A taboo is defined as a social or religious custom that restricts a certain practice. Taboos forbid association with a particular person, place, or thing. They are violations of norms and something that “decent” people have nothing to do with. While sex is (gradually) becoming less taboo, porn has not made the same amount of progress.
Take a closer look at part of what defines a taboo: a social or religious custom. In several parts of the world, it’s not considered good form to openly discuss sex. Several religious creeds have a specific guideline about who should be having sex with who and why (i.e., procreation).
Source: Intrigue Dating
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Controversies
Sex is supposed to be private and this is a big argument against pornography. So is the depiction of sex for pure pleasure instead of strictly for reproduction. Porn has critics who call it violent, demeaning, and especially harmful towards women which further ads to the taboo.
Some feminists, including Gloria Steinem and Catharine MacKinnon, deem porn as abusive toward women. They also conclude performers are being coerced to star in adult material. On the flip side, other feminists such as Ellen Wilson feel that women are acting of their own free will and embracing their erotic rights. This can be seen by stars who are creating their own material and setting their own boundaries.
How Porn Stars Are Breaking the Social Norms
Porn stars are human beings and rather than create an image of some unattainable deity, some are taking their image on a different level. Using social media, performers like Valentina Marie, Dani Daniels, Tanya Tate, and Briana Banks are tearing down the norms, by directly reaching out to fans and offering custom experiences.
Source: twitter.com
This creates an organic relationship with their fans (consumers) and brings an important person to person element into their business.
These porn entrepreneurs are using social media to create their own content, have exclusive rights to it, monetize their videos for direct (unshared) earnings, and control what they do or don’t do.
This challenges arguments about sexual violence and coercion since performers are producing material on their own terms. Their social media accounts introduce people to adult material through a common platform, making it seem less taboo While YouPorn might be off people’s radar, Facebook and Instagram certainly are not.
In fact, some of these performers have never shot porn but are comfortable being a “cam girl”. This goes back to performers creating their own content and staying within their own boundaries. For porn stars, their films are a way to introduce fans to social media and vice versa.
For example, Tanya Tate has a cheeky YouTube channel that does feature sexy videos but shows her as a mom and cosplay performer. For those who like her, a quick web search will lead you to Tanya’s (many) videos on Pornhub.
Making Porn Approachable
Pornhub, the web’s most popular porn site, has not only noticed but adopted this marketing tactic. Social media manager Aria Nathaniel understands that trends and news are the keys to boost engagement. And through that engagement, Aria makes Pornhub more relatable with the personality she gives its social media accounts.
In fact, she brings a mix of witty, funny, and silly to sex and heat.
For example, this remarkable tweet generated 31.6K Retweets and 34.3K Likes.
RT if you sexually identify as a mistake
— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub) March 20, 2019
This was a humorous play on words about a trending topic: sexual identity. It might be funny to some while offensive to others, but it generated engagement.
This human element makes Aria a very effective ambassador for Pornhub and brings in new viewers while retaining current ones. User engagement is achieved with not only photos but a mix of memes, internet trends, current events, and direct interaction with followers.
The #phworthy campaign further generates traffic to the site by people tagging Tweets and photos as Porhhub worthy and asking others to comment and even vote on the content.
Sexy Social Strategies
Facebook and Instagram are the world’s biggest social media platforms, but they don’t allow pornographic content. In fact, they have very strict standards when it comes to any type of nudity. When you’re building up your social media followers, the last thing you want is your account to be deleted so these sites require a little creative maneuvering.
Yet the social giants are a great place to attract and generate traffic. Porn stars give viewers a “taste” of what you have to offer with (permissibly) sexy pictures/videos, risqué memes, grown-up comics, or some other clever hook.
Source: The Frisky
Further, they use Facebook and/or Instagram to get traffic to platforms like Chaturbate and Snapchat that do allow adult content. Social media accounts can also be used to direct people directly to a performer’s personal website, which is where the revenue comes from.
Perfect Bedfellows
Social media marketing is a natural complement to porn and other adult companies. Among their other positive effects, social media helps to break the taboos around porn and introduces content to a wider audience. For those curious about porn, it is a great introduction plus a way to consume what some would consider tamer material.
This platform has a huge advantage in its potential for customized content. If you are watching a porn film, you might want to get to know the performer a bit better. Thanks to social media, you can have this. All you have to do is post a request and the personalized content is yours.
According to Vicetemple, a popular adult marketing and hosting company, social media marketing has become an essential tool for online success. Placing social share buttons on your website is a must since it lets your visitors know that you have a notable social media presence. Once more, this is an opportunity for engagement.
As upcoming trends in social media include the rise of private accounts, live video, social listening, and augmented reality, it is easy to see how these trends will fluently tie in with porn. While social listening will allow you to maximize your strategy, augmented reality (AR) promises to take custom content to a whole new level.
In short, social media lets you know what your audience wants and gives you a way to provide it. These platforms serve as an introduction to a broad audience and break down social barriers through technology.
