By Trishia Van Orden
Year after year, the porn industry works tirelessly to find creative methods to attract new consumers and keep the old ones. They follow trends and events that happen throughout the year and create content from the latest fads and innovations. PornHub, one of the leading porn providers, with 33.5 billion visits in 2018 have released their yearly statistics.This includes the most popular searches on the PornHub site.
It may be shocking to discover the leading searches were related to popular video games like Fortnite, anime, and even cartoons, such as Elastigirl from Disney’s movie The Incredibles. Pokemon, Spiderman, Mario Brothers, Zelda and other characters we would normally associate with children are being used to entice them onto the site. As parents we must do all we can to understand what the porn industry is doing to attract our children to their sites and ensnare them.
The porn industry doesn’t stay confined to their own sites to lure kids and teens they use a variety of other platforms such as:
Social Media
Social media is an ever present entity in the lives of today’s youth and the porn industry is very aware of this fact (Statista, 2018). According to sources from Xbiz (a porn and sex industry website) the main target consumers are “mobile-based Gen Z” and millennials (Xbiz Staff, 2019). One CEO quoted in a marketing trend article said the best marketing strategy of 2018 was “Taking 20 of the biggest name stars in our industry that we have signed to us and using their social media to post all the stores that carry our line — Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc” (Xbiz Staff, 2019).
Does anyone else find this concerning? If the porn industry is posting their content on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, who do you think are most likely to see it? Our children! Our teenagers spend about 9 hours a day on the internet (Tsukayama, 2015). That is 9 hours that they could be exposed to pornography without us even knowing it. However, social media is not the only place that the porn industry is hiding.
Video Games
Another major way that the porn and sex industries have been targeting our children is through video games and video gaming consoles. According to PornHub’s 2018 year in review XBox, Playstation, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Wii U all have ways to access PornHub servers. PornHub also mentioned that the Nintendo Switch has a hidden web browsing function that could allow users to gain access in the future.
Along with these gaming consoles, porn is readily available on gaming websites such as Steam and gog.com. And if that wasn’t bad enough, as of last year, one of the largest porn companies in the industry has decided to wet their feet in the video gaming industry. They even offer some of their games for free, which means that there is no “paywall” safety net to stop underage users (Miller, 2018).
Some games to watch out for are:
- Huniepop
- Mutiny
- Tropical Liquor
- Kindred Spirits on the Roof
- VR Kanojo
- Negligee: Love Stories
- Games containing the word: Hentai
There have also been reports of porn bots contacting people via the chat options on some gaming systems (Farough, 2017). These bots are trying to get players to interact with them and follow them to their website. While most of these bots are scams, there is still the danger that your children could be exposed.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
While the porn industry has seen astonishing growth with virtual reality over the last three to four years, augmented reality (when objects from the real world are placed in a digital one) has made a debut. Augmented reality porn can be accessed with a phone instead of having to wear a head-mounted display, which gives the user a better ease of access. Instead of having to be attached to a video game system, they can now watch augmented reality porn anywhere they have internet access, including trains, parks, stores, and friends houses.
What can parents do?
- Educate yourself and your kids. Be informed about the dangers of pornography and how it affects us. Help your children understand the risks of pornography and what to do if they come across it.
- It is very important to speak to both boys and girls, there is a misconception that boys are the only ones who frequent porn sites, and that is simply not the case. A study showed that one-third of girls reported using pornography. Don’t leave them out of the conversation. (Carroll, Padilla-Walker, Nelson, Olson, McNamara Barry, Madsen, 2008)
- If you allow social media, discuss with your children how to use their accounts wisely. Friend or follow them and stay informed on what they are sharing and viewing.
- Be aware of what video games your children are playing or exposed to.
- Use parental controls and internet filters on your internet and electronic devices. Make sure that your video game system is set to private and that all parental controls are working.
- Create and use a family media guideline.
- Stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the digital world. Knowing what is happening around us will help us know how to better protect our families.
Remember that it is always better for your children to get their information from you and not the internet. Please take the time to sit down and discuss the dangers of pornorgaphy and what to do if they do come across it. Don’t be scared to talk about pornography with your kids, it could be the difference between addition and freedom.
For more information about how to talk to your kids about the dangers of pornography check out our book How to Talk to Your Kids about Pornography.
Ready to Talk with your kids about the dangers of online porn? Check out our new, 2nd edition!
Trishia Van Orden has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marriage and Family Studies from Brigham Young University-Idaho. She has a love for psychology and hopes to one day open a Family Life Education Center where she lives. She is currently writing for Educate and Empower Kids and working as a volunteer in a girl’s youth group program. She is also a wife and mother of three beautiful girls.
Citations:
Jason S. Carroll, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, Larry J. Nelson, Chad D. Olson, Carolyn McNamara Barry, Stephanie D. Madsen (2008, Jan) Generation XXX: Pornography Acceptance and Use Among Emerging Adults, Journal of Adolescent Research, Volume: 23 issue: 1, page(s): 6-30
Farough, A. (2017, Aug 8). PlayStation network and xbox live have a porn bot spam problem. Retrieved Jan 13, 2019, from https://mic.com/articles/183416/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-have-a-porn-bot-spam-problem#.dyV47JhfH
Miller, B. (2018, Sep 28). Largest Pornography Company Targets Video Game Industry. Retrieved Jan 12, 2019, from https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/largest-pornography-company-targets-video-game-industry/
Statista. (2018, Oct). Most popular social networks of teenagers in the united states from fall 2012 to fall 2018. United States. Retrieved Jan 12, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/250172/social-network-usage-of-us-teens-and-young-adults/
Tsukayama, H. (2015, Nov 3). Teens spend nearly nine hours every day consuming media. Retrieved Jan 13, 2019, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/11/03/teens-spend-nearly-nine-hours-every-day-consuming-media/?utm_term=.e1a162053d3d
Xbiz Staff. (2019, Jan 11). Execs of 2018: Pleasure product sales pros discuss year’s biggest trends. Retrieved from https://www.xbiz.com/features/240746/execs-of-2018-pleasure-product-sales-pros-discuss-years-biggest-trends
Xbiz Staff. (2019, Jan 9). Execs of 2018: Retail industry business leaders reveal their top strategies. Retrieved Jan 12, 2019, from https://www.xbiz.com/features/240743/execs-of-2018-retail-industry-business-leaders-reveal-their-top-strategies
Xbiz Staff. (2019, Jan 8). Execs of 2018: Retail industry marketing pros shed light on millennial market. Retrieved from https://www.xbiz.com/features/240742/execs-of-2018-retail-industry-marketing-pros-shed-light-on-millennial-market
December 11, 2. (2019, January 10). 2018 Year in Review. Retrieved February 1, 2019, from https://www.pornhub.com/insights/2018-year-in-review
