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Utah (Montana) fact of the day
This one concerns adult entertainment:
Dividing state subscription counts by the FCC’s Broadband Deployment quantities, the most-subscribing state is Utah (where 5.47 of every 1,000 broadband households subscribed to the service at issue), while the least-subscribing state is Montana (1.92 per 1000 broadband households).
Posted by Tyler Cowen on February 24, 2009 at 12:45 PM in Television | Permalink
Comments
As a Mormon I am sad to hear that.
Posted by: Jim at Feb 24, 2009 1:13:39 PM
Certainly breaking a lot of stereotypes, considering all the Mormons in Utah and elderly in Florida (also pretty high up on the list).
Posted by: Michael at Feb 24, 2009 1:17:47 PM
The title of this post should have been "Preferences Revealed"
Posted by: Jeff H. at Feb 24, 2009 1:23:10 PM
As a Mormon, I also am sad to hear that. I am also sad to say that I am not surprised.
Posted by: Scott at Feb 24, 2009 1:52:54 PM
What if the 0.5% in Utah represents the non-Mormon population looking for things that the local community will not allow to be sold in the open...? Those darn Mormons are driving these poor people to porn! ;)
Posted by: Scott Ferguson at Feb 24, 2009 2:05:19 PM
Scott Ferguson (nice name, btw)
You actually may be onto something. If you're unfamiliar with Utah, then you may not know just how tightly alcohol/tobacco/adult entertainment are regulated.
The current legislative session is looking into relaxing some of the restrictions on alcohol, but I don't know about the others.
Posted by: Scott at Feb 24, 2009 2:35:23 PM
My understanding is Utah has been extremely proactive in public solutions to broadband communications. And why not? As with roads, water, and power distribution, there are a finite number of optimum paths for networked resources and thus lined broadband service is a prime candidate for public works or public investment/regulation.
Or perhaps it is merely coincidence that Utah is the most wired state in 2008.
http://www.centerdigitalgov.com/survey/61
Posted by: Ben R. at Feb 24, 2009 2:38:29 PM
More likely, the rate of use of anonymous (except for that guy in Montana who is the only person in his zip code) sources is driven up in locales where word travels fast due to low population and high social stigma.
Posted by: Andrew at Feb 24, 2009 2:46:33 PM
Oh yeah, and availability as noted above. And a lack of availability...ummm...traditional...'services,' including clubs for 'hookups.'
This paper seems less a statement about morality than demographics.
Posted by: Andrew at Feb 24, 2009 2:49:06 PM
And what percentage of Utah households are broadband households?
Posted by: John Mansfield at Feb 24, 2009 3:51:50 PM
John wrote, "And what percentage of Utah households are broadband households?"
Here's what I get using the data Edelman used in this paper.
In 2000, Utah's total number of high speed lines divided by the number of households was .0465433. In 2007, it was 1.077112.
In comparison, the median of all states in 2000 was .0479768 in 2000, and .9244159 in 2007. Utah's 2007 levels puts it roughly in the 75th percentile of all states for that particular measure.
Posted by: jason voorhees at Feb 24, 2009 4:17:50 PM
btw, this is a good time to recall Todd Kendall's old study on the links between porn and crime. They may be substitutes. (Insert joke about the fiscal stimulus focus on broadband here).
Posted by: jason voorhees at Feb 24, 2009 4:19:22 PM
Reminds me of how Google Trends "outed" the conservative Islamic countries:
The Internet is a refuge for hidden desires, even though it offers only virtual relief. Google Trends, a new service offered by the search engine, provides a way to demonstrate how difficult it is to banish forbidden yearnings from the heads of Muslims. By entering the term "sex" into Google Trends, one obtains a ranked list of cities, countries and languages in which the term was entered most frequently. According to Google Trends, the Pakistanis search for "sex" most often, followed by the Egyptians. Iran and Morocco are in fourth and fifth, Indonesia is in seventh and Saudi Arabia in eighth place. The top city for "sex" searches is Cairo. When the terms "boy sex" or "man boy sex" are entered (many Internet filters catch the word "gay"), Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the first four countries listed.And:
"Even though homosexuality is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom ranks No. 2 for searches for "gay sex," behind the Philippines."
Posted by: Jason Malloy at Feb 24, 2009 4:51:17 PM
People interpreting this as Mormon demand for the adult entertainment should explain why Idaho (22.8% Mormon according to Wikipedia) has the second-lowest rate of subscribers per thousand home broadband users.
Posted by: Joel H at Feb 24, 2009 5:37:43 PM
I'm an ex-mormon from Utah. I can't follow the link because I'm at work, so I have to guess based on comments.
I don't think you have any argument for preferences in this. I think you have two factors at work:
1) Magazines, videos, etc. are illegal in Utah. People to drive to Wyoming for this. There's a town on the border serving Utahns' needs for fireworks, strong beer, and ... photography.
2) Social pressure is VERY high in Utah. Mormons have mastered social pressure. But Mormons are biologically the same as other people and social pressure doesn't work when no one is around.
Posted by: Freethinking Jeremy at Feb 24, 2009 7:00:30 PM
How come everyone is trying to explain it in a Mormon context? I grew up in Utah and that's a pained convoluted way to approach the problem.
Firstly the population is younger than any other state in the country, are young people more likely to use porn? Are young people more likely to use high tech porn?
Secondly Utah is among the lowest states for unemployment and among the lowest for home price declines. Perhaps people who are a little more flush may buy a little more porn?
Posted by: Roland Martinez at Feb 24, 2009 7:49:53 PM
Suscription?
Is there not enough free porn in the WWW?
Posted by: karl at Feb 24, 2009 8:34:31 PM
Has anyone here read Accelerando by Charles Stross? It's a sci-fi book with a throwaway line about wiring Iran for tactile cybersex, a few decades from now. Same thing here: if you reduce the supply of something (porn) through a certain channel (video rentals, say), but have a constant level of supply through another channel (the net), then that channel will be used more. No need to speculate on the unique characteristics of the Utahan male.
Posted by: Nathan Cook at Feb 24, 2009 9:46:06 PM
I was originally thinking walras' law but I think substitutes are more like it. Just as the other have already pointed. Although I sense a certain confirmation bias in all our comments concerning Utah.
Posted by: Giancarlo Angulo at Feb 24, 2009 11:28:01 PM
Freethinking Jeremy is somewhat exaggerating Utah's puritanism. My daily commute takes me past at least one strip club and several bars. It's true that liquor is fairly regulated compared to several states, but you can get it state liquor stores. Porn, of course, is freely available on the Internet, but also in several physical stores around the Wasatch Front. As for social pressure, Utah is less than %50 Mormon now, and if you only consider urban areas it's less than that.
If you want certain fireworks you do have to go to Wyoming, but Wyoming is the unusual one in this regard, especially when you consider that Utah is the second driest state in the union.
Posted by: Matthew at Feb 25, 2009 12:39:50 AM
My dad always said that the only vice Mormons indulge in is sex.
Posted by: Christina at Feb 25, 2009 11:43:55 AM
Having grown up in Montana I can say that these results do not surprise me. I am well aware of how thrify most Montanans are and it wouldn't surprise me that they know more than most where to find good, free porn online.
I wonder what the results would be if they had also held internet saviness steady?
Posted by: Mark K. at Feb 25, 2009 11:02:25 PM
I don't believe this finding at all...not because Utahns would not stoop to looking at porn, but rather because Utahns are extremely thrifty and know how to get FREE porn on the net.
Posted by: Jake at Feb 25, 2009 11:55:30 PM
