Is the internet stopping people from having sex?

Johannesburg - Latest US statistics might show that 'Netflix and Chill' might ironically mean just exactly that. 

'Netflix and Chill' is the code name for sexual activity among millennials. But the phrase has emerged amid a global decline of lovemaking, according to a recent study. 

A US study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, published recently, has revealed that internet access could have led to a decline in sexual activity since 1989. 

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The study stated that with the birth of the internet, people had more activities to engage in rather than just sexual ones.

“The ubiquity of entertainment and social media options in recent decades, from streaming video to gaming to Facebook, may also make sexual activity just one of an array of pleasurable options,” the study read.

The study also revealed that an increase in the consumption of pornography could also have led to the decline in sexual acts. 

“Though pornography consumption is associated with a higher probability of engagement in casual sex and more sexual partners, pornography viewing itself is often a solitary activity, and the frequency of intercourse is negatively correlated with both the frequency of masturbation and the self-reported negative effects of pornography consumption,” the study read. 

The study showed that the biggest decline in sexual acts was in the 50 to 59 age group, followed by the 18 to 29 age group, while the third biggest decline recorded came from the 30 to 39 age group. 

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While the study stated that new social media platforms such as match.com and Tinder are making it easier for people to locate sexual partners, there was a general decline among all age groups, except one.

The study revealed that the over-70s age group actually showed an increase in sexual acts in 2014 when compared to 1989.  

Findings from the South African Social Media Landscape 2016 study, conducted by World Wide Worx and Fuseware, showed that Facebook is used by a quarter of all South Africans, while Instagram was steadily growing. 

The South African Social Media Landscape study showed that Facebook has grown by 8%, from 12 million to 13 million users, and Twitter by 12%, from 6.6 million to 7.4 million users. 

Video sharing platform YouTube increased its user base marginally more, with a 15% rise from 7.2 million to 8.28 million users. The biggest growth has come from Instagram, which rose a massive 133% from 1.1 million to 2.68 million.