Nothing on earth could probably interest one more than sex. In cyberspace, it is perhaps the keyword that tops the most searched list in every search engine, at any given day.

I’ve come across a study, done more than 10 years ago, that says the Internet is the great equalizer in a lot of aspects, even when it comes to things non-erotic. On the Internet, one can define his or her own persona, especially since the anonymity the net provides can create an environment where a conservative librarian can become a leather-bound sex vixen. For the user, this sort of thing leads to some kind of self awareness that further emboldens him or her to take part in a cerebral discourse that would otherwise be left unexplored in the real world.

And it is instant, too. One gets a reply to a racy suggestion in seconds.

Cybersex is also attractive because of what it lacks: physical connection. More and more people are attracted to the fact that they can satisfy their primal urges without the need to be physically present, taking away the usual anxiety that one feels towards real life hookups. Everything from arousal to orgasm happens on the intellectual level. Indeed, cybersex is purely cerebral.

Furthermore, there is the issue of control. As the study notes, the computer has an “off” button which the user can press any time. Any time the things written on screen becomes too close for comfort, or any time one feels harassed, violated or threatened. A woman could terminate the chat by exiting it or ignoring the messages.

The article was written more than a decade ago, so things have definitely changed. For one, total anonymity in the Internet is something that is debatable, with your IP address being recorded and other more insiduous techniques available to determine who you are, or at least what ISP and what computer you are using. The article was written for IRC enthusiasts, and while IRC is still available, it is largely empty.

More and more people have taken their interactions to the World Wide Web, through various Web sites and social networking sites. And as such, the act of setting up a fantasy persona becomes more complex. The timid librarian would have to open a MySpace account, and post pictures of herself – more specifically edited pictures of her face with Maria Ozawa’s body – to become credible as a sex siren. Much more work than just inputting a racy chat nick in an IRC channel.

There are things, however, that have not changed. Sex on the Internet is still more or less governed by the same pleasure principle: cerebral. But engaging in it has become riskier, due to the fact that a savvy user could easily pinpoint you. We’ve heard of a lot of horror stories, I guess 10 years later, Internet sex still has to be practiced with caution.

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