Porno self[ie]: interactive amateur pornography on Reddit Gone Wild and the organization of a new online erotic art world
Date
2016
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
On Reddit.com, a sub-forum has been devoted entirely to enshrining a special kind of selfie, the porno-selfie. The present study, an online ethnographic content analysis of the subreddit Reddit Gone Wild, reveals the unique situation of the online community as distinct both from other social networking sites and other amateur pornography sites. Using Becker’s art world as a guiding theoretical framework, I examine the influence of Reddit Gone Wild’s social organization on art (porno-seflies) and artists’ (female posters’) careers on the site. Through its social organization built upon its convention, anonymity, and autonomy, I illustrate how the social phenomenon of creating and disseminating self-authored nude photos on RGW constitutes a new art world predicated by the increased technological advancements of digital smartphone photography and mass instantaneous communication.
Description
Keywords
Social sciences, Communication and the arts, Erotic art world, Nude selfie, Pornography, Reddit Gone Wild, Self-shooting, Selfie