Anorexic Web now 470 percent fatter

Davey Winder
Monday, 22 September 2008 17:55

Business IT - Networking

The Optenet 2008 International Internet Trends Study reveals that websites with pro-anorexia and bulimia content have grown by 470 percent since the end of 2006. Child pornography, violence, racism and drug abuse sites are also on an unhealthily upward curve.

Using a traffic analysis and classification developed by Optenet, the company has apparently been able to combine artificial intelligence with traditional content filtering technology in order to successfully categorise web based content.

By tracking, categorising and analysing a random sampling of web sites since the end of 2006, Optenet has produced an International Internet Trends Study which puts the growth of the actual content of the Web into frightening perspective.

The picture this report paints is most certainly not a pretty one. The findings are truly shocking, for a change.

Those are the ones that relate to the level of 'inappropriate content' on the Web. The ones that revealed some rather disturbing trends relating to the kind of content that can put kids at risk, that can encourage racist and violent behaviours.

As someone who is married to a former professional Russian ballerina, I know only too well the long term harm that eating disorders can bring.

Which is why I was shocked to learn that pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content has grown by an incredible 470 percent since the end of 2006.

I thought I might take some comfort in discovering that the amount of pornographic content has actually decreased in the same period (to some 35 percent of all Web content), but this was tempered very quickly by the worrying rise of child pornography by 18.54 percent.

Other areas of concern include the growth of violent content by 125 percent, racist content up by 70 percent and pro-drug content up by 62 percent.

If I were to pick one set of statistics that really did shock me to my boots though, it would have to be that eating pro-anorexia number.

Especially when you compare the 470 percent growth to that of social networking sites over the same period which could manage only 455 percent.

Now that kind of puts things into some perspective.