Sexual Information, Internet and

Although the Internet is a source of information about sex for many teens, little is known about the nature of that information. What is known suggests that information is somewhat limited and sometimes difficult to access, although this may be changing as more sex information geared toward teens is appearing on the Internet. Observational studies indicate that most teens employ relatively simplistic search strategies when seeking information on the Internet about health topics, including sex. Although information about sex is also gleaned from Internet pornography and exchanged through email, instant messages, and chat rooms, this entry focuses on static informational content provided on the World Wide Web. Although concerns about misinformation and sexual predators have led researchers to look at communication of sex information via the Internet, findings are only speculative at this point.

Nearly 9 in 10 adolescents (ages 12 to 17) have access to the Internet, and about three quarters of them have access at home. Nationwide surveys suggest that somewhere between one quarter and half of these online teens have sought out sexual health information via the Internet for themselves or for friends, with older teens and females searching significantly more often. In part, Internet use is likely an extension of the established tendency for teens to use independent reading to learn about many topics related to sex so that they can avoid judgments by parents, clergy, teachers, or peers. In addition to these considerations of privacy and confidentiality, teens also consider it easier and more convenient to access information on the Internet rather than from alternative expert sources such as consulting a physician; accessing information through the Internet is considered easy and convenient by most teens.

Few content analyses have explored sexual information available on the Internet, and existing studies may be of limited utility in understanding what is currently available due to the high rate of change in available content and search methods. The explosive expansion of the World Wide Web during the early part of the 21st century means that descriptions of content are rapidly outdated. Furthermore, the proliferation of pornographic content on the Web makes the systematic analysis of sexual information for teens difficult. For example, an early study of sexual information on the Web found that when young adults searched for information about STD symptoms, only 4% of web pages resulting from their searches were sex education pages; most were classified as pornography.

The few published content analyses of sexual information for teens available online suggest that sexual information for teens is available on the Internet but that it is generally incomplete and sometimes difficult to navigate. Most websites designed to provide sexual information to teens are produced by advocacy groups (e.g., the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) or government groups (e.g., the Department of Health and Human Services). Many websites fail to clearly identify their affiliation or to provide detailed information about their authors and their credentials. Information on such sites focuses largely on sexual health, particularly on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. Information about negotiating sexual behaviors with a partner, strategies for communicating about sex, and nuanced messages about the role of sex in relationships are generally lacking. Furthermore, content analyses suggest that the information about sex on the Internet may be difficult to access due to characteristics of the websites on which it is located. For example, most sites in published studies lacked an internal search mechanism or site map.

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