Safe Sexting (2019-2020)

The increasing digital presence of today’s adolescents presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to their online interactions and safety. During a year long research exchange to the University of Central Florida the main focus of my research was on empowering adolescents for safe online engagement. I engaged in research by analyzing anonymous digital trace data from an online peer support platform. The dataset included over 5 million posts, 15 million comments, and metadata. I focused my research especially on exploring how youth seek and receive peer support online concerning online sexual risks, the impact of peer pressure in adolescent sexting, and effective methodologies for researching youth in digital spaces. The insights provided in these studies are valuable for developing tools and platforms that can foster positive peer support and online safety measures tailored to teens’ real-life concerns​.

Peer Support as a Tool for Safe Online Experiences

The first study investigated the peer support adolescents receive online regarding sexual risks. After analyzing over 3,000 comments, we discovered that teens often provide both informational and emotional support to one another on topics such as sexting and online relationships. This support included advice on setting boundaries, handling unwanted advances, and navigating difficult situations, often drawing from their own experiences. While this self-organized peer support system shows teens developing community norms for safer digital behavior, it also reveals occasional tendencies toward victim-blaming or retaliatory advice, underscoring the need for guidance to foster more positive support dynamics​

Navigating Peer Pressure in Adolescent Sexting

Next I delved into the role of peer pressure in sexting. The research reveals that teens frequently experience subtle pressure to engage in sexting, particularly from romantic partners and close friends. Adolescents voiced concerns about maintaining trust in relationships while dealing with peer expectations, and they often reached out for advice on navigating these complex emotions and scenarios. This study highlights the nuanced impact of peer influence and the importance of fostering trust and open communication as teens explore relationships online. In response to this need, peers on the platform frequently advised against succumbing to pressure, emphasizing that healthy relationships should not require compromising one’s boundaries​

Insights and Approaches to Studying Youth in Digital Contexts

Digital trace data offers an unfiltered, real-time view into teens’ online experiences, capturing authentic responses that often reveal the social pressures, norms, and support dynamics surrounding sensitive topics. Unlike self-reports, which can be subject to biases or social desirability, digital trace data allows researchers to observe naturally occurring behaviors, providing more accurate reflections of teens’ needs and struggles online​. I feel that using digital trace data we avoided some of the limitations of self-reported data, gaining a more authentic insight into how adolescents manage online risks and relationships. This approach enabled a deeper understanding of both the protective and risk factors involved in teens’ digital lives, and also offers valuable insight for future research on youth in online spaces.​

Related publications

  1. Hartikainen, H., Razi, A. & Wisniewski, P. (2022): Qualitative analysis of social media trace data concerning online peer support for adolescent sexting. In S. Kotilainen (Ed.), Methods in practice: Studying children and youth online (chapter 6). Hamburg: Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI); CO:RE – Children Online: Research and Evidence. https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.83031
  2. Wisniewski P.J., Vitak J., Hartikainen H. (2022) Privacy in Adolescence. In: Knijnenburg B.P., Page X., Wisniewski P., Lipford H.R., Proferes N., Romano J. (eds) Modern Socio-Technical Perspectives on Privacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82786-1_14
  3. Hartikainen, H., Razi, A., Wisniewski, P. (2021). Safe Sexting: The Advice and Support Adolescents Receive from Peers Regarding Online Sexual Risks. Proc. ACM Hum. -Comput. Interact. 5, CSCW1, Article 42 (April 2021), 31 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449116
  4. Hartikainen, H. Razi, A., Wisniewski, P. (2021). If You Care About Me, You’ll Send Me a Pic’ – Examining the Role of Peer Pressure in Adolescent Sexting. In Companion Publication of the 2021 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 67–71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3462204.3481739
  5. Rutkowski, T., Hartikainen, H., Richards, K.E., Wisniewski, P. (2021). Family Communication: Examining the Differing Perceptions of Parents and Teens Regarding Online Safety Communication. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 5, CSCW2, Article 373 (October 2021), 25 pages, https://doi.org/10.1145/3479517
  6. Rutkowski, T., Hartikainen, H., Richards, K.E., Wisniewski, P. (2021). Family Communication: Examining the Differing Perceptions of Parents and Teens Regarding Online Safety Communication. Poster presented in the UCF Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE). Hartikainen, H. & Wisniewski, P. (2020). Online Peer Support for Adolescent Online Sexual Risk. In Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Sep 29, 2020 – Oct 2, 2020. 3 pages
  7. Hartikainen, H. & Wisniewski, P. (2020). Online Peer Support for Adolescent Online Sexual Risk. In Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Sep 29, 2020 – Oct 2, 2020. 3 pages