At the end of every year, legitimate companies and other organizations typically release an annual report that details what happened in the previous 365 days.
These reports usually contain numbers, statistics, charts, figures, and breakdowns of the past year, and then what the company projects for the upcoming year.
Unfortunately, giant porn websites have become so mainstream that they are beginning to do the same. In their seemingly never-ending effort to normalize pornography in society, Pornhub collects detailed analytics from their site and releases a “year in review” containing all the information.
Related: How Porn Can Negatively Impact Love And Intimacy
But instead of talking about annual goals, money donated, or environmental contributions, PornHub reports on things like “Favorite Porn Star,” “Most Popular Search Terms,” and “Average Time Spent Ver Visit.”
In response to Pornhub’s year in review numbers, we recently talked about the disturbing genre that was their number one most popularly searched term on their site in 2021.
The numbers
These analytics show the extreme growth the porn industry is experiencing. And we know these stats are a couple of years old, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant.
Check out this summary of their stats from 2015:
Now, as shocking as all that information is, this part is the most interesting:
Take a second look, at this section in particular, where Pornhub releases the most common word said in the comment section of its hardcore porn videos:
How ironic is that?
Right amongst words that we had to blur out because of their explicit and graphic nature, the most common word in porn site comment sections is the word “love.”
How ironic is it that one of the main places that you get the furthest from real love is where the word pops up the most in people’s online conversations?
On the surface, porn may seem harmless, or may even seem like a good way to learn more about sex and relationships. Maybe a committed relationship seems far away in the future, or you feel confident that a little porn won’t harm your relationships.
Related: How Porn Can Hurt a Consumer’s Partner
But the research is clear—porn can have devastating impacts on relationships, both sexually and emotionally. There is no substitute for real connection, and porn isn’t worth risking that.
Research suggests that there are a number of ways that porn can negatively impact romantic relationships. As the evidence of porn’s potential harms continues to pile up, many leading therapists and relationship experts have started to express concerns about the impacts of pornography on relationships. Click here to learn what the experts say porn’s effect on relationships is.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
This is why Fight the New Drug exists—but we can’t do it without you.
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