In my thesis, I examine various strategies that creators of pornographic and erotic content use on the social media platform Instagram to address users with the aim of persuading them to subscribe to their content. In the analysis, I focus on the linguistic and discursive features that define each strategy. I approach the promotion of such content from the perspective of the attention economy, the blurring of the boundary between the public and the private, and Goffman’s theory of self-presentation. Based on the analysis of selected video content, I identified different approaches to addressing users: from hinting at pornographic videos, redirecting them to other platforms, and linking to OnlyFans, to personalized appeals through fetishes, age differences, or hobbies. Other strategies include targeting men, the use of costumes and sex toys, word games to encourage interaction, participating in podcasts, and
calling on young people to join the industry. The linguistic analysis showed that content creators skillfully use language to engage social media users, for example through word puzzles where they replace words or letters, or require the reading of every specific word, thereby revealing the promotional message. Hashtags also play an important role in
promotion, not only as content-related markers but also as tools for algorithmically accelerated dissemination. Our analysis thus revealed the existence of innovative and
intertwined strategies in the struggle for users’ attention.
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