How social media has normalised pornography

The line between pornography and social media is beginning to blur as the latter seems to be resolutely ahead of adult film industry in the race for internet dominance when it comes to easy access to explicit videos.

Whether intentional or leaked, social media has become awash with more than enough nude contents to keep users on edge.

Pop ups and adverts on virtual world platforms reveal people who are not ashamed to share their sex lives on the internet claiming to be open-minded and living their best lives.

Twitter has become the hub of soft porn display allowing users to watch explicit videos in its pure, unadulterated self.

The reason some Twitter users say, “don’t open Twitter if you are in public.”

Picture-sharing Instagram is slowly catching up especially after the introduction of videos to its users. On Instagram, porn is hidden behind hashtags and emojis that appear innocuous.

While Snapchat technically doesn’t allow ‘adult content,’ an ecosystem of online businesses help budding entrepreneurs manage and monetize ‘premium’ pornographic accounts.

This is basically to lure traffic, the premium account is linked to a more innocuous “teaser” Snapchat account and other platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook, on the other hand, has more restrictive measures when it comes to nudity.

Ranging from pictures to short clips, some may term these videos as chic and cheeky while others argue it is soft porn.

A study by Dr Simon Duff, Deputy Director of Forensic Programs at the University of Nottingham suggests that people have now become de-sensitized to images of soft-core pornography which leads to one seeking greater exposure.

“There certainly seems to be a greater use of soft-core imagery throughout society.” Dr Duff posited

When it comes to leaked sex tapes, however, revenge on a partner is usually the cause of it being exposed for viewing pleasure of the public.

An example is the recent exposure of a Texas Pastor, David Wilson, who had Twitter on fire after a video of him pleasing a female Church member was shared online.

According to the woman, she shared the video on the internet as payback to Pastor Wilson, who she has allegedly been in an affair with for a while, not fulfilling his promise to make her the Church’s Choir leader.

Gone were the days when sexual videos were a taboo but now, with the snap of a finger, one can be redirected to adult websites.

Online behaviour expert, Bill Tancer in his 2008 book, Click, declared that social media was overtaking pornography as the most popular destination on the internet.

Tancer puts it that “those aged 18 to 24 in particular were replacing pornography use with more stimulating social networking pastimes. After the porn frenzy that was the first decade of the internet’s life, users seemed to be finding more “sociable” ways to occupy their time.”

People – including teenagers – who frequently look at photographs of semi-naked models, common in tabloid newspapers, adverts and the media, are becoming a norm.

Despite various sensitization by owners of social media, social porn does not seem to fade out as more people, including the pornography industry, use social media as a click bait as well as make their content attractive.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com