NEW YORK – In sentencing two high school football players to juvenile jail terms for raping a drunken girl, Judge Thomas Lipps issued a cautionary note to children and parents, urging them to reconsider “how you record things on the social media so prevalent today.”

And certainly the countless texts, the photos and the tweets, not to mention a vile YouTube video that referred to the assault in the crudest terms, were regrettable and revolting – a means not only of intimidating the 16-year-old victim, but also of victimizing her over and over again.

But they also made the convictions possible and shed light on a type of case that often stays in the shadows. And, experts say, the social media component of the Steubenville case may help educate young people who remain shockingly ignorant about the definition of sexual assault.