Cyber Pornography

Geeks & Pr0n:

A study of the culture behind the underground realm of cyber pornography.

The spawning of the public Internet as we know it today provided a brand new type of communication, virtually unrestricted, and naturally, as with nearly every other form of communication, has been exploited by pornography. This newly-invented category of pornography, to be called “cyberporn,” would not only revolutionize its own industry, but also help to speed the development and growth of the Internet. Feeding off of each other, technology and pornography have played an equally transforming role in our current methods of communication.

It is important to note that in the past, communication technologies that were prevented from being used as a means of sexual communication were vastly subject to failure. For example, it is highly arguable that one of the main reasons for the victory of VHS tapes over the Beta format is that Beta refused to let pornography occupy their tapes. Similarly, many people attribute AOL’s victory over Prodigy to the fact that Prodigy refused to allow sexual content (Pornography and Technology). Pornography and technology are so tightly woven together that it would appear that neither can exist without the other, at least not in their current forms.

Partly due to their interest in technology, it is no surprise that geeks, especially geeks of the male gender, are common consumers of the cyberporn industry. The industry is estimated to be the highest grossing sector on the Internet (Pornography and Technology), and for many geeks who spend a significant amount of time “on the web,” it is difficult to avoid. This paper is meant to address the culture of these geeks, and will attempt to portray to the reader the hidden lifestyle of a geek porn-addict.

This paper will not discuss the moral concerns of pornography, because though they exist, this portrayal is meant to be factual and not opinionated, and one cannot discuss morals without opinions. That said, this paper will address pornography as an addiction, and therefore a problem, when taken to certain extremities. Where these boundaries lie, however, will not be discussed; this will be left up to the reader to define.

It is difficult to define a porn-addict without laying down boundaries that have been previously forbidden, so this paper will use the simple definition of “one who views pornography on a regular basis, and either suffers from or regrets his or her actions.