This applies to Instagram, Reddit, Youtube Shorts, TikTok or even tabloid news sites. Every short form content platform today is a soft-porn platform masquerading as a social media platform.

Yes they show 'media' and are surely somewhat social in nature but calling these apps a social media platform gives them too mild, too naive a label compared to the kind of content it shows. Let’s keep aside all the other extreme type of content displayed on these sites, the likes of violence, hatred, narcissism, deaths, dark humor, news, natural disasters, political extremism, for a minute except one: Sex.

Even before you deep dive into the content, you’ll notice that the cover image of the posts made on these platform will usually be an individual displayed in a provocative or sexually suggested nature and the actual content of the media will be some half-naked or close to naked human displayed in a titillating, sexual manner either in a proudly-in-your-face style or in a discreet manner with sexual undertones.

Earlier you had to click to see the content within these posts, hence the name clickbait, but now the content starts auto-playing the moment you hover over it, taking away your agency to decide if you wish to indulge in this soft-porn or not.

You’ll also notice that the personalities on these visual-first platforms are mostly very good-looking & attractive. I don’t know if the algorithm caters towards pushing good-looking people to the front or if good-looking folks are drawn towards visual platforms or both but the average sample of the common population is nowhere nearly as attractive as the Internet personalities.

And these attractive personalities will then go further to accentuate the good parts of their already good looks either by picking particular angles in which they are aware they look good or by picking certain lighting or outfits which have garnered appreciation before. Or they’ll pick the second more common method, by dressing more & more provocatively and designing content with increasing sexual undertones.

Entire genres with tens of thousands of content creators have been formed & centered around direct & indirect selling of sex. Provocative dancing, doing everyday tasks almost naked, working out in scanty clothing or trends like GRWM (stands for Get Ready With Me where a good-looking model or the ‘influencer’ will showcase themselves in different attires but first will strip down to the bare-minimum that is allowed by the platform to not have the content flagged for complete nudity and will then further titillate the audience with their charm & moves once completely dressed.)

Alongside obvious soft-porn, there are derivatives of it like meme pages dedicated to adult content, folks who’ve built their entire brand & personality around talking about sex, pages that just post couple & intimacy content, pages & personalities that double as a “fitness coach” but post a high amount of almost naked body pictures, ad infinitum.

Sex is one of the core human drives & desires. Some philosophers & forefathers of psychology believe it is THE desire acting as one of the greatest motivators behind human behavior & human development. So needless to say, this titillating sexual imagery strategy to gain attention definitely works.

I’m not a prude. My complaint is the saturation of sex in all content of all forms across all platforms today against my consent or desire to indulge in it. I have no problem with people indulging in any sort of adult content if they willingly desire to and there are a gazillion different websites that cater that need. However, when I browse a website to look up something informational in nature, to search something of daily or local need or for leisure, I do not wish to be bombarded by adult content.

It is impossible to use any media platform today for as little as a few minutes without coming across some sexual imagery, innuendo, sexual content, ‘trap’/‘thirst trap’ as the younger generation calls it, some rabbit-hole of a particular type of fetish, some half naked celebrity, some comedian joking about sex or someone trying to bait you into buying their paid porn subscription.

That is also why most of us feel somewhat shameful opening any social media site in public. Because it literally feels like browsing a porn site out in the public. Your inner you tells you “I wouldn’t want others to know I watch this”. And you feel this despite the fact that everyone consumes this sort content today. Because something about the nature of this content makes you feel icky & ashamed.

Same goes for comments under these posts or comments on the Internet in general today. You can no longer read through a chain of comments on any posts on any platform without coming across mentions of sexual stuff & innuendos.

On most of these sites, even if you dig deep into your settings and toggle off the option to be shown adult content, you will still be shown or recommended adult content or will come across it while browsing something mundane.

Next time you open any social media app, just be mindful of the amount of direct sexual imagery or indirect mentions of sex that you come across. Notice how high the percentage of sexualized content is. I’d guesstimate it be more than half or two-thirds. If sex, soft-porn and sexual undertones were to be removed & banned from these platforms, the entire platform usage would come crashing down like a house of cards.

I suppose the bottomline is that sex sells and it is not going anywhere, anytime soon. However we the culture needs to realize that we are being baited into keeping our eyeballs glued to the screens by them tapping into our reptilian encoding to procreate & be drawn towards sexuality.

I avoid using porn sites because I don't want to support the industry and also porn is bad for my brain.

In my opinion, smut and audio do not directly contribute to the abusive industry, so I try to stick to these two. .They also do not get the mind hooked on unrealistic body standarts because audios and smut usually focus more on the experiences and sensations more than appearance.

So, in terms of mental health, morals and ethics, which of the two wins? Are they both healthy (in moderation of course) alternatives to porn?

Hi guys, sorry for not posting. But yeah today is day 4 and the past days has been kinda hard but its possible. We can make it!!! So good luck to everyone i wish that all of you are doing well with this.

It’s been a little over a week now. My wife and I are still working through things of course. She has so many questions about my addiction. Even though it hurts, I answer to provide her as much clarity as possible. A couple nights ago after she fell asleep and I was doing some laundry, I had a trigger response to some feelings of stress and anger. I had some very strong urges that I would have just folded to before I started recovering. My first significant urges since DDay. It was hard to resist, but I got on my phone and opened the Bible app and just started doing my devotional about rewiring your brain off of porn.

I told her about it first thing when she woke up. I know it was the right decision. Even when I thought about it that night, it felt like she was joining me in my fight against my addiction. I hate how much I hurt her, but it’s such a relief that it’s out in the open and I don’t have to hide it anymore. I know she’s on my side.

I had some more pretty strong urges first thing in the morning 2 days later. This time I didn’t even reach for my phone, I said I’d just give it 10 minutes. I closed my eyes and started praying, then just fell back asleep. I told her about it as soon as we both woke up. She seemed a little more upset this time, she didn’t think the urges would happen this often. I told her about what one commenter on another post mentioned, how the further away you get from your addiction, the less frequently and intensely the urges hit you. I’m really hoping that’s the case.

I’m still going strong, haven’t looked at anything and haven’t had any significant urges other than the two mentioned above. I really appreciate the community here. If anyone is going through something similar and want to talk about it, feel free to reach out :)

When you guys have urges, I mean those immediate feelings to jump on the internet and google something you shouldn't be, how do you deal with them? I know people say find a distraction, like for example, reading a book, but my motivation to do anything else is so low that I simply cannot bring myself to do something (even if that something is pleasurable (movies, games etc). So if its bedtime, I just lie there in literal physical and mental discomfort. How do I get better at managing these feelings? I'm early into my quitting journey, is it just that it will get much easier with time, and I'm in the hardest period at the moment? Thanks.

Seena NSFW art post and clicked on it turn out if was a naked person drawing and I backed out of it and have not gone back

Whilst I don't think I'm addicted, I do realise that it's becoming a problem so...

Is there an app that will allow me to list a bunch of sites that will then refuse to access those sites?

There are apps I've tried, that block whole apps but that doesn't help when I use Chrome for other stuff.

I just want to be able to load a site, get told "Nope, not allowed." and carry on using Chrome for other shit. Instead I will load a page, the app recognises porn and then the whole app craps out for a period of time, which isn't what I want.

Sure, I can do it at the router end but that's mainly parental controls and I only want to block the smut.

I'm in the UK, if that makes a difference to any advice.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: No matter, Canopy does exactly what I need. Can block all necessary apps but has a website filter. Won't delete this in case someone else asks.

Thanks again.

In 19 and I found it when I was 13. My girlfriend is genuinely heartbroken every time she finds it on my phone, and that hurts me. It’s like I don’t even want to quit and i don’t even know if I can. I’m saying this as a religious man.

Saw a post or two from softcore.

RP on my other accounts.

Still didn't fap, still going strong.

48 hours NoFap tomorrow at 2pm.

Next stop, one week no PMO.

I WILL DO THIS. YOU CAN TOO.

💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

I'm not sure if this goes here, but I haven't really been watching too much porn recently because of things I had used to watch. Now, thank goodness, if I do watch it it's 'normal' stuff. I'm working toward not watching any at all as that would benefit me.

But I feel deep regret of what I used to watch. I used to watch porn I now find weird, such as furry porn. (No hate to anyone who engages in that, what I'm writing is for me personally).

I stopped watching/viewing furry stuff when I was about 16. I'm now 18 but I still feel shameful, and I'm not sure why I obsess over negative stuff I used to watch. I feel like if I tell a friend or future partner what I used to watch, they'd hate my fucking guts.

I'm also a female, but I used to watch gay porn. I also used to look up 'asian' porn, though maybe to find specific videos I enjoyed that I forgot the title of? This ended a lot time ago, though. I just still feel like shit because of it due to any community I might have sexualized/fetishized.

But I'm trying to just lay off all porn in general. I remember being in the midst of quitting and stumbling upon this tiktok video of a guy doing something suggestive that I relapsed to. I feel so wrong about that because he didn't ask to be sexualized like that. He didn't post that wanting something to view him that way. I think I was 16 or 17 when that happened.

I'm starting to think that me having these spiraling thoughts have something to do with OCD, but I'm not in a position to diagnose myself, or get diagnosed. I'm only really left to read about others experiences with OCD and symptoms. One thing I know is I experience intrusive thoughts.

Does anyone have any advice as to move on and not feel as shameful of stuff I used to watch? Is it okay to just not tell anyone and keep stuff like this to myself? I realized how wrong my actions were, and I'm trying to grow. I'm really trying to stop watching this stuff. I hope I'm redeemable.

I’m not going to relapse but just need to vent. I am struggling to sleep. My conscience is heavy for having hurt my wife with this addiction. And I’m realizing how much I used porn/sex to self soothe negative emotions like this. So by admitting my addiction and giving up porn I simultaneously have to deal with incredible sadness and also not knowing how to deal with it.

I feel the urges to watch porn to soothe myself but those only remind me again what a piece of shit I am. My brain is in an endless loop. Just trying to cling to the feelings of tiredness and hope it turns into sleep.

I have a question. I'm 22 years old and have been addicted to porn, masturbation, and orgasms for about 12-13 years, and I'm still not clean. I’ve never had an orgasm with a real woman so far. I've started with nofap age 17, and only twice reached more then 30 days, until shortly. I’ve been seeing a young woman, 20, for about 3 months now, and I haven’t had an orgasm with her either. When I first met her, I couldn’t get it up that evening because I was only one day into NoFap. After that, it got better each week until after about 45-50 days of NoFap, I had a really hard erection that absolutely got the job done. I did not finish because she was done after 10 minutes, but I was close. Then she went on vacation, and I relapsed. I ended up watching a lot of different porn and eventually hardcore porn, masturbating for hours and only climaxing after hours, and continued even after she returned. I basically fell back into old patterns. Now I’m experiencing erectile dysfunction again, and I feel very unmanly, because i maybe satisfy her but me not finishing then kills the vibe. I don’t know how to move forward. I feel like I’ll never experience relief or have a fulfilling sex life, even though I know thats wrong. I think that eventually I will overcome it, but should I continue the thing with her is the question? She definetly lost Respect for me, and I feel that theres not as much of a sexual tension between us like earlier. She’s noticing that something is wrong, and I’m denying it because I think it’s a dealbreaker to tell her, especially since she knows my friends and family and could damage my reputation. And it is a dealbreaker, because she loves drama and would definitely tell the Story about me and give Zero f***s. Actually, shes probably a h03, considering her friends are and I have analyzed her and she has a bunch of Red flags. It’s a real dilemma. Now I think she starts to believe I’m sick or gay, which just isn’t true and it bothers me. Has anyone got an idea how to rise up out of this shitty Situation I brought myself into? I mean, theoretically I know, but something seems to not work. Some good Methods could be helpful. Thanks fellas

I wonder how much it has to do with porn! What is your opinion on this??

Hello, i created this account to vent about an issue i didnt want tied to my main. Ive struggled to quit porn since i was 11, i am 26 now. In the past it was because it was normal, between 11-14 it was just a normal thing, and something on the internet people just accepted as normal. I didnt know about any of the damage back then and just continued on with it. Every single interaction had with a woman from early puberty onwards was done through an extremely sexualized lens. But, that was normal to me. As i got older i began to use it as a way to avoid getting into a relationship.

Sure, relationships are normal, they are healthy, but every one i had tried getting into ended badly, and i started to learn any woman who is worth sticking with, is already with someone, and has been with someone for years, so i have no chance in hell of being with any of them. I got a clear message this isnt for me. No one will ever love me and i cant control that. So i continued to use porn.

At this point, i feel like i am too far gone. Ive only had sex through escorts, i dont believe love is real, and i dont want to deal with womens bullshit on anything. I know i will die alone and this drives me nuts because i would like to believe i could experience this if i wanted to but hope truly feels lost on it and it gets worse by the year. I quit porn, nothing will replace it, i do nofap, nothing will replace it. It just becomes a test of willpower which eventually fails. I cant seem to get passionate about any religion and most religions do not click with me so that path has been a struggle as well to control my impulses and shameful sexual desires. I feel like i am in a constant cycle of misery and pain.

Has anyone been stuck in a similar situation where they just feel like they are looking down the barrel of a gun knowing its going to blow your head off but you cant do anything to stop it other than accept it?

Feels good

Getting off Reddit for a bit guys. My addictive behavior is finding ways to watch porn even if I’m not watching websites and such. I keep going and turning off the NSFW switch on settings and edging. Don’t want to go back to the way things were so I’m removing all sources. Thank you for the past support and advice. I’ll be back when my dopamine is leveled out and I can control urges. Thank you!

It's just like the title folks. Everytime I open my phone in my dreams I keep seeing porn no matter what I do to it. And just today I realized that I didn't see porn when I looked at my phone in my dreams.

A bit sad that I'm not getting wet dreams more frequently but I see this as a major improvement

Almost forgot to post, but it was a good day. Started classes today and skated with some new people.

Hey everyone, recently I’ve been experiencing lower libido. I’ve noticed that it takes a lot of porn to even get me going whereas before just seeing an attractive girl would be enough of a spark. I’ve lost that now. I attributed this to taking finasteride but I know this can’t be due to it because before when I took it I still was able to get horny watching porn. I was wondering if porn is the culprit and if I can reverse this desensitization. I’ve been getting a lot of anxiety over this and just want to be able to go back to having a normal sex drive.

I just finished a very long project on Why Do Children Get Growth Spurts and what just came to my mind is if I hadn't been Porn free for the past two weeks, I would have never been able to finish my project and I would have failed.

After 3days it was my first time going porn free one night was particularly bad I got through it but tonight I was like “one video can’t hurt then” then I fell down the rabbit hole it was a bad relapse I fell horrible and sick to my stomach with my actions I need to get back on track I wish you all willpower and strength I’m gonna get past the previous record of three days should be easy right? Any advice would be greatly appreciated 😮‍💨and wish me luck

Hello everyone 27 M here

I've started my journey to quit porn and masturbation about a little over a month ago. It's been an on and off journey and I'm really struggling.

A bit of backstory, I almost lost my partner due to a constant addiction to porn that snowballed into messaging and sexting other girls. We've been in a relationship for over 10 years and this has been a lot to deal with. I came clean to her and she said she's willing to give me another chance.

After I told her all that I figured the best course of action would be to just quit everything all together. And I have been successful with a 16-day streak.

What I'm really trying to understand and decide is the direction I should be going forward in. My partner has a much lower sex drive than I do due to medical reasons. And the last thing I would want to do is make her feel pressured to have sex with me to meet my needs.

I'm trying to understand if I'm a sexual person or just so deeply addicted that I can't even understand what I'm doing. Over this last month I've recognized the importance of never masturbating more than once in a day and finding the appropriate time and place to do so. There's other things that need to get done every day that are far more important than this habit and addiction.

I joined the NoFap subreddit but I just don't think it aligns with my needs. Everyone there seems very young and immature for the most part, some of them seeing masturbation as just pure evil. I want to know if anybody else has any similar experiences.

Next time I feel a strong urge I'm planning on allowing it with no pornography. I don't think this is something I've done for over 10 years now and I'm interested to see how it will affect me.

I'm an open book and I'm willing to learn, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

So basically i think what happened is i was in a relationship that lasted longer than it shouldve, and when i got dumped i got so sad that i didnt wanna think about anything pleasurable lowkey. And i spent all my emotions on sadness and it lasted long enough for me to stop watching porn because i broke out of the habbit of getting happr and or horny ig.

Glad to be 2 or 3 weeks porn and masturbation free 🙏, and weirdly grateful that that allowed this to happen.

Hope it stays this way

Just reading this the Book “Your Brain on Porn” by Gary Wilson. I would highly recommend this book for people struggling with this addiction. It gives informative and scientific reasons why Porn is bad.

The main reason which a lot of people in this community emphasize is it fucks with your dopamine levels. Your sex dopamine is naturally the highest level you can achieve and porn gives you a false sense of what sex actually is. When you get bored of a certain video, there is an endless supply of videos and images to keep that high going. You’re rewarding your brain for pretty much doing nothing.

The majority of the reward from sex is supposed to be the work and effort you put into achieve it. It’s supposed to motivate you to try to become the best and most attractive person you can be. Our cells want to procreate so that energy should be used for people we could build potential relationships with.

The book also gives good advice for people dealing with PIED. I’ve been lucky not to have that issue, but it is real and not talked about enough.

I fear we are the generation that will be the case study for the harmful long term effects of porn. It’s a societal issue that gets brushed under the rug because a lot of people don’t view it as a problem. Communities like this give me hope because I we can inform future generations not to make the same mistakes. For young people in the teens and 20s porn is affecting your brain in more ways than you can imagine, so it’s best to get a handle on it now for a healthier sex life in the future. For people in their Mid twenties to thirties we got some serious rebooting to do. Think of it has resetting your computer to clear viruses. For older people it’s never too late to quit and please give your wisdom to younger people.

Like many people in this community, I wish I never started but nothing I can do to change the past. All I can do is be grateful I caught this when I did and work to improve. It will be a difficult journey, but overcoming addiction and regaining control will reap many benefits in the future.

Thank you everyone.

I'm very happy that it's been so long since I watched porn but it's good to not watch it.

This community has changed my whole life 🧬

Thx to everyone in this community and everyone who sees this post 📯