Internet Forums

My second source of material on the sexuality of teen boys was the posts and polls published in forums for teenagers. A number of sites in a great variety of languages exclusively cater to a teenage audience, to which they propose panoply of services such as finding correspondents, advice on health issues, games, scholastic support, chat rooms, forums, etc. Love, meeting people and sexuality are amongst the most common themes addressed in the latter two. During the course of more than three years, from February 2004 to April of 2007, I systematically examined all the messages posted on the forums on love, puberty, and sexuality maintained by four different websites, three in English and one in French, selected for the following reasons :

1. They cater exclusively to teens between age 11 and 17 and almost always require that sex, age, country of residence and sexual preference be specified. Member profiles often include photos and sometimes email addresses.
2. They are very popular amongst teens, several thousands of whom visit them daily and participate actively.
3. They’ve been able to create and maintain a relaxed, tolerant, serious and responsible atmosphere within their forums. The tone of discussions feels honest and natural.