Gay porn networks

Abstract

Gay porn networks offer audiences diverse pornographies under a single offering. This article considers how specialist, online gay pornographic sites are made viable via networks, providing an overview of the 10 most popular gay porn networks currently in operation, and making connections between them via qualitative reading. By recognizing the potential for alternative pornographies within these networks, yet not reifying gay porn networks to the production of solely non-mainstream offerings, the article invites a more nuanced assessment of the complexity of the online gay porn commercial environment. Encompassing a total of 50 sites across 10 networks, the study’s broad approach allows for an overview of the most successful networks currently available, with a particular emphasis on branded identity, themes and the construction of studio vs network identities.