ASMR has always been erotic: The soft whispers, the gentle caresses, the hundreds of beautiful women who stare into their cameras as if looking only at you, were never too distant from softcore fantasies of foreplay and pillow talk. Only recently, though, have we had the option of seeing what might happen in between. With the increasing normalization of platforms like OnlyFans, ASMR creators have a viable market through which to sell adult content of their own creation, leveraging their YouTube audience in the process. And, of course, a market for leaked versions of this content has emerged alongside it.
DirtyShip.com has become one of the go-to sites for ASMR-related porn. In some cases, the videos on the site feature actual elements of ASMR, such as soft whispering, while others are only ASMR-related in that they’re created by popular ASMR artists. Though there isn’t a submission form on the site for users to upload content, adult website-catalog The Porn Dude classifies DirtyShip as a “leak” site, likely featuring stolen pictures and videos from OnlyFans or private Snapchats.
On Google Trends, DirtyShip is the top related result for “ASMR.” It also regularly pops up with searches for NSFW-related content, particularly on Reddit. And while DirtyShip offers several generic categories you’d find on any porn site, the ASMR category is the second largest at 645 videos, beaten only by the OnlyFans category, with 708.
Notably, some of the videos within the ASMR category aren’t inherently pornographic. In fact, many could even be on YouTube. For example, a video of Pelagea ASMR making wet kissing noises features no nudity and no dirty talk, yet still has a 78 percent positive rating on DirtyShip. Admittedly, several others next to it feature ASMR artists masturbating or performing stripteases, but a bunch more fall somewhere in the middle. In one, creator Florescent ASMR role-plays having sex with the viewer and performing a blowjob, but only shows her upper body clothed in lingerie or the top of her head while the sex acts are simulated. On her YouTube channel, Florescent seems to specialize in similar but more PG-13 content, through which she advertises her 18+ Patreon account.
Notably, YouTube regularly de-monetizes ASMR videos with even mildly suggestive themes. Considering there are no ads on Florescent ASMR’s YouTube, her Patreon may well be the primary source of her ASMR-related income. Even ASMR creators whose YouTube content is less immediately erotic can be found on DirtyShip, though, pointing to the fact that adult content is an increasingly viable source of income for those whose specialty may have originally been things like ear-cleaning role-plays. (Of course, that money largely depends upon viewers having to pay for the content, instead of turning to sites like DirtyShip for bootlegged versions.)
Regardless of the unethical nature of sites like DirtyShip and ThotHub, where the sole purpose is to rip photos and videos creators might be paying their bills with, their very existence points to the shifting sexual inclinations of porn consumers. The popularity of OnlyFans content on these sites demonstrates the desire for realness and intimacy from viewers, the idea of watching the girl next door rather than a professional performer under studio lighting. The growing ASMR aspect, meanwhile, proves that viewers want this intimacy to go deeper — they want not only the fantasy of physical pleasure, but all the sweet nothings that could come with it.
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Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
