SHOCKING: A self-confessed serial sexter bares all

What makes sexting so exciting to young women and men? A 21-year-old girl tells LoveMatters.info just that and lists out sexting dos and don'ts. Read on.

Sexting is fun," says 21-year-old Ruchi, a self-confessed serial sexter.

She's had a long-distance lover for over a year now and says sexy SMS exchanges have helped keep her relationship buzzing. But she draws the line at sending spicy photos - you never know where they might end up.

"Its exciting that you can be 'texting dirty' to someone while in a room full of friends and no one will know why your phone is going mad beeping every two seconds.

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I have friends who sext boys that they are flirting with, people they are interested in but don't really know very well, or even some hot guy they met at a party. And I think as long as it's fun and exciting it's cool

The 'no photos' rule I have works for me because as much as I love my boyfriend I don't think a picture of his penis is likely to get me excited. I like the teasing back and forth and descriptions of things to come."

Sexting has its own complications. Like sometimes we've been sexting each other through the night and suddenly just when I'm starting to get really excited, he won't respond -- or at least not in time.

"I mean that's the one good thing about phone sex, its more immediate and you're not left guessing whether the other person has passed out, or lost interest or something.

I would never ever text a racy photograph because you never know where it could land up. I trust my boyfriend, but what if he loses his phone or if someone accidentally sees it?

"At the end of the day it's something private just between me and him.

I never send him sexy pictures on the phone or by email because with Facebook and Orkut, photographs somehow always find their way online sooner or later.

I think I have good reason to be paranoid about sharing photographs. When I was in first year of college this boy from the 12th standard, he must have been around 17. He was going around showing a nude picture of his girlfriend on his phone to the boys in my class as if it was some trophy.

"And the sad thing is that he actually became kind of popular among the boys after that. I mean he started hanging out with the seniors, which was a big deal. I was grossed out and scared. I mean his girlfriend probably had no idea that he was betraying her in such a horrible way.

I don't think I could ever sext someone I don't know and trust, but that's a personal choice. Even with my boyfriend I am careful about what I share. I mean people can fall out of love you know. And what if your current love becomes a bitter ex and uses the stuff you sent him to get back at you.

"I know it helps to be cautious but there are no guarantees with stuff like this. Even people you know can get you into trouble. So the only sort of marker I keep in mind while sexting is 'If what I'm sexting became public how would it make me feel?'

Ruchi (not her real name) is a 21-year-old English Honours student in Bangalore.