The term sexting is made up of the English words « sex » and « texting ». It describes erotic text messages that are sent over the Internet or a smartphone. Most of the time, sexting also includes sending erotic images or videos.
Sexting is particularly popular with minors. If the partner sends nude photos or videos, this is considered a total vote of confidence. Photo messengers such as Snapchat are often used for this because the images then disappear from the screen after a few seconds. But snaps can be saved and should therefore be sent with caution.
The great danger in sexting lies in the end of the relationship: If nude photos sent during a relationship are avoidably stimulating and exciting, intimacy can later become a real problem. If a relationship ends in an argument, sexting content becomes a means of pressure and can cause personal crises if it is passed on to third parties.
If you want to protect yourself from the risks of sexting, it is important to be very careful when sending pictures and videos of yourself. With the technical transmission, you lose control of the sent content and surrender yourself, so to speak – if you want to protect yourself, you’d better avoid sexting altogether.
A study from 2012 found that 88 percent of all self-generated photos and videos appear sooner or later on third-party websites. Often these are pornographic sites that earn money with the photos and videos.