Videos were initially shared for free, then amateurs began distributing their tapes for profit. Watchersweb claims to be the first company to distribute amateur videos. The company was founded in 1982 by some San Diego swingers who had been trading their videos with other couples. As demand for films to swap grew, they turned their hobby into a business, advertising for amateur exhibitionists around the world who sent in their private tapes. Several professional porn stars were originally discovered by sending their amateur tapes to Homegrown, including Stephanie Swift, Melissa Hill and Rayveness.

The advent of the internet and digital cameras allowed further privacy for producers and consumers of content, and enabled widespread low-cost distribution, and an ever growing variety and quantity of material.It has been argued that in the internet age it has become more socially acceptable to make and view amateur porn. Camera phones allowed video and images to be made, stored and distributed by teenagers or children who may be unaware of the possible consequences (see Sexting). Images initially meant to be shared between couples could now be spread around the world. There is now a growing amount of online amateur porn depicting underage models, created by young people themselves.

The term Realcore has been used to describe digital amateur porn, which arose due to the combination of cheap digital cameras and the World Wide Web in the late 90s. The term refers both to how porn is made, with simple cameras and a documentary style, and how it is distributed, mostly for free, in Web communities or Usenet newsgroups. The term was invented by Sergio Messina, who first used it at the Ars Electronica Symposium in 2000, and was subsequently adopted by a number of authors and experts. Sergio Messina has written a book on the subject, entitled Realcore, the digital porno revolution.