Miami University students study sexting among college peers

Students at Miami University are raising eyebrows with some interesting results from a survey of millennial sexting habits conducted in the fall semester.

Miami professor Bob Batchelor’s communication planning students surveyed more than 1,500 students across the United States to find out how and why they sext. The goal is to gain insight into how communication trends are developing.

Batchelor said one of the biggest trends the data presented was just how much today’s college students trust other people with images of their body.

“What was surprising to us was how trusting college students are when they send their images,” Batchelor said. “They admit they do not know what happens to them and don’t believe the recipients will share them. In actuality, 49 percent do forward them to others without consent.”

The survey showed that a whopping 98 percent of respondents have sent or know someone who has sent sext messages. Just under half of those say those messages have been shared with others who weren’t intended to see the images, yet 75 percent say they don’t know if their photos have been forwarded.

“The survey demonstrated that there is a basic disconnect between the pervasiveness of sexting and the number forwarded without consent,” the students wrote in their analysis of the data.