# Societal Impact of Internet Porn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082 "2011-03-01T18:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/21 "2011-03-02T15:13:54Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Leading us to believe that writing editorials about porn is its own form of masturbation. Which I can handle; but your average poor blogging sap, on the other hand… Thanks to internet blogging, mental masturbation among men is up 50 to 500%… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/22 "2011-03-02T16:03:32Z")
Scoff if you must! All I know is, looking at Internet porn turned me into a newt! A newt! Furthermore, there was a survey came out a couple of months ago that showed that most Japanese … even a surprisingly high percentage of Japanese teens … are not interested in sex. You know why? Hentai! Because of it, men can’t related to women who don’t have blue hair, aren’t tied up, and can’t turn into giant robots. The women can’t relate to men who don’t have tentacles and only have one penis that isn’t prehensile, it’s as simple as that! ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/23 "2011-03-02T17:29:17Z")
A newt? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/24 "2011-03-02T17:35:42Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > A newt? He got better. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/25 "2011-03-02T17:47:04Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > year before the internet, there was the new delivery system of VCR porn; corrupting people who’d never dare venture into a seedy porn theater. Going further back, the seedy porn theater offered a blazing, moving depiction of what was previously available only via smut mags, and before them French postcards. I’m honestly surprised that there’s not more cave-painting porn. Og like! ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/26 "2011-03-02T18:11:28Z")
It all got, _cough_, ‘rubbed-out’… DnR ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/27 "2011-03-02T18:17:28Z")
Og not like. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/28 "2011-03-02T18:37:30Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Since you posted this in IMHO and not GQ, I am as qualified as anybody to state My Humble Opinion: This article is full of shit. > > “By my estimate…”, “a syndrome I’ve dubbed…”, “My guess is…” > Translation: I’m pulling this all out of my ass. Quite possible. I suggested this in the OP. But I was not asking for people’s opinions about the article. I was asking about people’s opinions about the claims of the article. I can imagine it’s difficult to find actual data about this, which accounts for both my skepticism about the basis for the guy’s claims and for the fact that I didn’t put this thread in GQ. But someone can have no basis for their opinion and still be right. In fact, I notice that many people have expressed contrary opinions in this thread, and no one has provided any sort of basis for their contrary opinions. Which is fine, of course, per the rules here. Still, I’m wondering how everyone arrived at this conclusion. How does everyone know about average rates of masturbation, such that everyone is so convinced that they have not increased significantly? Personal experience? Survey of friends? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/29 "2011-03-02T18:38:26Z")
“80% of men masturbate. The other 20% – NO ARMS! Proven!” – Richard Jeni ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/30 "2011-03-02T19:01:14Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > “80% of men masturbate. The other 20% – NO ARMS! Proven!” – Richard Jeni But there IS a social cost. It’s well known that masturbation causes blindness and hairy palms. It is also known that hairy palms is one of the marks of being a werewolf. Therefore, it is a logical deduction that masturbation is the ultimate cause of much of the random violence that plagues modern society, thanks to its creation of large numbers of blind werewolves. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/31 "2011-03-02T19:10:01Z")
You know what else weighs the same as a werewolf? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/32 "2011-03-02T19:12:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You know what else weighs the same as a werewolf? Internet porn? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/33 "2011-03-02T19:35:22Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > A newt? I got a newt-friendly keyboard for my computer, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/34 "2011-03-02T19:36:02Z")
What about women? Do they not masturbate more now that there’s a)Internet porn, and b)the stigma has lessened? Personally I think that’s a good thing - women are much more confident in their sexuality now. ---
**Author:** ![Nathan\_E.Zephyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dc4da7/32.png) [@Nathan\_E.Zephyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_E.Zephyr)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/35 "2011-03-02T19:40:04Z")
You can take away my porn when you pry it from my cold, dead…oh wait. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/36 "2011-03-02T20:36:26Z")
> [@Nathan\_E.Zephyr](#): > > You can take away my porn when you pry it from my cold, dead…oh wait. I like this version: > [@"Doctor, I think I've caught. . . PORNOGRAPHY!"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-i-think-ive-caught-pornography/275659/21): > > Anyone who wants to take my porn is gonna have to pry it from my warm, sticky fingers! ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/37 "2011-03-02T20:51:06Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > If I was you, I’d call the head office and file a complaint. There’s a ‘head’ office? Got a number? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/38 "2011-03-02T21:28:58Z")
Honestly, the real societal impact that I can think of is in publishing and filmmaking. Why would anyone (who didn’t want something EXTREMELY specific that may not be available for free) ever pay for porn now? Has anyone taken a long hard look at porn production in an age where anyone can get a practically infinite supply of pornographic images and video for the cost of an internet connection? Is actual production declining because the money is drying up, or am I thinking about the economics the wrong way? I really can’t see the dedicated user of internet porn clicking on too many ads. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/39 "2011-03-03T07:09:09Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > There’s a ‘head’ office? Got a number? I did, but it was in the back of a porn magazine, which I lost. After I got the Internet. And discovered that the P in Internet stands for “porn.” ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082/40 "2011-03-03T07:26:13Z")
That poll’s already been done: [“Men, do you prefer porn or your woman”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=573449&highlight=porn)? And one proven effect is [that rape is down 85 % since easy internet porn became available.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531007) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societal-impact-of-internet-porn/573082.md?page=3)