Technology has undoubtedly changed our lives in the 21^st century. Since the world has been reduced to a global village, we can share content with pretty much anyone on the planet, instantaneously. These easier and faster communication channels have had an impact on human sexuality.

An analysis of a billion web searches from around the world highlighted the impact the internet has had on sexual desires, and sexuality as a whole. This research in the field of collective sexual identity, showed that straight men, for example, enjoy a wider range of erotic material, than previously thought.

The wide data set also showcased top sex-related searches, which included breasts, cheating wives, variations on youth and cheerleaders, among others. It emerged that unique sexual preferences were being carved out, with each niche having its own community. According to the researchers, the male desire is evolving.

This is generally how the internet has impacted sexuality. With so much sexual information and content in the web, are people more confident in their sexuality? Are they getting better satisfied? Have we become more tolerant to our ‘weird’ friends? Are relationships getting stronger? How exactly has the internet changed sexuality?

Let’s look at 15 ways:

15. Wider Access To Video Content

In 2010, net filtering firm, Optenet, put out a press release that stated that 37% of the internet was made up of pornographic material. The report further revealed that websites related to role-playing games had grown by 212%. A different report by adult video hosting firm, Manwin, showed that porn sites had 70 million visitors a day.

In addition to easy accessibility, pornography has changed the way people regard sex. For example, different categories give people with fetishes that seemed abnormal, a sense of belonging. The ability to gain sexual gratification via online video content, has also reduced the number of sexually starved people.

14. We Can Have Cybersex

The internet has revolutionalized how people communicate, making it easier to send text, voice calls, images and even videos, to anyone on the planet. As a result, people have also gotten creative on how to have sex.

Historically, men were reported as more likely to cheat, but cybersex is changing that. Women, for example, can sift through online profiles, pick a guy they like from anywhere, and start a sexual relationship with them. Even better, they can do it with multiple guys on the same day, without any of them ever knowing, while hiding their real identities.

Sadly, despite these perks, cybersex can tear apart marriages, so do it for the right reasons only.

13. People Have Lower Self-Esteem

Why do you think Instagram filters and plastic surgery cases are on the rise? It is all a result of body perceptions, coined by the internet. Adult sites take the most blame in coining ideologies on what the perfect human body is. Women with big butts, perfect round and big boobs, as well as long nails, are objectified. Consequently, more women are going under the knife to achieve this look, using heavy filters on their social media images, to hide their flaws.

Men on the other hand, have had their fair share, with descriptions of the best d*ck size. No wonder we have so many ‘size enlargement’ products, and images of men flaunting their size. (Remember the famous photo The Game took of his manhood).

12. Better Sex

Easy accessibility to adult content has led to the spread of sex education. Also, productions such as the art of kamasutra, and the Cosmopolitan magazine, have enlightened both genders on best ways to have sex, thereby empowering the sexes.

Better sex has translated to happier and stronger relationships. For example, a 2013 study found out that for every one orgasm a woman has, a man has three, a trend that can change, via watching and reading online resources on female anatomy.

Men suffering from erectile dysfunction can also ship in desired products from anywhere in the world, to solve their problems and regain their sexuality.

11. We Are More Tolerant To Other Sexualities

Without pornography, you wouldn’t know that some people have a clown fetish, for example. They are attracted to people dressed as clowns, and their best sexual experience is when they role play as clowns. Through the internet, we are able to understand and tolerate such people, with seemingly odd sexual preferences.

At a different angle though, couples have also been able to tolerate each other’s sexual preferences. In an experiment, a couple was tasked with trying out a different sex position, every day, for a week. At the end of the week, the couple’s bedroom experience was no longer a cliché.

10. Wider Dating Pool

Before the internet, our potential dating partners were limited to neighbors, acquaintances or colleagues. Fortunately, the internet has made it possible to date almost anyone, from anywhere in the planet.

It is estimated that there are 2,500 online dating services in the U.S. alone, some of which are very specific, for example, sites for HIV positive people only. Thanks to an increase in Smartphone use, over 15% of American adults have used a dating site or app. Gladly, although the number seems low, 5% of these online relationships, as reported by the Pew Research Center, led to marriage.

While you try out these sites, be wary of fake profiles, and make sure that you physically meet your date in an open place, just to be sure they are who they claim to be.

9. People Are More Promiscuous

In a bid to understand what promotes sexual promiscuity, researchers found that the internet had a significant role to play. The 21^st century is now characterized by the hookup culture, as opposed to courtship, which was the ideal relationship path in the previous century.

Internet dating has turned sex into a game, enabling people to have multiple sexual partners. In New Zealand, for example, women have an average of 20 sexual partners, according to a OnePoll survey. The situation is so bad that in the New Zealand case, male clients of a Palmerston North-based clinical psychologist, were shocked at how women are not interested in working towards a proper relationship, but would rather have multiple sexual partners.

8. Sex Scenes Are More Prominent In Film

According to IMDb, 172 films have featured teenage sex since 1952, 79 of them having been released within the last decade. Some films, such as Fifty Shades Of Grey have taken sex scenes and nudity to a whole new level.

Additionally, we are seeing Hollywood embrace different sexual orientations by displaying them in their movies. Scenes depicting gayism and lesbianism are no longer strange. We have also seen TV productions showing the lives of the transgender community. One good example is E!’s reality series, I am Cait, which displayed Kim Kardashian’s dad, Bruce Jenner’s life, after changing his gender.

7. Sex Work Is Easier

Long gone are the days when women solely relied on dressing skimpily in the cold weather, risking their lives at a dark alley in town, just to sell sex. Thanks to webcams and good internet accessibility, we have the new-age prostitute who works from home.

Cam girls are the liberated sex worker. Imagine performing to paying customers via a camera from the safety of your home. You have full control of your career and you don’t have to deal with age-old problems such as assault, STI’s or harassment from the local police. Additionally, you can explore your weird sexual fantasies without getting judged.

6. Sex Education Is Easier

Do you feel weird when your son asks you where he came from? Don’t know how to start the ‘sex talk’ with your daughter? Well, the internet makes it easier for you, and even better, all the information she’d probably ever need is there.

Organizations have gone further to take advantage of the fact that kids spend time most of their time on their phones (about 8 hours a day), and decided to take sex education to them. Planned Parenthood, for example, has set up online tools that teach kids the tenets of healthy relationships, reasons to abstain and birth control options, for the sexually active.

5. Sexual Minorities Feel Better About Themselves

Imagine how life was for the gay in the past decade. During this time, coming out of the closet was career suicide. Thankfully, as earlier indicated, the internet increased tolerance for such people. A few positive strides have been the legalization of gay marriages in the United States, and recognition of transgender communities, for example.

Accessibility to people with the same interest has also been made easier. A guy into BDSM can easily locate women who are interested in the same, avoiding deep sexual frustrations when they date blindly. The existence of online forums also allows these people to openly share their problems.

4. We Talk About Sex More Freely

Am sure the societal definition of a pervert in the 1980’s and now, has considerably changed. Forty years ago, a man’s sexual education was highly dependent on what his equally misinformed friends told him, while a woman had to silently contend with sexual frustration.

More sex talk on the internet, via blogs and videos, has solved this problem and both sexes can now freely talk about their sexual needs. A woman can confidently discuss orgasms, without being branded a whore, while men are comfortable directly finding out sexual preferences from their partners. Imagine the number of radio shows, vlogs and blogs that freely discuss sex. We have surely come a long way.

3. We Live A Lie

The internet has sadly worsened the marriage institution in some instances. For example, how many wives do you think are oblivious of the fact that their husbands are cheating with other men? How easy do you think is for these men?

A recent national survey conducted by the CDC, shockingly revealed that more Americans are identifying as bisexual, more than ever before. The sad bit is that most of these people are hiding this from their spouses. One of the survey respondents, a 46-year-old married man, who had been married to his wife for 12 years, confessed to hooking up with guys since he was 19. Through online dating sites, he was able to find guys, with whom he’d release his sexual tension.

2. We Can Rate Our Sexual Performance

The cave-man way of knowing whether you rocked her world is via how loud she moans. Well, thanks to the internet, this has changed. Sexual performance has progressed beyond physical performance. Developers have created apps that can measure your performance in bed, and you can even share this data with your friends, setting the benchmark.

One such app, known as Spreadsheets, uses data such as, how long you lasted, how loud she was, how many thrusts you had, and the number of times you had sex in a week, to gauge your performance. So, what happens when the other guy had a better spreadsheet than yours? You guessed right, she dumps you.

1. We Have Embraced Singlehood Better

In a study exploring the ‘man-free’ life, it was discovered that more than a third of U.S. women are getting along just fine, without a male companion. It was also understood that despite men assuming that women cease to look for sex after the age of 50, they are actually interested in sex until cremation.

So, what makes singlehood so easy? One of the reasons is the easy accessibility to sex, thanks to the internet. A single man/woman can have sex with anyone they want as long as they play ball, and forget about them the next day. Imagine a life with all the sex you need, with anyone you like, and not worrying about a nagging wife/husband.

Sources: metro.co.uk, medicalexpress.com, huffingtonpost.co.uk, foxnews.com