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> Wow this an extremely hostile take on OF. There's dozens of studies on parasocial relationships and how unhealthy they can be[1]; dozens of studies on how he

• stouset 5y ago
  > and dozens of surveys on how my generation (millenials) and younger (zoomers) are more lonely, having less sex, having less friends, and less happy than previous generations There is no causation link here. There are plenty of other massive social upheavals going on that are likely tied into this. The pandemic. Political acrimony. Impending impact of climate change. Helicopter parenting. Economic difficulties and uncertainty for younger generations. Facebook and other social media. Celebrity obsession. Abuse of addictive patterns in gaming apps. We’ve created a world where people’s real life prospects are dwindling and yet there’s cheap, easy, and unlimited access to virtual dopamine generators. While porn is certainly a contributor, I don’t see any evidence that it’s an outsized one or that it deserves to be singled out from the myriad ways we’ve ruined things for future generations. Also and more directly to the point, GP was addressing GGP categorizing porn consumers as “sex addicts, lonely guys, social weirdos”. The vast majority of the western world—including women—consume some amount of pornography. They just do it overwhelmingly in private, which is why such a stigma exists. Paying for it is not necessarily indicative of it being a problem for these people, in the same way that paying for music or other media isn’t. It’s just a changing of the norm to one that is frankly an extreme improvement for the women who do this as a profession.
• staticman2 5y ago
  You'd have to eliminate all media to eliminate parasocial relationships, not sure what that has to so with porn. The most intense parasocial relationships are probably with politicians and celebrities, not porn stars. That second link discusses correlations and calls for further study which you've translated to "porn causes Millennial's problems" in your summary, which is not a reasonable takeaway. People with healthy relationships and healthy bodies are almost certainly going to have less time for porn, for one thing. It's hard to put in porn viewing hours if you are hanging out with platonic friends or going for a walk with your crush.
  • dvt 5y ago
    > you've somehow translated to "porn causes all life's problems" in your summary. This seems a bit uncharitable, I don't think I've done this at all.
    • johnnyanmac 5y ago
      Well you said people are "lonely guys, social weirdos" for engaging in this activity, and then there are studies saying society as a whole has less physical intimacy this generation than any other. It may not be intentional, but it is indirectly saying that these activities are major contributors