Amanda Hess explores the growing phenomenon of microporn, “explicit photos, videos, and GIFs that are as short as winks”:
Today, the full-length film experience has been subsumed by short clips that can be chopped, remixed, and compiled into endless sexual combinations. [Novice pornographer] David distills his exploits into six-second loops. Amateur editors cut professional porn flicks into even shorter animated GIFs, then Tumblr curators like Kayla shoot them to all their followers. It used to be that people would “watch porn by fast-forwarding through most of it to get to their favorite parts,” says Fleshbot founder and editor Lux Alptraum. But GIFs “hone in on the hottest part of the action” — on “that perfect cum shot, or those breasts bouncing, or the moment of insertion, or whatever it is that really drives you wild.” And they repeat instantly — no hands necessary.
But it’s causing problems for social networking sites:
Because microporn is so simple to shoot, edit, and share, it’s escaped the seedy bounds of the tube sites and found a home on mainstream social-networking sites. … Platforms like Vine, Tumblr, and Instagram aren’t exactly accepting microporn with open arms. Mainstream social networks are constantly inventing new strategies for blocking users from finding porn through their channels. Search for “NSFW” on Vine, and you’ll find zero results. Tumblr recently caught flak for sweeping the “gay” and “lesbian” tags from its mobile app along with more explicit filters like “porn”; Tumblr founder David Karp publicly lamented the decision, but said those identity tags are just steeped in too much sexual material to keep them active. Facebook — along with its image-sharing site, Instagram — bans nudity entirely.
The Dish 