Online Sexual Partner Seeking as a Social Practice: Qualitative Evidence from the 4^th British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-4)

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample characteristics.

Total		Sought partners online N (%) 22	Subsequently met off line N (%) 16	Not sought partners online N (%) 18
Gender	Women	11 (50)	7 (44)	9 (50)
	Men	11 (50)	9 (56)	9 (50)
Age	<20	3 (14)	1 (6)	2 (11)
	20s	12 (55)	8 (50)	5 (28)
	30s	7 (32)	7 (44)	3 (17)
	40s	0 (0)	0 (0)	4 (22)
	50+	0 (0)	0 (0)	4 (22)
Ethnicity	White British	20 (91)	14 (88)	14 (78)
	Asian/British/Pakistani/Indian	1 (5)	1 (6)	3 (17)
	Black/British/African	1 (5)	1 (6)	0 (0)
	Mixed ethnicity	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (6)
Relationship Status	Single	14 (64)	8 (50)	4 (22)
	In a relationship	8 (36)	8 (50)	14 (78)
Sexual Orientation	Heterosexual/Straight	13 (59)	9 (56)	17 (94)
	Bisexual	4 (18)	2 (13)	0 (0)
	Lesbian	1 (5)	1 (6)	1 (6)
	Gay	4 (18)	4 (25)	0 (0)

Table 2. Themes and sub-themes.

Theme	Sub-themes
Meanings	Normalized practice Enmeshment within broader online cultures of image presentation
	Multiplicity of goals Balancing possibility and risk	Meeting partners for enduring romantic relationships Meeting people for one-off sexual encounters Dating Boosting self-esteem and empowerment Entirely online sexual actions and interactions Sharing online experiences with friends
		Possibilities Risks	Enabling sexual adventure Instrumental efficiency Boredom Presenting oneself as “sleazy” Self-loathing Rejection Misaligned expectations Unsolicited explicit images or premature or otherwise inappropriate explicit proposition False representations Meeting “creeps” or the risk of abuse or violence Onward sharing of explicit images
	Withdrawal from online dating symbolizing commitment
Materials Competencies	Affordances of the technologies Technical competencies	Efficient searching and screening and blocking of potential contacts Range of different apps and websites General social media technologies Blurring of online and face-to-face networks and interactions Searching for and assessing potential contacts Creating and sharing intimate images to minimize risks that these would be shared
	Social and emotional competencies	Managing one’s interactions with contacts Self-care	Being clear about whether their goals aligned or not Being clear with oneself about one’s goals Setting limits to one’s engagement

Data availability statement

We are archiving anonymised transcripts with the UK data service to be available to researchers after completion of the Natsal-4 study.