Understanding of bold social media content : A study of dick-pics as a way to communicate

Sammanfattning: Today it is just as important to understand the content on social media platforms as the technology that are being used. With the help of technology the content does not need to be just words but can also be anything from videos to simple symbols. Taboo subjects like dick-pics are often swept under the rug as being too offensive to talk about. But if technology is to keep up with the content even the sensitive subjects need to be understood. Since anyone can send anything to anyone it is important to show how different people react. If the sender of a dick-pic thinks it is amusing, it is important to tell how the receiver may react. It can be a self-representation to send a dick-pic, just to show a new or a hidden side of oneself. It can also be a way to exercise power over another person as well as harassing the receiver with a sexual picture. But a dick-pic could also be just a joke sent to someone and a way of communicating with friends. This is a quantitative research with 120 participants answering a questionnaire which focused on sending and receiving dick-pics and the reason and reaction of sending dick-pics online. The study showed three main reasons for sending dick-pics and the reasons were categorised as following: language online, self-representation and power structures.