VirtualSx

Originally posted on PsychCentral. By ROBERT WEISS LCSW, CSAT-S

With a porn industry beleaguered by decreasing website viewership, declining sales and membership, QR codes may be the next step for the high-tech, for-profit sex biz. Over the past few years pornographers have been stuck on the side-lines watching their formerly high profit margins dip substantially related to waves of bad press – “unsafe sex in the porn industry,” the rise of social media related sexual hook-ups, not to mention free sex (friend finder) GPS locator apps on smart phones.

If that weren’t bad enough for the poor porn folks and their investors, there appears to be a rise in the numbers of plain folks seeking online “fame” and “fortune” by putting it all out there for everyone to see for free … or for a small fee. And much as reality shows have taken over television, increasingly people seem to prefer watching “non-professionals” having sex to the alternative.

In other words, as a the result of newer technologies, endless free porn, increasingly laisse-faire sexual attitudes among the under-30 set and instantaneous GPS located access to sexual partners, the declining porn pay-for porn and sex biz is itching to find something ‘new’ to capture desperately needed consumer dollars.

Enter a pattern we’ve seen time and again. Swiftly following the arrival of some widely accepted new technology the sex industry jumps right in seeking increased attention and profit. The same thing is just beginning to happen with the latest bit of consciousness-permeating technology – QR codes. And with new sites likeQRgirls.com already live it’s a pretty good bet there’s a lot more on the way. 

By now you have likely encountered a QR code, though you may not have even known its name or function. According to Wikipedia: A QR code (or Quick Response code) is a type of two-dimensional barcode, which has recently become popular due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of dark squiggly modules arranged in a square pattern on a light colored background, often resembling an oversized unreadable postage stamp.  Today most smartphones either come with a built-in 2D barcode scanner to read QRs or one can be freely be downloaded to practically all camera-phones now on the market.

QR codes can be seen in magazines, signs, buses, business cards, or on almost any object about which users might wish to gain or marketers give – more detailed information. Users can scan the image to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or even open a web page (designated by the codes designer) in the telephone’s browser.

During the month of June 2011, according to one study [1], 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code or a barcode. As 53% of these 14 million users were men between the ages of 18 and 34, could there be a faster way to reach your ideal porn consumer? In what seems to have taken nano-second, all porn-related DVDs now routinely feature QR’s alongside the title to provide potential buyers access to “more detailed online information,” while Victoria’s Secret (see below) routinely features ads encouraging the viewer to utilize the QR codes conveniently placed on the anatomy of their scantily clad models to see “more of what’s underneath” … Can using QR codes to find prostitutes, affair partners or to really scan that hot woman’s butt be far behind?

[1] http://www.internetretailing.net/2011/08/14m-americans-scanned-qr-and-bar-codes-with-their-mobiles-in-june-2011/

Robert Weiss is Founding Director of The Sexual Recovery Instituteand Director of Sexual Disorders Services at The Ranch Treatment Center and Promises Treatment Centers. These centers serve individuals seeking sexual addiction treatment and porn addiction help.

Follow Robert on Twitter @RobWeissMSW

Originally posted on PsychCentral. By ROBERT WEISS LCSW, CSAT-S

Consider how the following progression of access to sexual imagery and contact over time might affect someone vulnerable to compulsive and addictive sexual behavior:  

Sexual Access Timeline

1. Prehistory to approx 1890 – cave art, prostitution, affairs, harems, compulsive masturbation to fantasy

2. 1890 to late 1970’s – photographic porn, film, porn theatres, strip clubs, adult bookstores

3. 1977 -1990 – VCR & Beta, Phone Sex

4. 1990 – 2004 – Bulletin Board (BBS), Chat Rooms, Porn Websites, Web cams, Craig’s List, interactive online sex, online hook-ups and prostitution sites

5. 2004 to the present – Smartphones with GPS locators, Social Networking (facebook, twitter, linkedin), Virtual World Sex, Sexting

6. And coming to your way very soon … Virtual Sex

Instant Problem

Note above how the explosion of modern world technology has fueled an equally exponential growth of access to graphic pornography and recreational sex partners. Think about the fact that over the many millennia it has taken for the brains, relationships, morality and ethics of mankind to develop, our sexual behavior was basically limited to art, cheating, imagination and self-stimulation. Yet in a period of little more than 100 years we have arrived at the point of near instant entry to explicit imagery and sexual partnering (for cash or free).

And while most people have the ability to limit their involvement with the above to the occasional or casual and therefore are relatively unaffected, there are those with similar emotional and psychological limitations to people with drug addictions, for whom this tricky combination has created a nightmare web of intrigue, secrecy, compulsion and broken relationships. We call these people Sex Addicts.

Change is Good

Fortunately for those who either by choice or via addiction-related negative life-consequences have recognized their vulnerability to addiction and choose to actively work on it, the new technologies also offer support. Today there are alternatives to a losing yourself to porn-obsession, compulsive masturbation or anonymous sex. All of the 12-step sexual recovery support groups (like SA, SAA, SCA, SLAA etc.) now offer not only websites that explain the nature of the problem, along with meeting and phone support lists – but also entry to chat room based 12-step meetings, sponsors and social support for recovery.

As readily as you can employ the Internet to search for porn and prostitution, you can also find therapy organizations and individuals skilled in sex addiction treatment, those dedicated and trained to help guide behavior change and healing. The Internet also offers concrete, specific information about addiction problems and recovery/healing, information about sexual addiction in particular. Needed info that would rarely have been found before via the library, in phonebooks or at the doctor, pastor or psychotherapists’ office, even if one had been brave enough to talk about these potentially shameful problems.  

Apps for that!

As rapidly as the social networks have risen to prominence, so support has evolved for all types of healing through apps (likeiPromises Recovery Companion or iRecovery), programs that offer one-tap connection to local 12-step support, meetings and daily inspirational messages, along with the ability to monitor addiction triggers or track time sober.

For recovering sex addicts, sexting can be replaced with photos and video of loved ones, those meaningful reminders of why sobriety is important, while Smartphones and GPS offer to connection to higher levels of accountability to concerned spouses, therapists and sponsors. Current technology also offers the facility to set up multiple party phone calls or video support chats whenever wanted or needed. As our world becomes smaller and more immediate, so fortunately does access to help, guidance and change for those willing to put their time and focus into self-stability, integrity and healing.

Robert Weiss is Founding Director of The Sexual Recovery Instituteand Director of Sexual Disorders Services at The Ranch Treatment Center and Promises Treatment Centers. These centers serve individuals seeking sexual addiction treatment and porn addiction help.

Follow Robert on Twitter @RobWeissMSW