The INSIDER Summary:
- An app surveyed people and 74% of Americans say that they have "sexted" with their partners.
- That number is up from previous years.
- A researcher said this could be a sign that sexting is becoming a new relationship milestone.
If you find yourself sending sexually explicit photos or texts to your partner when you're apart, then you're in the majority.
According to a study conducted by menstruation health app "Clue" and The Kinsey Institute, 74% of Americans — and 67% of all international respondents — said that they have swapped saucy pictures and messages with their partners.
This number is up from the previous study five years ago, when only 21% of those surveyed admitted to engaging in "sexting" with their partners. While the amount of people who sext has increased, the way we do it is still kind of old-school: 65% of people who sexted said they did so over a texting app, while 35% said they used Snapchat.
So many people are sexting and the most common group to engage in the activity is 18-20 year olds (43%). Because of this, Amanda Gesselman, a research scientist at the Kinsey Institute, told The New York Post that sexting is on its way to becoming a new relationship milestone.
"Sexting may be becoming a new, but typical, step in a sexual or romantic relationship," she said.
And while sexting has created some concerns about privacy in the past, Gesselman said in a release of the study that the results show that people are actually using technology to connect and strengthen their relationships with their partners.
"While there are many reports on the consequences of technology on our private lives, these results relay a more positive story: that people are leaning on technology to help them create better experiences for themselves and their partners," she said.
With a supportive partner you can trust to keep your interactions private, sexting can be a great way to spice up your relationship. And with so many of us engaging in this act, this is as good a reminder as any not to scroll through your friends' camera rolls when they show you a photo!
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