There is a massive market for TikTok-related porn, as evidenced by the popularity of subreddits like r/TikTokNSFW and the presence of TikTok stars on leak sites like ThotHub. It makes sense, then, that large porn sites would attempt to find a place within the TikTok porn market. Swyp, a mobile site from YouPorn, is one such attempt. But does it actually provide the content that TikTok fans are looking for?
“The mobile-only web app has a similar look and feel to TikTok in terms of functionality,” a press release for Swyp says, “presenting users with a wide array of full-screen video previews to pique their interest simply by swiping down on their mobile screen.” When visiting Swyp from your phone’s browser, the program shows brief clips from longer porn videos. If you’re interested in watching the full video, you simply press on the clip. If the thumbnail doesn’t look enticing, you keep scrolling as you might if you were using the TikTok app. For those who are logged in to Swyp, the program also utilizes an algorithm to note which types of videos you enjoy watching in order to show more of them to you in the future, similar to TikTok’s own algorithm.
As the press release says, Swyp is intended to mirror TikTok only in terms of function. It is indeed the “TikTok of porn,” if you define TikTok primarily by the experience of infinite scrolling and swiping. But as r/TikTokNSFW and the number of popular TikTokers on OnlyFans indicates, the fondness for TikTok isn’t simply the product of the physical experience of using the app. Instead, it’s the creators and the nature of the content.
While Swyp may feature “amateur” pornography, many of the videos featured seem to have the polish of traditional porn. For Swyp to more accurately be the “TikTok of porn,” it would need to feature user-made, user-uploaded content, allowing for creators to build status on the platform accordingly.
As it stands, Swyp seems to miss the point of making a porn site “like TikTok,” though there is some value to being presented with videos in this format. As Swyp fills the screen with one video at a time, it might cut back on the time one spends searching through a site for the ideal video. Or, alternatively, it causes someone to scroll even longer, stuck on the hope that the perfect video is always just a few swipes away.
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.
