Here is a COVID effect that we won't fully see for years

(Paywall-free popularization like this is what I do for a living. To support me, see the end of this post)

And it’s about porn, of course.

Here is a COVID effect that we won't fully see for years /img/sex-after-covid.jpg

According to a survey of 5000 18-year old italian students, thanks to COVID-19:

  • the percentage of girls who routinely visit porn websites doubled, from 15% in 2019 to 30% in 2020
  • boys did much better, in comparison, but only because they could very hardly have done worse: “the percentage of boys with the same behaviour remain stable at 89%"

Even more troubling, but unsurprising, is the declared increase of loneliness, especially among boys: 25% declared to feel lonely, that is twice the number of just two years before.

How and how much, exactly, this will change relationships among future adults, and consequently society as a whole, is still too early to tell. But it surely will, and very likely not for the better. Let’s not get this time bomb out of sight.

Who writes this, why, and how to help

I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
I do it because YOUR civil rights and the quality of YOUR life depend every year more on how software is used AROUND you.

To this end, I have already shared more than a million words on this blog, without any paywall or user tracking, and am sharing the next million through a newsletter, also without any paywall.

The more direct support I get, the more I can continue to inform for free parents, teachers, decision makers, and everybody else who should know more stuff like this. You can support me with paid subscriptions to my newsletter, donations via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay, or in any of the other ways listed here.THANKS for your support!

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