Put your undies back on. New data reveals sexting isn't so great after all.
Have you been fooling yourself into thinking that titillating sext you sent to your crush the other day was private? Think again.
SKYN Condoms just released their annual Millennial Sex Survey, and while there are some fun findings in there -- masturbation is on the rise! New York is the most sexually active city -- they uncovered a pretty disturbing trend: 30 percent of people admitted they’d shared a sexual photo without getting permission from the person in the pic. One in three people is a lot!
This massive violation of individual privacy has big implications. According to SKYN’s data, 48 percent of millennials (people ages 18 to 34) are sexting at least once a week. So that’s a lot of very revealing flirtation floating through the ether and offers plenty of opportunities for bad behavior. Even those who use Snapchat or other disappearing apps aren’t immune to having their most intimate moments go viral.
Sexting, of course, can be fun and has become a go-to romantic strategy for many millennials, but it appears not everyone is enjoying it equally. Data collected by Match for this year's Singles in America survey found that women aren’t actually big fans of dick pics; some 90 percent of ladies said they were not aroused by them. Sorry, Charlie. Their top responses to how they felt about receiving pics of genital area, according to a Match statement, were “feeling grossed out, disrespected and violated.”
Even worse, women are apparently being bombarded with dick pics against their will. According to Match, 40 percent of all men said they’d sent one to a woman without being asked. A bold, if unwelcome, move with seemingly very little chance for reward.
The takeaway from this flood of Millennial sexting data? You miiiiiight want to cool it on the naked photos that nobody asked for, and definitely do not go spreading around sexts that come your way. If you have your heart set on sending a picture of your bits and/or pieces, just make sure it's going to a trusted partner and make double sure that it's not anything you wouldn't be totally horrified to show to a random stranger.
Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.
