If you’re a site like TechCrunch, how do you shake up the constant coverage of app launches and startup funding? You start writing about sex, obviously — and, this being the Internet, porn.
The site recently debuted a spicy new column called #Love, which TechCrunch writer Jordan Crook describes thusly:
“#Love is a new column on TechCrunch dealing with digital matters of the heart. It explores our relationships, their relationship with technology, and all the gory details that come with it… Maybe you found your soul mate on Tinder, or got dumped on Facebook, or have an outrageously interesting sext life. We all have our stories.”
As evidence by the huge success of Her, these ideas are clearly ripe for exploration. More people are finding love through their iPhone and computer screens today than ever before — there are even online services for couples looking to keep that spark alive. Digital innovation has become an intrinsic part of our love and sex lives. Plus, we don’t think those things should be a taboo topic; if they feel so inclined, people should be free to talk about sex without feeling inhibited by ~cultural norms~.
That being said, this past weekend’s story, #Love: Thanks, Porn, is pretty ridiculous.
It’s a first-person story about a married man who loves porn, and then — actually, that’s it. He’s just a married man who watches porn in his alone time, and enjoys how it helps him reflect on what he likes and doesn’t like, and how it makes him feel free:
“How is this about love? It’s about self love, and not the narcissistic kind. It’s about escaping the relentless tug of the reproductive act. It’s about the art that is made by two people thrust together. It’s about finding out what you like and don’t like. It’s about figuring how to talk to yourself – not others – about sex. We are born wanting a few simple things and those few simple thing slowly morph into needs of real consequence. This desire is one of those. To deny it is to deny humanity.”
This is basically the tech version of the New York Time‘s mushy Modern Love column.
Behind the flowery language, he’s not really saying anything groundbreaking. Maybe we’ve just spent too much time in the dark, sticky corners of Reddit, but is a guy admitting he likes porn really worthy of its own column? It’s not exactly news that people in relationships sometimes still like watching porn, because it’s a fun thing to do when they’re alone and it’s really easy to find on the Internet. And this guy’s not even addicted to porn — he just dabbles in it now and then. His porn habits are basically the same as every other person you passed on your way to work today.
Next, maybe we’ll get a story about a woman who made an OkCupid profile, or about a guy who once said “hey ;)” to a girl on Tinder.
