughout the chapter are stories from activists who work with Battling Against Demeaning and Abusive Selfie Sharing (BADASS), a non-profit focused on education, legislation, and advocacy work.

Young Adult Use of Sexting

Along with many of the unintended consequences of recent technology, research regarding “sexting” is a little behind the times. For the purposes of this chapter, sexting is defined as the sending or receiving of explicit or sexually suggestive messages, images, or videos via cell phone, email, or social media. While early research approached sexting as dangerous, with implications for bullying, child pornography, and harassment, later research has progressed to paint it as more common and happening among consensual adults. This chapter attempts to explain how sexting is becoming a normalized part of young adult relationships.

The Facebook Me

For a better understanding of social networking site usage, the present study examines the influence of gender, personality, and self-esteem on social media presentation. The researchers found that extroverted women posted more Facebook pictures than extroverted men did. Neuroticism was related to self-presentation, and agreeableness is related to Facebook friends. Lower self-esteem was related to more self-presentation on Facebook. Women were more likely to post gender role expressions than men were. And higher levels of neuroticism were related to greater gender role expressions.

“That's What Google Is For”

Through in-depth interviews, this chapter examines the ways 25 LGB young adults (18-35 years old) used digital technologies as they do emotion work to preserve relationships with heterosexual parents. Findings demonstrate that, with the aid of technology (especially texting, Skyping, social media, YouTube, television, and various informational websites), LGB young adults engaged in personal and interpersonal forms of “preventive” and “palliative” emotion work. The former's aim was to prevent noxious feelings and the latter to preserve familial relationships despite emotional pain. These forms of emotion work allowed LGBs to maintain relationships with their parents, but by privileging the emotional wellbeing of heterosexual parents above those of LGBs. The authors conclude by suggesting that digital technology can be a dual-edged sword. Access to these technologies may allow LGBs to connect with queer communities and to obtain information about queerness, yet utilizing these technologies as a way to preserve familial relationships was an adaptation to--rather than disruption of--heterosexism and homophobia.

The Vagina Apocalypse

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) have been the subject of contentious debate on all sides of the political spectrum. In response, many have created various IUD-related texts that are not only controversial, but allude to apocalyptic themes. Apocalyptic discourse has previously been studied in relation to religion, mass media, the environment, and masculinity. The feminist or even feminine style apocalypse, however, has yet to be explored. Widespread feminist movements use the apocalyptic genre to communicate dystopian urgency about women's reproductive rights. Simultaneously, alternative medicine movements are a source of persuasive texts that both co-opt feminist themes while making use of apocalyptic genre to deter women from certain birth control methods. This chapter analyzes feminist texts in the alternative medicine movement through the Instagram accounts positioned against IUDs to evidence how the feminist apocalyptic genre functions. Greater implications for apocalyptic genre, medical discourse, and feminist symbolism will be addressed.