Ashley Hay, a speech communication alumna and now Ph.D. student at Penn State University, is investigating how social media platforms shape conversations around sexual education and identity online.
Ashley Hay
By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - January 8, 2025
Hay’s, ‘20, journey began in the School of Psychological Science, where her initial fascination with human behavior led her to speech communication at the School of Communication, where she was able to combine her interest in behavior with an emphasis on media and rhetorical analysis.
Hay loved the versatility and diversity of the degree program, enabling her to explore specific areas of communications, including rhetorical criticism, science rhetoric, and ancient rhetorical theory, which all laid a foundation for Hay’s graduate studies.
Her master's thesis at Syracuse University centered around how certain terms like “aftercare” are understood and transformed across TikTok’s many user communities. (“Aftercare” refers to the period of caring for your partner's physical & emotional needs after sexual activity.) In BDSM and queer communities, “aftercare” is often described as a series of optional, open-ended steps designed to alleviate intense emotions and provide space for individuals' (re)connection and (re)negotiation of boundaries.. However, as Hay observed, as this concept filters into broader educational contexts, it can become oversimplified, reducing it to a prescriptive list of steps. This shift is demonstrative of the broader societal tendency toward a neoliberal “good sexual citizen” framework, where the focus is often on self-optimization.
“This neoliberal view creates a rigid good-versus-bad sexual paradigm, where any deviation from the idealized script is seen as a failure,” she explained. Hay's work highlights how broader societal expectations often press people into narrowly defined roles, even in their personal lives.
Today, Hay’s research is focused on how a/sexual identity and sexual education content moves through social media platforms. TikTok specifically poses unique challenges and opportunities for those seeking information about sexuality. “There’s a meshing of people who want information and creators who claim to have that information,” she explained, adding,
“The platform itself mediates all of this, with algorithms typically designed to limit or flag sexual content. They push you in certain directions—often monetizable ones,” Hay said, discussing how TikTok’s content restrictions and lack of formal expertise among creators can sometimes exacerbate misinformation.
Despite its limitations, TikTok remains a powerful resource for community-led conversations on topics many traditional educational settings neglect. This, Hay noted, is crucial for fostering a more holistic approach to sexual education. Looking to the future, she envisions social media complementing formal education rather than serving as a last resort. She argues that a critical overhaul of U.S. educational policy is overdue, alongside integration of content from organizations like the World Health Organization, which could offer a more comprehensive understanding of sexuality.
For students and educators alike, Hay’s advice is to remain skeptical of any single source of information. “There’s nothing about sex that should be taken at face value,” she advised, emphasizing the importance of seeking diverse perspectives and credible resources. “TikTok is a great place to access new ideas about sex and sexuality, but for a more complete and thorough understanding of new terms and ideas, viewers should go off-app for more accurate information.”
She believes it’s essential for educators, especially those working in sexual education, to thoroughly research the origins of concepts they teach and to respect the cultural frameworks they come from. By exploring how social media can either reinforce or challenge existing paradigms around sexuality, Hay is contributing to an evolving conversation about what sexual education can look like in the digital age. For Hay, TikTok represents both the potential and the pitfalls of modern sexual education, underscoring a need for change that is just as complex as the algorithms shaping our digital lives.