This study examined how Twitter users engaged discussion during "The Talk" episode of a show entitled Blackish. \nHistorical "tweets" containing hashtags "#thetalk", "#blackish" and "#blackishabc" from the day the show initially aired were extracted using text analytics software. Content analysis was performed using thematic coding. Emergent themes focused on Twitter users' experiences engaging in and facilitating conversations about having sex with their families. Users also discussed strategies for overcoming challenges related to parent-child sexual health communication. Social media may provide an added opportunity for conversation about sexual health messages in media. Implications for sexual health and social media research are discussed.\nThis research utilizes an innovative methodological approach that examines how social media may amplify conversations regarding sexual media messages in media.

2. “THE TALK”
An Exploration of How Social Media Transforms
Television of Sex Communication
Magaela Bethune, MA, MPA
(@magaela)
2015 Annual Youth + Tech + Health Conference
San Francisco, CA
#YTHLIVE
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

3. BACKGROUND
• New media – electronic digital media that provide on-demand access
to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device 1
• Adult internet & social media usage increasing
• 87% of all American adults are internet users 2
• 74% of adult internet users are social media users 3
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

4. ADULT SOCIAL MEDIA USERS 3
• Digital media is an
important socializer 4,
especially for millennials
• “Digital natives” 5
• Presents opportunities for
digitally-facilitated discourse
that, otherwise, may be
difficult or impossible
UserGroup
% Adult Internet Users in Group Who Are Social Media Users
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
$75,000+
$50,000-74,999
$30,000-49,999
Less than $30K/yr
College+
Some college
High school grad or less
65+
50-64
30-49
18-29
Women
Men
Adult internet users
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

5. THEORY
Socialization
Theory
Social
Ecological
Model
Media
Practice
Model
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

6. SOCIALIZATION THEORY
Socialization Theory
• Socialization – a process by which an individual
learns through various agencies the distinctive
patterns that fit an individual within a culture or
subgroup in society 6
• Social cognitive theory – through agentic
transactions, people are both producers and
products of social systems and learning
environments 7
Socialization
Theory
Social
Ecological
Model
Media
Practice
Model
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

7. SOCIAL ECOLOGICAL THEORY 8
Socialization
Theory
Social
Ecological
Model
Media
Practice
Model
Societal
Organizational/
Communal
Relational
Individual
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

8. MEDIA PRACTICE MODEL 9
Socialization
Theory
Social
Ecological
Model
Media
Practice
Model
Identity
Selection
Interaction
Application
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

9. Conventional (Old) Media
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

10. Social (Digital/New) Media
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

11. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Research Aim
• Explore how social media enhances discourse around sexual health communication
• Research Question
• How do Twitter users engage in discourse around sexual health communication
during an episode of Blackish?
• Blackish, S 1 Ep 2 “The Talk”
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

12. “THE TALK”
Episode Synopsis
• The show begins with Dre (Anthony
Anderson) barges into his son’s bedroom and
is startled to find him masturbating.
• To his disappointment, Dre (Anthony
Anderson),finds that Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross)
has already given Andre Jr. (Marcus Scribner)
“the talk” because she thinks he’s too uptight
to do it.
• He decides to rectify matters by giving Jr. his
own version of “the talk.”
• Dre soon finds himself regretting initiating
“the talk” when Jr. starts to pester him with
non-stop questions about sex.
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

13. “THE TALK”
Episode Synopsis
• The show begins with Dre (Anthony
Anderson) barges into his son’s bedroom and
is startled to find him masturbating.
• To his disappointment, Dre (Anthony
Anderson),finds that Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross)
has already given Andre Jr. (Marcus Scribner)
“the talk” because she thinks he’s too uptight
to do it.
• He decides to rectify matters by giving Jr. his
own version of “the talk.”
• Dre soon finds himself regretting initiating
“the talk” when Jr. starts to pester him with
non-stop questions about sex.
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

14. “THE TALK”
Episode Synopsis
• The show begins with Dre (Anthony
Anderson) barges into his son’s bedroom and
is startled to find him masturbating.
• To his disappointment, Dre (Anthony
Anderson),finds that Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross)
has already given Andre Jr. (Marcus Scribner)
“the talk” because she thinks he’s too uptight
to do it.
• He decides to rectify matters by giving Jr. his
own version of “the talk.”
• Dre soon finds himself regretting initiating
“the talk” when Jr. starts to pester him with
non-stop questions about sex.
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

15. “THE TALK”
Episode Synopsis
• The show begins with Dre (Anthony
Anderson) barges into his son’s bedroom and
is startled to find him masturbating.
• To his disappointment, Dre (Anthony
Anderson),finds that Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross)
has already given Andre Jr. (Marcus Scribner)
“the talk” because she thinks he’s too uptight
to do it.
• He decides to rectify matters by giving Jr. his
own version of “the talk.”
• Dre soon finds himself regretting initiating
“the talk” when Jr. starts to pester him with
non-stop questions about sex.
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

16. @magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

17. METHOD
• Data
• Publicly available tweets during two viewings of the episode
• Inclusion criteria – Contains #thetalk OR #blackish OR #blackishABC or
“blackish”
• Analysis Plan
• Iterative coding
• Frequency analysis  thematic analysis
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

18. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Frequency Analysis
• 13,862 publically available tweets
• 247 “re-tweets”
• Tweets across time
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

19. FINDINGS
Frequency Analysis
• 570 tweets containing “sex,”
“sexual” or “sexuality”
• 1205 tweets containing “talk,”
“communicate,” “speak” OR “tell”
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

20. FINDINGS
Frequency Analysis
• 570 tweets containing “sex,”
“sexual” or “sexuality”
• 1205 tweets containing “talk,”
“communicate,” “speak” OR “tell”
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

21. FINDINGS… Well, Lookie Here!
Frequency Analysis
603 tweets containing
“triceratops”
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

22. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Length of time of “the talk”
• Way too long
• No talk at all
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

23. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Length of time of “the talk”
• Level of comfort engaging in “the
talk”
• Funny
• Awkward
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

24. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Length of time of “the talk”
• Level of comfort engaging in “the
talk”
• Gendered/racialized patterns
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

25. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Boundaries
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

26. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Boundaries
• Sources of sex communication
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

27. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Thematic Analysis
• Boundaries
• Sources of sex communication
• Utility of media
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

28. IMPLICATIONS
• Social media networks offer a viable platform for facilitating and
engaging in sex communication
• Social media facilitates conversations that cut across contexts wherein
youth are socialized
• Interventions targeting health communication and literacy can
leverage digital and social media
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

29. FUTURE RESEARCH
DIRECTIONS
• Limitations
• Relatively few Twitter users among internet users (23%)
• Other forms of SM engagement 10
• Future Research
• Further analysis – content analysis and grounded theory approach
• Explore the role of digital media as a source of sexual socialization
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

30. References
1. The intersection of youth, technology, and new media with sexual health: moving the research agenda
forward. Allison, S., et al. 3, 2012, Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol. 51, pp. 207-212.
2. Pew Research Center. Internet User Demographics. Pew Research Center. [Online] January 2014.
http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/internet-use/latest-stats/.
3. —. Social Networking Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center. [Online] January 2014.
http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/.
4. Arnett, J. J. Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. s.l. : Prentice Hall, 2000.
5. Digital natives, digital immigrants. Prensky, M. 5, 2001, On the Horizon, Vol. 9, pp. 1-6.
6. Mass communication and socialization. Hyman, H. H. 1973, Public Opinion Quarterly, pp. 524-540.
7. Social cognitive theory of mass communication. Bandura, A. 2002, Media Effects: Advances in Theory and
Research, Vol. 2, pp. 121-153.
8. Toward an experimental psychology of human development. Bronfenbrenner, U. 7, 1977, American
Psychologist, Vol. 32, p. 513.
9. Adolescent room culture: Studying media in the context of everyday life. Steele, J. R. and Brown, J. D. 5, 1995,
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 24, pp. 551-576.
10. A typology of social networking sites users. Brandtzaeg, P. B. and Heim, J. 1, 2011, International Journal of
Web-Based Communities, Vol. 7, pp. 28-51.
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)

31. THANK YOU!... Questions?
For more information and free shareable infographics, visit:
www.MagaelaBethune.com/ythlive2015
@magaela | (Bethune, 2015)