‘No coronavirus can leave us without sex’: relations of complicity and solidarity on Pornhub

Abstract

As this study reports, in times of global health crisis interactions between users on social media platforms such as Pornhub seem to form solidarity links that grow into global digital communities. This article applies quantitative, qualitative, and network analysis to the comments of a sample of 166 videos identified as belonging to the ‘COVID-19 porn genre’. The analysis leads to the quest for a community of practice that builds and negotiates shared meanings and values, and demonstrates forms of complicity and purpose, and forms of recognized hierarchical structure. The study builds under the shadow of a platformization dynamics that drives the whole environment of Pornhub penetrating the social relations between users. The article contributes to a discussion on online communities and, specifically, the possibility of the rise of a global community based on solidarity on porn sites.