SENIOR CAPSTONE

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INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY INFLUENCING HUMAN COMMUNICATION AND ENCOUNTERS
AMONGST YOUTH
SWIPE RIGHT FOR AGREE, LEFT FOR DISAGREE
Brianna Tiedeman
BTiedeman@thiel.edu
Thiel College
75 College Avenue
Greenville, PA. 16125

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o Introduction
o Literary Review
- The Speed of Technology
- Time Spent Online
- Why We Go Cyber
- Cyber Hookup Culture
- A Rebuttal
- Privacy and Safety
- The Trend Breakers
o Research Methods
o Findings
- The Future
o Conclusions
o References

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ABSTRACT
This research paper examines the evolution of communication and how it led to today’s modern hook up culture. The purpose is to analyze how society has come to this culture, where it is now, and where it will go in generations to come. The content uses research from popular culture sources and sociological communication scholarly journals, as well as medical journals and direct interviews with a cultural historian and a professor of sociology. These methods outline the scope, ranging from the history of sexual communication to the reasons we communicate digitally, to the privacy and safety concerns, and to the opposing side of the arguments. Technology evolution is inevitable, and in turn, so is sexual communication facilitated through that technology. Interviews resulted in discussions about the future of sexual communication and the hook up culture, and conversation and questioning concluded that sex is a desensitized construct in society and it will take human life to a less fulfilling and meaningless void of relationships. Sources recommended a merger of sex education, direct communication with young adults and parents or peers, and sexual health awareness in order to slow down the benumbing of intercourse amongst college-aged students and other young adults and adolescents.
INTRODUCING COMMUNICATION AND SEX
Change inevitably occurs through generations, but the question at large in today’s modern life examines the behavior of college-aged students and below. Before technology hit hard, social situations involved engagement in activity and conversation, drinking and movies, or golfing and beaching. Whatever the activity may be, it was done together without distraction. Now, these

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young people still do all of these activities, but not without cell-phone in hand. What is the obsession?
These young adults do not go anywhere without their phones, laptops, iPads, Kindles, etc. They are in constant communication-mode – as if the people they are spending actual time with in the physical world are not sufficient. Wake up in the morning and Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and every other social media outlet are read like newspapers. Walk in to a party and heads are down, phones are in one hand, and a drink is in the other. Observe a college classroom and the professor only makes eye contact with the two or three students that are not scrolling through their laptops or phones, hidden in their laps. Life today is disconnected whether it knows it or not.
The biggest change in digital communication is that the majority of it serves one purpose – sex. Making plans, homework discussion, catching up with an old friend, professional networking – sure, that stills goes on. But at the end of the day, mobile devices, Wifi, four or five bars of service…they are vehicles to sex. Technology puts the whole world at our finger-tips, and when we have the whole world in front of us, apparently we want to do the whole world.

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The World-Wide Web and its capabilities became a hybrid of networking and trouble, a communication at large that has changed the way we encounter each other in real life. Technological connectivity is at an all-time high, leaving social connections in question. Social technology is becoming responsible for new, normative societal trends among college-aged individuals, privacy and safety issues, and an upward rise in casual sexual behavior. Research on the correlation of online communication and its effects on young adults in society by academic professionals will provide introductory insight into this unstoppable phenomenon. A humorous collection of relevant pictures will be placed sporadically to provide comedic relief against the seriousness of the discussions.
THE SPEED OF TECHNOLOGY
The World Wide Web dates back to 1993, but sexual-intended communication dates back to the 15th Century. Alexa Tsoulis-Reay, a New York magazine writer compiled a timeline entitled “The Evolution of the Hookup App,” which highlighted four methods to communicate with the intention of hooking up: type, phone, online, and now, handheld. In type methods involved Personals Columns in newspapers and Lonely Hearts listings in magazines (Tsoulis-Raey, 2013). In contrast, the phone enabled party lines, which facilitated real-life adult encounters. By the 1990’s, sex went into cyberspace. Websites such as Manhunt, Friend Finder, Adult Friend Finder, and Craigslist allowed users to respond to sexual requests and/or make requests. In-hand methods followed during the millennial, and Tsoulis-Reay mentions Grindr, a geographically- capable mobile application where smartphones could connect homosexuals within the same area, as well as several other forms of these apps that both hetero and homosexuals could use.

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Researcher Jennifer Bleyer analyzes several of these mobile dating apps in her studies revolving around how these inventions are changing the way we flirt and date, as well as what they mean for intimacy. Bleyer provides an overview of these apps, including Grindr, Blender, OKCupid Locals, Hinge, and one of the most popular apps, Tinder. Tinder gathers GPS information, age and gender preferences, and then finds matches for users by allowing them to swipe left or swipe right to accept or deny someone based on their personal picture and information (Bleyer, 2014). Time magazine reporter Laura Stampler interviewed the co-founders of the Tinder app, which we will correlate later in the literature review with the subcategory – Why We Go Online.
“Hook-up” apps are generally used to hook up geographically in designated areas by pulling user-information from social media accounts. This concept has evolved, however, into specified apps such as three-ways and hooking-up on airplanes. Rolling Stone reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis’ product review of ‘3nder’ notes that the name is a play on Tinder, today’s most popular dating app, which matches couples with single men and women. She interviewed Dimo Trifonov, the app creator, who said, “Some people on Tinder just want to hook up but when they say it, users block them, laugh, or swear at them. I thought there should be a place where open- minded and direct people would be tolerated.” (Grigoriadis, 2014, p. 16)
Three-ways are demographic-specific to open-minded and direct individuals as Trifonov explained. The Wingman app applies to the demographic of strictly travelers at sky level – airplane boarders. “Forget about boring old dating apps like Hinge and Tinder that limit you to sexual encounters at sea level…Wingman, a new app that promises to connect you with attractive people on your flight all before you touch down,” said Time Magazine reporter Samantha Grossman (Grossman, 2014, p.1). She explained that this concept’s potential problems

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could bring forth its elimination, including drawing from a small pool of candidates and the fact that there are young children on flights. She also notes that it is an odd concept to “get it on” in a “smelly, shoe-box sized airplane bathroom with a perfect stranger.” (p. 2)
Since so much research has been done on mobile apps, Communication Quarterly’s journal scholars conducted studies on the use of cell phone usage and relationships. Robert Duran, Lynne Kelly, and Teodora Rotura’s discuss the concept of perpetual contact. This term explains that cell phone usage “strains relationships, creating too much connection at the expense of autonomy.” (Perry-Giles, 2011, p.35) These relationships include acquaintances, friends, and significant others, and other form of rapport, sexual or not.
One last perspective of the technological innovation age comes from Brian Westover, a hardware analyst for PC Magazine. He explains how technology influences human interaction, noting that society is becoming disconnected as a result:
Of the many charges that anti-tech naysayers have levelled at the Internet and the digital generation, one of the most interesting is the idea that social networks have somehow left us more disconnected now than in the past. In mild forms, this is simply poo-pooing digital conversations and relationships as lacking the genuine aspects of face-to-face interaction; when put in more extreme terms, some claim that the Internet is killing off old-fashioned romance for an entire generation. (Westover, 2014, p.1)
Westover provides his own anecdote to support the belief that technology is influencing human rapport, which follows the life of his college freshman sister-in-law. “She was navigating both a breakup and a new relationship with the sort of deftness that only the young can manage,” Westover explained. (p. 3) “Whether exchanging sweet nothings with her new beau or fending

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off tortured missives from her previous paramour, all of her communication was mediated by technology: text messages, Facebook chats and status updates, Instagram photos, even old-school email.” (Westover, 2014, p. 2) He observed her utilization of mobile and online technology, which took the place of human interaction with these two men in her life. Later, we will examine his position that the notion that hookup culture is not a deviant social norm.
TIME SPENT ONLINE
Since technology is innovating at incredible rates and each generation latches on to its availability, it is important to examine how much time young adults are spending on new communication platforms. This information helps understand the bigger picture – how it is that these fast-paced conversations lead to sex and the hookup culture.
Marcia Clemmitt, a free-lance social network researcher, conducted studies on online membership to networking sites as well as the time spent online and on those sites. “The number of people posting personal information on social networking sites is soaring,” Clemmitt said. Her findings for the summer of 2014 reveal:
 Facebook membership surpassed 500 million members
 Twitter membership surpassed 140 million members
 22.7% of American’s time was spent on social media
 1% of American’s time was spent on search engines
 8% of American’s time was spent on e-mail technology (Clemmitt, 2010 p.1- 3):
Though Clemmitt used this information primarily to address safety and privacy concerns, examined later in this paper, she also notes that this much time spent online is leading to cyberbullying, cybersex, cybersex harassment, and stalking. Because this online phenomena translates into real-life encounters such as after-school fights or on-campus rape victims,

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Clemmitt deems both victims and inciters as “Social Animals.” Later we will discuss her suggestions of taking these matters to the law for both privacy and safety concerns.
WHY WE GO CYBER
“In a normal, healthy conversation in real life you ask questions and everyone involved is supposed to ‘show interest in each other as well as telling things about themselves,’” said Scott Caplan, associate professor of Communication at the University of Delaware (In Clemmitt, 2010). So why is it that people go online to communicate?
Caplan contends that Facebook “friends” or Twitter “followers” or whatever the outlet is, should actually be called fans. “This is a narcissistic enterprise,” Caplan explained. “It may be becoming more important to impress people with the minute details of your life than to engage in real back-and-forth communication.” (Clemmitt, 2010, p. 2)
Tom Wolfe, the eminent author and journalist, provides readers of his book, Hooking Up, with an explanation regarding the sexual revolution and people flocked online, not just for communication purposes but specifically sexual intentions. He states that the term “hooking up” was well known by the year 2000 and implied a sexual experience (Wolfe 2000, p.6). Their parents thought, and sometimes still think, that young people used the phrase in former sense to

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mean ‘meeting someone.’ But, the millennium struck and “sexual stimuli bombarded the young so incessantly and intensely that [youth] were inflamed with a randy itch long before reaching puberty.” (Wolfe, 2000, p. 5) Jeremy McCarter discusses the undertow of those sexual intentions in his research.
Thoughts on why we go digital or cyber do not only revolve around narcissism, but also loneliness. Newsweek author of With Friends like These, Jeremy McCarter, analyzed The Social Network film, which follows the evolution of Facebook and the college students who fought for its ownership (Partridge, 2011, p. 159). This study is most relevant to young adults and their communication because they are at similar stages in life. McCarter references early Twentieth Century writer Thornton Wilder and Harvard public speaker, and his thoughts on the young adult mind: “The loneliness that accompanies independence and the uneasiness that accompanies freedom…these experiences are not foreign to anyone here,” McCarter summarized (Partridge, 2011, p.161). McCarter concludes that the undertow of The Social Network’s fun and competitive spirit portrays the loneliness and unease that Wilder once lectured on. McCarter’s conclusions on the connections between the movie and society today find that young adults want nothing to do with an excessive amount of networking because they already need to be doing it professionally. His thoughts are as follows:
On one hand, hanging around [Facebook] begins to seem like a bad idea. In a world that’s ever noisier and more demanding, it only gets harder to develop a ‘fruitful solitude’ when dozens or hundreds of friends are constantly a click away. A site that began as a response to modern loneliness looks, after [seeing] the film, like a record of our own struggle with that condition…The insistent connecting can’t fix what really ails us, but we go on doing it anyway. (Partridge, 2011, p. 162)

CYBER HOOKUP CULTURE
Today, young people are constantly trying to connect sexually. Thus, they do not only use online communication for networking, finding friends, or catching up on everyone’s minute-to- minute lives, as Wolfe discussed, but also hooking up. A majority of young people use the Internet primarily as a channel for sexual communication as well as social communication.
In the Journal of Sex Research, Aubrey and Smith provide insight into online hookups. They explain, “A recent change in the sexual and romantic behavior of late adolescents and emerging adults is the movement away from a culture of dating, courting, or ‘going steady toward a culture of casual, commitment-free, and relationally ambiguous sexual encounters and ‘hookups.’” (Aubrey and Smith, 2013, p. 434) Their research determined that “between 60% and 85% of college men and 50% and 85% of college women have experienced hookups.” (Aubrey & Smith, 2013, p. 435) Because it is noted that hooking up is not just a behavior, but now a culture, further investigations examined the roots of this culture – the Internet. Five main reasons were found at the root of hookup culture; commitment, fun, status, control, and sexual freedom. In terms of commitment, the women found that emerging adults consider intimate, long-term relationships “quite low on their list of priorities.” The Internet or mobile technology lessens intimacy within a relationship if it is created online rather than a face-to-face interaction. This study emphasizes that college-aged students or emerging adults should not be investing their time into intimate relationships but instead on their current professional life. This notion explains why individuals utilize non-intimate methods of communication such as social networking or mobile apps to meet people and/or have sexual intercourse as a result (Aubrey & Smith, 2013 p.437). These individuals are not looking for commitment, they are looking for fun.

According to Aubrey and Smith, hookups provide sexual pleasure and are often induced by party atmospheres that exude erotic energy involving alcohol, music, and flirting. They report on a study that finds fault within the hook up culture. It “potentially threatens meaningful identities and lifestyles” according to the findings but “participants avoid criticizing it” because it is non- committable and fun (Aubrey & Smith, 2013, p. 437). Hookup culture, whatever method young adults used to participate in it, “is a way to create and maintain status in one’s peer culture.” Similarly to how Caplan is quoted in Clemmitt’s research, the hookup culture, just like social networking equates with a popularity contest or status quarrel. The purposes of networking, sexual or not, are not always to make connections but rather to make oneself appear as more high and mighty than another person.
Examples of this controversial communication trend are examined in the research of both Laura Stampler from Time and Alexa Tsoulis-Raey in New York magazine. Tsoulis-Raey interviewed a series of people about the concept of ‘sexting,’ the combination of texting and sexual discussion and or photography. “I’m a straight female with a serious boyfriend, but I like meeting crazy, slutty women on Craigslist and then G-chatting or BBM’ing until we both cum. I’ve never even kissed a woman. (Tsoulis-Raey, 2013, p.41)” This anonymous anecdote demonstrates how people may be in already stable relationships with commitment, and yet they still seek pleasure elsewhere, in non-committable and casual environments such as chat rooms or websites.
Other forms of communication also delve into the technicalities of the casual environments. What do these casual sex friends call each other?

The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality studied young adolescents participating in casual behaviors and narrowed down names such as booty calls (BC), boy toys, friends with benefits (FB), one night stands (ONS), no-strings-attached, and other derogatory names involving sexual profanities. The study goes on to research how communication transcends after the initial conversation:
Participants agreed that BCs know each other prior to engaging in the actual “booty call” because they have one another’s contact information, but are not necessarily former sexual partners and are not friends. Participants mentioned that compared to FBs, the friends aspect in FBs is much stronger because these individuals are friends prior to engaging in sexual activity. (Wentland, 2011, p. 79)
Other regulations within the culture, according to the journal, include common forms of communication and circumstantial communication:
Participants said that text messaging is the most common method of contact for BCs and FBs because fears of rejection are minimized. If texting is not used, another form of

instant communication is used to make arrangements. One male stated, ‘If you’re drunk at three in the morning, you’ll probably call instead of text.’ (Wentland, 2011, p. 82)
Not only do normative young adolescents have their own way of communicating within this hookup culture, but celebrities are also engaging in these acts.
Stampler’s research goes beyond the young adult realm and targets celebrities’ use of communication accessibility, specifically Tinder. As mentioned before, Stampler spoke with cofounders of the Tinder app about its purposes and intentions. Cofounder Sean Rad told Time, “We’ve had celebrities reach out to us frequently throughout the last year, sort of calling out various frustrations convincing users that they were actually who they are” (Stampler, 2013, p. 2). Stampler reports that Tinder is adopting verification badges to help the “famous and the plebes intermingle.” Stampler believes that if celebrities are using Tinder it “must be hard for them to get a date” but if the “plebes” of the times are using it and not being reprimanded by young society, how can celebrities not use it? Are celebrities just as ‘lonely’ as McCarter suggested? This transitions us into our next sub-category – is it an issue that this culture of online communication exists? Maybe it is just inevitable.
A REBUTTAL
I had started seeing this guy. We had kissed, but I had only ‘petted’ him on the outside of his jeans. No nudity. Then he straight-up sent me a picture of his balls at, like, 2 p.m. Just balls. He didn’t even send it in Snapchat. And guess what? I’m still dating him. (Tsoulis-Raey, 2013 p.41)

This anonymous quotation from New York magazine is identifiable as a young adult because of the dialect and reference to Snapchat, a direct-picture communication mobile app that many youth and young adults use. This is a personal anecdote of a relationship that escalated because of online capabilities of communication and is, according to the source, still a stable union. On a more serious note and scholarly explanation, Caplan from Clemmitt’s study also defends the new social trend of Internet interaction:
Internet socializing can be a valuable outlet for some people who have trouble interacting in real life. Before the Internet, some people with low face to face social skills, such as people on the autistic spectrum, had no place to socialize. As a result, many were lonely and depressed. Such people may do better with relationships in the future as the whole world adopts online socializing as a norm. (Clemmitt, 2010, p.4)
Though Westover previously discussed the speed of technology and its takeover on communication, he also defends the interaction in terms of the future:
Technology, if it can be defined as any one thing, is an augmentation: letting us do what we already do, but do it with faster, with greater precision and broader reach…But isn’t this simply technology letting human beings make the same stupid mistakes that they’ve made for centuries? There’s certainly something to be said about the pace of life increasing and the pervasiveness of technology that magnifies the negative for some of us. Though it’s different than it has been in the past, those connections – both digital and emotional – are worth celebrating. (Westover, 2014, p. 4 – 5)
PRIVACY AND SAFETY

What are these “Stupid Mistakes” and what is the “negative” that Westover mentions? The most pressing trends of mistake within sexual communication research is the concerns of privacy and safety. Another study within Partridge’s Social Networking examined these issues through research released from university studies in April 2014. “Large majorities of people between 18 and 22 said there should be laws that require [networking] websites to delete all stored information about individuals (88 percent)” (Partridge 2011, p. 163). Aside from laws being created, norms are at least being implemented. For example, a bar in Manhattan called Milk and Honey “requires potential members to sign an agreement promising not to blog about the bar’s goings on or to post photos on social-networking sites, and other bars and nightclubs are adopting similar policies” (Partridge, 2011, p. 163). Researchers note that these trends are likely to spread because information is too easily accessible and reputations and businesses are damaged too quickly.
Clemmitt’s research also analyzed what executives are proposing in order to control the communication occurring so rapidly online. Her findings explain that lawmakers and scholars that care about their privacy are taking a stand for individuals controlling how much of their personal information is accessible. Though this would ultimately be someone’s choice, internet users are already cutting back on what they are making public. Clemmitt includes a graphic displaying 44 percent of persons ages 18 to 29 that are “trying to limit the amount of information available about them online” (Clemmitt, 2010, p. 2). She hypothesizes that “concerns about disappearing privacy will likely grow, as new technologies increase the amount and kind of information that can be linked to individual users on the Web” (Clemmitt, 2010, p. 3).

Privacy aside, dangerous situations also arise in the relationship and sexual aspects of technological and online communication. Westover focuses his studies on the new dangers of accessible communication such as online predators, clingy exes, and stalkers:
Being more accessible to more people all the time – the euphemistically named friend list – might make it easier for predators to scope out prey. It’s harder to disentangle oneself from a clingy ex when Facebook and Twitter let even the most benign spurned suitor venture into stalker-ish behavior. And the disposable romance of the hookup culture is only magnified by apps and services designed to let you churn more quickly through a digital catalog of potential partners. (Westover, 2014, p. 3)
An anecdote Tsoulis-Raey discussed indicates that communication methods such as sexting can lead to uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations. One of her sources said, “I met this Dutch guy at a Mexican hostel. It was a great holiday fling; he spoke lots of languages…We never saw each other again, but we’ve been sexting for five years – even though he got married in 2010. When he says he wants to shove his c**k down my throat…I don’t like that” (Tsoulis- Raey, 2013 p. 41).
Verbal abuse certainly stands as a safety concern, as does the health of today’s youth. Further research conducted by health professionals concludes “as few as half of sexually active youth regularly use condoms” (Widman, 2014, p. 731). These officials, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that this “high-risk sexual behavior results in more than 9 million new sexually transmitted diseases and 8,000 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus among adolescents and emerging adults each year” (Widman, 2014, p. 732).

How is it proven that this sexual behavior is high-risk and increasing? Their research went on to prove that out of 603 middle school students sampled, 53 had reported having engaged in sexual activity. Twenty students in the sample reported not having used condoms. Twenty-three of those students, boys and girls, engaged in sex with more than two partners (Widman, 2014, p. 737). How do we break these trends if middle school students are already participating?
TREND BREAKERS
Researchers offer suggestions and insight on how to improve the trend at least through privacy controls, moral expectations, and safety regulations. Clemmitt’s academic studies examine thoughts of officials knowledgeable about privacy and control laws.
“A body of state law already ‘protects privacy directly,’” says Harper, director of information policy studies at the Libertarian Cato Institute. “As a result,‘privacy torts are available in just about every state,’ so consumers who believe their information has been compromised do have the ability to bring suit” (Clemmitt, 2014, p. 6). Knowing that state laws protect online networking users from their information is comforting, however it still remains up to moral choice and guidelines whether or not users regulate or control what they post. According to

Clemmitt, the U.S should enact more laws to “increase individual’s control over their own data, while trying to avoid hampering innovation” (Clemmitt, 2014, p. 6)
In the meantime, “we need to learn new forms of empathy, new ways of defining ourselves without reference to what others say about us and new ways of forgiving one another for the digital trails that will follow us forever,” Partridge said. A guided example published by Tsoulis- Raey, again an anonymous anecdote from New York magazine, may be far-fetched for most people now, but could possibly ground people in a more controllable form of self-respect, even in the slightest way. “I lost my virginity to my now-husband. We were high-school sweethearts, and he’d only slept with one girl before me. It’s weird how people feel bad for me, like I’ve missed out on so much. But I love sex with him. I always have and probably always will” (Tsoulis-Raey, 2013, p. 42). This couple, whether or not they met online or in-person, resemble both a safe and moral relationship and/or communication method. This proves that there’s hope, despite technologies ever-growing influence on our interactions.
In terms of safety, health professionals suggest direct communication as an effective method to resolving the increase in high-risk sexual behavior participants. Research suggests that 17 percent of a sample had not discussed any sexual health issues with their partners, their friends, or their parents or guardians. “Importantly, adolescents who discussed more sexual health topics with their parents reported significantly more condom use (Widman, 2014, p. 737).” According to these studies, openly communicating with partners, peers, and parents will promote better and safer decision making in the bedroom.
RESEARCH METHODS

In order to further understand the complex collaboration of communication and sexual behavior among young adolescents, two vital and relevant sources can help in the examination of the future of this cultural becoming. Dr. Bob Batchelor, professor of communication at Thiel College as well as Doctor of Sociology, Dr. Jared Hanneman of Thiel, answered a series of questions regarding the sexual phenomena among youth.
Dr. Batchelor is a cultural historian. He has written or edited 274 books that examine popular culture and American history. Dr. Hanneman teaches deviance, criminal justice, and research methods courses at Thiel College.
The aforementioned questions were individually tailored to each area of study, pop culture and sociology. They were discussed one-on-one with each resource and were open-ended for the purposes of future theory and accuracy. They are as follows:
1) Which, if any, stereotypes or stigmas exist amongst young adults engaging in non- committed sexual relationships?
2) Since technology enables this fast-paced, easily accessible methodology of communication, what do future and present generations need to do to change or break the trend?
3) With technology such as mobile sex applications and robot girlfriends on the market, how do you see societies’ sexual interactions evolving as new technology peaks on the horizon?
FINDINGS

During the discussion with Dr. Batchelor, he alluded to a study revealing that 67 percent of survey respondents, 15, 011 in total, said that they are not addicted to social networks (Polina, 2014, p. 1) In response, Batchelor noted that he had strong opinions about this generation and he opposed the notion that users are not addicted because most are “too committed to technology over true interpersonal communication or face -to- face communications.” This idea is supported by Communication Quarterly’s journal findings that claim autonomy is the concept of individualism and independence and this hypothesis is related to mobile apps. If young adults rely on the web, social media, mobile apps, etc. to make connections, rather than utilizing F2F, or face-to-face contact, “tension on relationships will only increase.” (Perry-Giles, 2011, p.37)
The journal concludes that this overload of technology will strain relationships, and Batchelor adds to that notion stating that “young people in every generation are interested in culture, innovative technology, having fun, and socializing with their peers.” And, if technology provides these young adults a method to do all of those things at once, they will use it. “It’s just so much easier to contact someone now and young people repeat the actions they see.”
Batchelor concluded that there is a stigma associated with young adults engaging in non- committed sexual relations, but it is only judged by older generations and it always will be. “I was reading a book published in 2000 and the guy who wrote it was saying the same things about my generation that I say about generation x…every generation rips on subsequent generations. It’s almost always the same stereotypes,” Batchelor said.
Regardless of how older generations perceive their younger cultures, the youth are still taking advantage of the networking because it is a part of their life. Similar to Caplan’s thoughts on

social networking being a narcissistic enterprise (Clemmitt, 2010 p. 2), Batchelor feels that the hookup culture will be just as narcissistic and publicized. He explained:
[Young adults] are going to use [the hookup culture] to increase their celebrity cred. Social media gives them a star status that didn’t exist ever before in history and the result of that is that they’re going to mirror what they see in celebrity life: bed-to-bed jumping and other dating escapades.
In the 1950’s, young people, according to Batchelor, thought “Oh, look, there’s this new thing called Rock’n’Roll.” The equivalent to that today is, ‘Oh, look, there’s this new thing called Snapchat.’ Older people thought Elvis was obscene, and that is in the same vein today as older people ripping on younger people for texting too much.
Hanneman shared thoughts with Batchelor in that “the older generation always thinks the younger generation is screwing it up. People get more conservative as they get older; whether young people should be stigmatized because of their sexual activity is another issue.” From a sociological standpoint, Hanneman understands that time is an investment and how youth choose to spend their time most likely serves a purpose. Also, he asks, “What do we expect of people in terms of behavior if the consciousness is still in progress? But people don’t usually waste their time if it doesn’t serve a purpose. People do what they do because they think it’s best.”
Why do they think it is best, though? Batchelor and Hanneman agree that technology is integrated into society and “young people gravitate towards these things,” Batchelor said. According to writer Samar Farag, “[Social media] has become integrated into our lives, like the TV into our parents’ lives, radio into our grandparents’ lives.” (Polina, 2014, p. 1) Hanneman added to these anecdotes with his own experience in order to prove the stability of technology:

I think my generation is unique in terms of interaction with technology because it was introduced during the same age lapse that we have now [16 to 26]. I was 16 when the Internet was introduced and that was high school, and then I had a cell-phone in college.
Question number two relates to how society can either break the technologically-involved communication trend, but our two professionals have agreed that there is no breaking it. It will only change into something, something much more complex.
“Some people are going to mature out of the behavior over time – particularly in their college years they will become more politically active or socially conscious and that will lead them away from destructive behaviors,” Batchelor explained. “But, others will never evolve out of it and the hookup culture will carry them on for most of their lives.” He further explains that a subsection of these two groups will “actually find someone that they want to be in a relationship with and that relationship with take them away from those kinds of behaviors.”
Research suggests that clinicians and sexuality educators should incorporate these casual forms of sexual relations into their educational lectures and discussions to give young adults a better idea of the reality of casual sex (Wentland, 2011, p. 89), but Batchelor notes that “there is no going back now” and according to those concerned, we can educate our future generations with guidance when they choose their next technological infatuation.
Hanneman’s response formulated a similar conclusion – that there is no breaking the trend, just adding to it. Not only are there issues with sexual communication, but there are issues within gender communication. Hanneman questioned how society can judge a traditional relationship when the definition of ‘traditional’ is now in question. He explained the notions of same sex-

marriage becoming acceptable, so if society can jump that hurdle, eventually they will get over non-marriage and casual sex cultures too. “What’s next, man and dog? Also, does it matter? Fundamentally, communication in relationships will stay the same – the interaction between two people.” Hanneman said. He concluded that yes, people are doing it, and no, it is not problematic other than social concerns such as teen pregnancy, adoption agencies, state mediation, and health issues.
According to health officials, word of mouth is a vital component to educating our young adults in developing their thoughts on sexual behavior and how it could affect them:
Targeting sexual communication skills in adolescent sexual health interventions may be critical to equip adolescents with the information and negotiation skills necessary to promote sexual health and reduce rates of HIV, STDs, and other sexual health problems. (Widman, 2014, p. 739)
Further research from the Journal of Clinical Nursing states that communication will play a huge role in promoting sexual health especially in young adults. “Sexual discussion between parents and their younger children was important for the transmission of values and morals to children and that these values and morals formed the basis for adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors,” the research team concluded. (Jiunn-Horng, 2011, p. 1) Hanneman agrees that the less experience one has in life, the less prepared he or she will be to negotiate experiences. Therefore, guidance, from parents, peers, and other adults is imperative.
The final question delves into theories on what the future has in store for sexual communication. In relation to his ideas to slow down the sexual communication evolving and

educate the young, Hanneman understands that “wisdom can either come from time and/or from pain.” In terms of the future, he says he will encourage his kids to always choose time.
As Batchelor previously stated, he feels there is no return. “I don’t think there’s a way to pull back from the extremes,” he said. “For example, for every cyberbullying case that is brought to justice, there’s another kid that kills himself for being cyberbullied.” Batchelor wonders if we will continue to become less compassionate, more animalistic, and if we will become baser in our actions. His answer is yes because “social media is replicating and propelling the negative aspects of society,” Batchelor explained.
Once there was Twitter, we needed Vine, and Snapchat, and even more. Trying to figure out what’s next though, I wish I knew…whatever the next technology is that develops will be adapted into whatever interests people culturally. In terms of sexual communication though - if you can’t put the genie back in the bottle, and we’re creating more evil methods of communication, where’s the hope for the future?
CONCLUSIONS
I started writing this paper out of shock. I read an article here, an article there; I started to realize that it was not just my small college that engaged in this hookup culture. It was young adults in all geographical locations. Sources came from Canada, the United States, Taiwan, Australia – I realized I lived within a generation that cares mostly about sex, and if not that, networking and being successful. The combination of the two leads to a lack of understanding or even desire for a relationship and I am guilty as charged, too, because I devote the majority of my time and energy into my professional life and future. As sad as it may seem on the surface, I have concluded that the timeline of innovation, the evolution of sexual communication into a

hookup culture, the one night stands, the casual affairs, and the weirdness we have created – the culmination leads to a fully-fledged desensitizing of sexual intercourse. It means nearly nothing now compared to the times of ‘abstinence until marriage’ or even ‘sex if it’s love.’
No one can predict with certainty where technology will take communication and sex in the future. However, it is understood that because of technology, sex has become less meaningful. Humans appreciate being noticed, being recognized as attractive, being wanted and sexually desired. But one-night standers may not commit or want to learn about one another because of the reluctance technology creates. These app-users only know what someone puts in their ‘About Me’ section and the superficiality of it all makes it unrealistic. The sex is fun, or maybe not, and then they move on.
The bigger picture of all of this – the only conclusion which can be drawn is as follows: if communication leads to sex, and sex does not hold significant meaning, communication no longer holds significant meaning. Of course, these summarizations are circumstantial, but if the de-valuing of humans through sexual intercourse continues, humans will become devalued in other ways too; they will become objects to a much more serious level than ‘pieces of meat.’

Human factories, breeding buildings, human dystopia – these concepts all become realistic possibilities when technological and social life is examined today. Authors who wrote books such as Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), Player Piano (Kurt Vonnegut), and Anthem (Ayn Rand) were right to predict the wipeout of individualism, worlds run by machines, and sex fulfilling everyone’s purpose in life. No wonder those novels made it to the Banned Books list.
One thing is for sure - there is no way to stop the technological evolution. In turn, communication, too, will continue to evolve. Young adults are ‘sexting’ and Snapchatting nude selfies and starting conversations with the sole intention of getting laid. That’s fine, or normal, today. But what is next? How important is sex that we are willing to toss morals, values, time, safety, privacy, health, all out of our concern? What does that leave for the little ones, just entering this cyber-based and sexual world?

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