ABSTRACT
The bully and the victim exist within a sociocultural context that both perpetuates and condemns cyberbullying while also positioning social media sites as important spaces for socializing. Sexting is also not completely new, people have drawn sexy photos of themselves to give to their would-be lovers and a wide variety of professional and amateur cameras have been used to take sexy photos. Societal debates around sexuality, sexual expression, and sexual violence online tend to invoke a category of youth that is rarely well defined. This broader social context is important to keep in mind when analyzing social responses to sexual expression and sexual violence related to youth and social media, as is the recognition that the moral panic pendulum can swing in a variety of directions. Concerned about these issues of technology and sexual safety, they undertook a study funded by Crime Prevention Ottawa and conducted in partnership with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women.
