The Daily Mirror surveyed thousands of Web surfers and discovered a 200 percent increase in the number of people looking to the Web for sexual gratification. More than half of respondents admitted to surfing the net for porn, and a third of those surfers admitted to seeking hardcore pornography images of women.
Additionally, 44 percent of respondents said that cybersex was not a form of cheating on a spouse or partner.
"The internet has been a major player because it has made sex more accessible," a sex expert told the Times Mirror. "The tripling of the use of porn on the web does not reflect a tripling in desire for porn. It reflects the increase in opportunities to access it.
An interest in online porn was closely connected to where in the United Kingdom the survey respondent resided. The Daily Mirror found that 69 percent of residents in the North East have surfed the net for porn, whereas only 50 percent in the South West surfed for porn.
The Daily Mirror survey also revealed the large role anonymity plays on the Internet and how most respondents used fake names to access porn. Most of the survey respondents also said that prior to the Internet's accessibility, they had not had an interest in pornography. And those survey subjects who admitted to being regular porn surfers admitted to an increase in interest over the past year.
The Daily Mirror survey revealed that online dating and matchmaking services are experiencing unprecedented growth and popularity in Britain. One out of every ten of those surveyed has met a partner via the Internet. Additionally, women have never before been more forthcoming about their interest in porn, the survey states.
"Women are becoming more adventurous and more accepting of porn, too," the sex expert told the Times Mirror. "And many people find cybersex liberating because it feels safe doing it in the comfort of your own home. There is also the anonymity factor."