By Violet Li

Dr. Kathryn D. Coduto’s “Technology, Privacy, and Sexting: Mediated Sex”, published in September 2023, offers a critical look at sexting’s role in modern communication. Her research delves into the motives, technologies, and privacy concerns surrounding sexting, alongside its evolution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intrigued by the themes of the book, the Communication Research Center’s Research Assistant, Alyssa Hance, sits down with Dr. Kathryn D. Coduto for an enlightening interview on the book’s findings and its exploration of sexting in our digital lives.

Alyssa: “What has been your experience since the book’s release?”

Dr. Coduto: It’s been interesting, because I feel like people have been trying to figure out what parts are interesting, what to focus on, or what to talk about. So, for me, it’s been kinda fun to have [the book] actually out and being able to talk about it, getting to share more of the key insights because for a lot of people trying to read through the whole thing can feel like a lot because it’s got some stats and there’s a lot of existing research in there. But, it’s been really fun to be able to share what I found and then obviously continuing to build research from that, which was a key goal, which was thinking through what comes after.

Alyssa: “What findings from your research on sexting and technology usage did you find most interesting?”

Dr. Coduto: I think the thing I think about the most is the fact that so many people were like I know I should do this better, or I know I should behave better with technology than I do. So, I think a lot about the fact that people were like I know that technology is not really trustworthy, but I’m still going to use it to send highly personal, highly sexual content. And not just knowing that technology’s not necessarily trustworthy but that there are options that are better. I just think about the group of participants that are like I know I should use WhatsApp; it’s encrypted, and there’s a lot to suggest that it’s safer than these other options. But for so many [participants] it was like I know I should do that, but it’s too much work. I’d rather just sext. And I’m so intrigued by this idea that people know better, but there’s a sense that just switching to a different app is too much.

Alyssa: “In your research, have you observed any specific behavior patterns when people use technology for sexual communication?”

Dr. Coduto: Yes, so, there’s also not a designated time [for sexting] right? So, a lot of people tend to think that people are sexting in the evening, and that they’re at home. But, so many people that responded to my different surveys, a lot of them try and sext when they’re at work. And like quite a few of them would talk about that. “Yeah, well, it’s fun because maybe I catch my partner off guard or maybe they surprise me.” And so it’s almost like this tantalizing act, which in some cases did backfire. There was one guy in particular who was like “I really didn’t want that”. But, so, again, I think this connects to the fact that you have your phone on you all the time and have the ability to send this content anytime, and quite a few people actually take advantage of that.

Alyssa: “I love how people were so forthcoming with this information. In your research on sexting, sexuality, and technology, have you encountered situations where people find it challenging to discuss such sensitive topics?”

Dr. Coduto: So, that actually came up when this book project started, when I was an assistant professor at South Dakota State; it’s been a journey. I started the project there, and the original intent was to do in-depth interviews only. But, there were multilayered challenges to that, because I wrote and finalized the proposal at the end of 2020. So, you see where this is going. I tried to arrange interviews in the spring and summer of 2021 and it was so hard.

It was hard for a couple different reasons – so, first of all, obviously, people did not want to meet in person and definitely not for a research study. They were being paid, but not a lot of money, right? Especially to offer up that sensitive information. I think in other circumstances Zoom would have been a great option, but I feel like I was reaching out at the peak of Zoom fatigue, so, trying to say ‘talk to me about your sexting habits for an hour for like 20 bucks’ was a really hard sell. I tried that for a while, tried recruiting, and it was really difficult and understandably so. It was just very hard to recruit.

It got to a point where I had to rethink this, and so that’s when I decided to do closed ended data collection. Then I did the open ended survey based on the interview and then did another round of closed ended questions. So, actually, I probably ended up with better data, in the long term. I found that the open-ended survey was actually really useful; I had never done a fully open-ended one before. I think that is the other issue with a topic like this – it’s really hard to sit and say to someone’s face ‘here are the things i’ve sent or done and this is how i do it’. Whereas in that closed-ended survey, I ended up with pretty robust responses, including what people were doing and I think like some of it is seriously difficult [to talk about]. A lot of people would say things about being horny and I think it’s really difficult to say that to someone’s face.

I think there were two other tradeoffs that ended up happening that were useful, which is that I also think I was able to get more male participants. I think trying to do interviews with people that were most receptive to even thinking about talking were women. Like, I am a woman, I identify as a woman, and I present pretty feminine. You know it makes sense that that’s who would feel comfortable sharing that information. And I think that would have been much more difficult for a man to take seriously. And I think kind of the complimentary part of that is that I was able to actually collect data from more gender minorities, sexual minorities, and for similar reasons, right? I think particularly, for those individuals, they’re sexting a different kind of person, particularly when you think about LGBTQI+, like, different challenges and different considerations. There’s a lot of concern about being outed, which I run into a lot in the online dating world. And, so, I think feeling truly anonymous made a huge difference in that also being able to kind of talk about their experiences and what they were thinking about. Another interesting thing is that, queer individuals, gender minorities, everyone kind of acts similarly in their approach to technology. There’s a consistent thread like ‘I should probably use these other channels, but I do it here’. And so I think the survey actually ended up helping; I have way more LGBTQ respondants than I think I would have had in person.

Alyssa: “Do you have advice for other academic researchers looking to publish their work?

Dr. Coduto: I think, whether it’s a book or even just a research trajectory – and I tell my students this – I always say research what you’re interested in, because that just makes it so much easier. You can learn every theory and that’s great and fine, but if you don’t care about how it’s being applied, or what the contribution actually is, or how you’re extending it, like, you’re never gonna get that work done. Because, I’ve been on projects and I’m like, why am I doing this? It’s never gonna get done. Or it’s not going to get done in a way that you want to progress with and so that’s part of why I went to grad school, because I was doing research professionally, but was really interested in doing my own stuff. I really thought online dating was interesting and I haven’t lost interest, yet. It makes a huge difference. And then especially when writing a book when you have to meet a minimum word count, like a chapter has to be minimum 25-ish pages. Basically, each chapter should be as long as a journal article. And so, that’s a lot to have to say about something. So, you better enjoy it. Or at least have some interest in it, especially, too, because the other part of the process is also reading the existing literature. It’s not like you go in and say whatever you want. So, there’s also a level of engagement with what else is out there, what else has been done? And so there was a lot of time spent just reading articles, which, again if you’re interested, it’s great. But, if that’s something you’re not interested in, it’s going to be painful.

For those eager to delve deeper into the intricate relationship between technology, privacy, and sexting, we invite you to explore Dr. Kathryn D. Coduto’s insightful work.

Discover more by purchasing the book “Technology, Privacy, and Sexting” here.