Exchange of Sexually Inclined Messages in Contexts of Dating and Romantic Relationships Among Young Students in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The surge in the use of smartphones and internet has coincided with an increase in sexting among
the youth. Existing studies have hardly provided comprehensive analyses of perspectives and
experiences of Kenyan youth on prevailing social contexts of sexting, particularly the nexus
between the practice and processes of dating and forming romantic relationships. This study aimed
at analyzing how the use of smartphones interrelated with the exchange of sexually inclined
messages in daily social life of middle level college (MLC) students in Nairobi, Kenya. The
research question that yielded the findings of this article was: how does exchange of sexting
messages relate to daily social activities among the selected MLC students? The study was guided
by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The study used a qualitative research design conducted
using multiple case study. Urbanized students with diverse characteristics who used smartphones
to create and share sexually inclined messages were selected for the study. Non-probability
sampling techniques were employed to identify 65 students aged 18-24 years from five MLCs that
were purposively selected. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to generate
the data, and the ethical issues that were considered included consent, confidentiality and
anonymity. The data were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematic coding procedures were used
to organize the data into themes and subthemes. The findings revealed that the selected students’
sexting perceptions and practices shaped and were shaped by online and offline sexting activities
of romantic partners. The study concluded that most students had misconceptions and harmful
perceptions about the role of sexting in romantic relationships. Therefore, the study recommended
use of responses that encourage bold and open discussion about sex, sexting and dating between
children and adults, and that foster healthy parent-child relationships.