Sharing of Digital Visual Media: Privacy Concerns and Trust Among Young People

This study compares college students’ attitudes about privacy and trust when sharing digital images or video of themselves with three specific forms of Internet- and cellular-based media: Facebook, other social networking sites, and mobile phones. An increasing popular use of mobile phones is the practice of ‘sexting:’ sending and receiving sexually explicit images. These practices have only recently been introduced to criminological literature. Results indicate that trust in the receiver of images sent via mobile phones was significantly higher than other mediums. Also, females were less likely to trust mobile phones as they age if they reported to have previously engaged in sexting behaviors. This article argues that trust in sharing images or video via mobile phones is perhaps misplaced because there are many ways of losing control through non-consensual use of the digital images (e.g., victimization). Further, future research needs clearer distinctions to be made when defining the term ‘sexting’ and the intentions and purposes of people who engage in it.