Tinder for teens: Youth digital intimate cultures and tech facilitated violence on Snapchat

Abstract

Snapchat has long been a pivotal space for youth digital intimate and sexual cultures, as well as gendered and sexual risks and harms. Despite being one of the most widely used social media platforms among youth, there has been little in-depth research that connects Snapchat's unique features and affordances with young users' practices, behaviours, and experiences on the platform. Responding to this gap, our study used mixed methods to explore British teens' diverse social, sexual, and intimate experiences on Snapchat. We discuss how Snapchat's unique features, such as disappearing images (“Snaps”), algorithmic friend recommendations (“Quick Adds”), and geolocation tracking technology ("Snap Maps”), form new conditions and environments for teens' experiences of socialising, courtship, sexting, and technology-facilitated gender-based and sexual violence. We explore how teens'desires for intimacy underpin their motivations to continue to engage in a range of risk-taking activities—despite their awareness of the dangers involved. We conclude with recommendations for better platform specific regulation and digital literacy that pays attention to teens' rights and agency.