The Internet Is For Porn

About

"The Internet is for Porn" is a song from the Broadway musical comedy Avenue Q which repeatedly suggests that the internet was made for pornography. The song has received significant online attention, including parodies, covers, use in video edits and as a catchphrase used in memes, particularly image macros.

Origin

Avenue Q, an adult-oriented parody of Sesame Street, is a Broadway musical where the primary "cast" of the show are all puppets manned by human puppeteers who are also part of the cast. The puppet characters are forced to deal with adult problems throughout the musical (such as dealing with racism, keeping a job and managing romantic relationships). The musical was first performed in 2002, reaching Broadway in mid-2003 and gaining significant media attention.

"The Internet Is For Porn" song performed in the musical, sung by characters Katie Monster and Trekkie Monster, is the best-known portion from the play and the one used in memes. Throughout the song, Katie tries to explain the wonders of using the internet, while Trekkie continually butts in and asserts that at its core, the internet is for porn. Midway through the song, human characters join in to affirm Trekkie's claims, much to Katie's disgust. On November 20th, 2007, YouTuber^[1] DaVinciReloaded uploaded a clip of the performance, garnering over 5.2 million views in 14 years (shown below).

Excerpt of Lyrics:

(most lines sung by Katie, Trekkie's lines in italics)

The internet is really really great, For porn
I've got a fast connection so I don't have to wait, For porn Huh?
There's always some new site, For porn!
I browse all day and night, For porn!
It's like I'm surfing at the speed of light, For porn! Trekkie!

Spread

On July 18th, 2004, YTMND^[2] user Longshot created a page called "(nsfw) The internet is for porn," which consists of a loop of the song and a repeated image of Sesame Street character Cookie Monster. The page gained over 797,000 views in 17 years.

On November 29th, 2005, WarCraftMovies^[3] user Kanio posted a video edited to show World of Warcraft characters singing the song, garnering over 1.2 million views on the site in 16 years. The video was reuploaded to YouTube^[4] on April 28th, 2006, garnering over 9.5 million views in 15 years (shown below).

The video inspired numerous other edits over the course of the next few years, mainly using footage from various media properties to make it appear as if new characters are singing the song. For example, on September 10th, 2006, YouTuber^[7] lionkiss uploaded a video using various animated Disney films to sing the song, garnering over 3.9 million views in 15 years (shown below, left). On August 27th, 2007, YouTuber^[8] Think Weiss uploaded a Sesame Street themed video following the trend, garnering over 2.7 million views in 14 years (shown below, right).

On March 12th, 2008, it was reported by Reuters^[6] that Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski implied voting should not be done online because the internet is for porn. The phrase "the internet is for porn" soon spread across the web as a commonly used phrase in posts and memes, including image macros, photoshops and demotivational posters (examples shown below, left and right).

Inclusion In SOPA Debate

On December 15th, 2011, the song and meme were brought up during the Stop Online Piracy Act congressional debates.^[5] When the subject matter turned to pornography on the internet, Rep. Jared Polis (D, Colorado) offered up the entire song to discuss the merits of an amendment to disallow the law to protect pornographic material (shown below). This, effectively, has put the song and meme "into the public record."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References