The Need For Internet Accountability
Online pornography is one of the most addictive and destructive substances used by men and women today. With every click, pop-up windows, emails and advertisements can easily entice those fighting porn addiction and temptation. The damage to individuals, marriages and families is incalculable.
Statistics confirm the $97 billion (worldwide) industry continues to grow with no end in sight. Every 39 minutes 28,258 Internet viewers are viewing pornography, 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines, and more than 70% of men from 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site every month. Furthermore, at a conference of marriage counselors, online pornography was cited as the primary cause for divorce in more than half of the couples they saw.
As the damage caused by online pornography spread to more and more people, a new concept emerged called Internet Accountability. Internet Accountability Software helps men and women avoid the temptation and sin of online pornography. This kind of software steers users away from temptation by sending reports of sites visited to an “accountability partner.”
Choosing the right Software for Internet Accountability
There are generally two types of of software that can help people steer clear of pornography online: Internet Filtering Software and Internet Accountability Software. Internet Filtering Software focuses on blocking sites. Internet accountability software focuses on monitoring and reporting the sites you visit to your accountability partner.
Here is what you want to look for in great accountability software:
Share Reports with An Accountability Partner:
Look for software that allows you to share the details of what you do online with a friend. The reports should include the websites you visit, programs you use, things you search for, and more. You should be able to set up multiple accountability partners who have access to your reports.
Email Push Reports:
While the detailed reports should be available to your accountability partner, it is also great if the software will send them a summary report that points out potentially inappropriate sites you have visited. This will save your accountability partner time as they help keep you accountable for your online usage.
Instant Alerts:
If you really struggle with pornography addiction then Internet accountability software that has instant alerting capability will really help. While your accountability partner has access to your logs and an email summary, they might only check these once a week. Instant alerts, often sent by text message or email, can alert your accountability partner immediately when you are tempted online. They can then offer immediate support to help you deal with the temptation.
Accountability and Filtering Combine Strengths:
Most Internet Accountability Software packages out there don’t include filtering, even though having the option to enable some basic filtering is a definite plus. The ideal software will combine full accountability monitoring and reporting with effective filtering. This type of software still records an attempt to view pornography and alerts your accountability partner, but also prevents you from being able to view the pornography, thus not perpetuating the temptation-sin-shame cycle that makes recovery much more difficult. Accountability software that includes filtering makes freedom from sexual sin easier to achieve.
Don’t change your own settings:
Accountability software isn’t much good if you can disable it anytime you want. You need an accountability program that only allows the accountability partner to change your settings or disable the software. This way your accountability partner holds the keys, so you can’t disable the software.
Install Internet accountability on all your computers:
You really need to install Internet accountability software on all of your computers. So it is best to get software that will allow you to install it on multiple computers for one price. If you have a computer that doesn’t have the software, it will become the computer you go to when you want to hide activity.
Recommended Internet Accountability Software
After looking at all of the Internet Accountability solutions on the market, we think the one that is the best is Safe Eyes. Here is a run down of why:
- Incredible reports, with tons of detail
- Server based reports that can’t be tampered with
- Email summary reports that can be pushed out daily or weekly
- Instant alerts can be sent by text message, email, or even by phone!
- It has combines excellent accountability with reliable filtering
- Your accountability partner can control all your settings
- It is only $49.95 a year, for up to 3 computers, both Mac and PC!
