Have you seen people sharing explicit photos, videos, texts, or other media about themselves with others online, over the phone or e-mail? This is what the new age calls sexting. Smart phones coupled with easily accessible technology and media result in sexting. This is an activity that 1 in every 4 teens indulges in and a number of adults enjoy. At times it just helps relationships heal themselves or gives them a more romantic turn, or else it ruins them when sexting takes an obsessive, uncomfortable turn. Let me cite a few scenarios where sexting seems helpful or more enjoyable:
- A couple having a course of ups and downs in their relationship or one who is suffering a bad patch in their relationship can use sexting to revive the old romance and enjoy each other before it actually comes to reigniting the fire in person!
- A couple who have just graduated their relationship and want to enter the physical realm of their intimacy and are unsure how their partner may take the more intimate advances may start off by sending sexy images of themselves to each other to warm each other up towards the idea of such intimacy and then take it to the next level.
- Long distance relationships can be better handled with some long distance intimacy over the Internet.
- If you’re in a committed relationship then there is every good reason to send sexts to your partner to keep him waiting through the day for the night and spice up your routine after work for some play!
Sexting is in no way wrong as far as it is limited to committed and unchanging partners. This ensures privacy of your photos and videos of a sexually explicit nature and doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. Teens need to use sexting in a very cautious manner and only if they are under NO pressure to share their personal videos and pictures with others. Every adult has the right to make the choice whether or not they want to sext, and they should be allowed to exercise that right in every situation with caution and the right amount to surety regarding the recipient. This media can be misused very easily thanks to the easily accessible porn, picture editing applications, tech-savvy individuals and spoilt intentions. When a relationship sours or suffers misunderstanding, feelings of revenge start bubbling into actions that include unlawful sharing of your private content with multiple users to defame one partner, making videos and pictures viral on the internet or blackmailing. Even such instances can occur wherein such media gets shared with the wrong recipient by mistake to cause embarrassment to one or both partners.
Personally, one should feel free to choose whether he/she wants to sext as there is nothing wrong about it, but with utmost surety about oneself and partner. Though sexting has accumulated some bad press in the past few years for its misuse, some caution has to be taken while doing so.