One of the themes that emerged from Barna's research on pornography are the enormous generational differences. There are wide gaps between how younger and older generations not only behave toward porn—but also what they believe about porn. In short: not only do younger generations use porn more regularly, they are also less likely to think there’s anything wrong with it.

While half of adults think viewing porn is wrong, only one-third of teens and young adults believe it is wrong to view porn.

When asked to rank a series of “bad things” a person could do—things such as stealing, lying, having an affair, even overeating—teens and young adults placed all porn-related actions at the very bottom of the list. In fact, teens and young adults said “Not Recycling” is more immoral than viewing pornographic images. They also placed “thinking negatively about someone with a different point of view” as a much worse activity than viewing pornography.

To some degree, these rankings reflect a new moral code, something we call the "morality of self-fulfillment." While it may seem crazy to you that younger generations see not recycling as the greater evil—it’s also true that not recycling—as well as most of the other activities ranked above pornography—has a societal impact. Watching pornography, on the other hand, is perceived by many as simply an individual choice. Affecting no one but me.

Of course, many of us recognize that both the making and viewing of pornography has long-reaching societal effects. But for most Americans—especially younger ones—watching porn is a personal matter.

Teens and young adults are living in an environment where porn is more acceptable—and more ubiquitous than ever before. When they talk to their friends about pornography, the conversations are cavalier. Only 11 percent of teens and just 5 percent of young adults say their friends think viewing porn is bad. The vast majority say their conversations with friends around porn are either neutral, accepting or even encouraging. A plurality say it’s just assumed we all look at porn sometimes. When it comes to watching pornography, teens and young adults aren’t getting accountability from their friends—they are getting peer pressure.

And it is into this context—a context in which viewing porn is, simply put, an acceptable reality—that a new and particularly insidious form of pornography has emerged. A pornography that is no longer distant and delivered. But, instead, is personal and created.

We are calling this "porn 2.0".

Porn 2.0 is user-created—often shared with a known person; a friend or significant other or a potential romantic interest. You know what I'm talking about: sexting, snapchatting nude pictures, posting provocative Instagram photos.

Perhaps this was inevitable. We probably should have seen it coming. From YouTube to Tumblr to Instagram, the Internet has offered users a chance to create and distribute their own content. To share the details of their lives with friends and with strangers. Of course the demand for more and more intimate details would increase, even as the barriers to exposing oneself lessened.

In many ways, porn 2.0 has snuck under the radar. Perhaps because many don’t consider it porn at all. Teenagers, who are more likely to think everything is porn than other generations, make an exception when it comes to sexting.

When you look at teen sexting and the motivation behind it, it’s important to see it as a sort of replication of broader social behavior. They’ve seen this behavior—this sort of “self-pornification—rewarded when their celebrity icons have done it. Look at Kim Kardashian who basically broke Instagram with her recent nude photos. Young people have come of age in an increasingly pornified American culture that encourages and rewards the pornographic impulse. Just visit the home page for Instagram—these are not fun, life shots. These are seductive images meant to market oneself.

There is also the truth that teens and young adults are simply on their phones more. They have become used to viewing pornography via their phone or an app—well more so than any other generation. So it is not a surprise that the blurring of lines between pornography and personal happens—it’s all the same device, right? How easy it is to begin to view a nude image of a stranger with the same eyes as a nude image of a girlfriend.