A recent survey conducted by the men’s lifestyle site Sugarcookie.com has candidly revealed how men use Instagram for sex, dating and pornography.
Thousands of blokes, aged 18-35, were surveyed about their Insta habits and why they use it. According to the survey, blokes use Instagram for masturbation material, where they hunt down sexualised photography and videos. Of the men polled, 28% masturbate to celebrities and public figures, 27% to porn stars and cam girls and 20% to photos of their female friends. Many blokes use Instagram for dating opportunities too with 14% of the men surveyed having dated someone they met whist using Insta. Awww, how romantic?! Not.
“Guys are really using Instagram to get lucky,” said Sugarcookie. “It probably helps that girls way out number guys on Instagram so there are a lot of opportunities on the app for single guys. The term “Slide in DMs” is seen as a compliment, since most people assume you have to be confident and smooth to chat up a random Instagram girl.”
But it’s not just wanking and dating that has the blokes all fired up. The survey also found 5% of men have paid for sex on Instagram and 4% have used it to find escorts. And a further 7% are paying for nude photos and videos on the app. With all of this knowledge, it makes total sense why females use the platform targeting the male gaze. It’s not sluttiness or exhibitionism (not that it would matter if it was), it’s smart business prowess.
A lot of men seem to be choosing social media platforms, apps or web cam sites over porn now – for their sexual needs. When I asked a bunch of male friends about this recently, many told me they preferred sexting, skyping and browsing social media, compared to porn, because it was interactive and real. Society likes to judge blokes for only thinking about sex but their craving for interactiveness with living, breathing women reveals blokes crave intimacy as well. Next week, the award-winning Sugarcookie will survey women about Instagram. My feeling is that it won’t be half as exciting!
BY VANESSA DE LARGIE
Vanessa de Largie is an Australian actress, sex columnist and freelance journalist based in London
