Porn is finally starting to lose its stronghold on the Internet as the most popular destination, according to the Economist. (At the same time, the Economist's headlines suggesting that people are losing their interest in porn are extremely misleading.)
If one accepts the argument porn often drives technological innovation, then what does it mean when porn no longer dominates that technology's market? According to the Economist, a sign of a medium's maturation is when people start using it largely for non-sex-related pursuits. Wit MySpace and Facebook, social networking sites which are increasingly top destinations online.
Note that the above graph charts percentages, not absolute hits. So what we're looking at is not necessarily an absolute decline in the popularity of Internet porn, but rather a decrease in the ratio of porn site visits to non-porn site visits.
Even while the Internet per se may not be the gurgling cauldron of sex it once was considered, this does not necessarily mean that people are losing their interest in porn:
Once a new medium becomes popular, its usage is no longer dominated by porn. Although this may soon be true for the web, however, it is not true for the internet as a whole. Much pornographic content may simply have shifted from the web to peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, for example.
I would also posit that oversaturation of low-quality pornography may be driving people to technologies which enable faster and easier access to the content they want to see. OnDemand and peer-to-peer technology has gained market share in recent months, as I previously reported.
I've never been a fan of Internet porn as a product--the medium is thrilling, but the lower barriers have resulted in a market flooded with low-quality product. Only time will tell, but I see this shift in market share as a sign of both a maturing technology and a more discerning market.
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