Author: Keziah Shamma Mahendran
Editor: Kishan Selvaraju
Photo: The Finery Report
BANGI, 6 July - More teenagers are becoming obsessed with erotic fiction as smut recommendations flood TikTok, with more adolecents getting into sexual fiction with obscene, pornographic material, including pictures and writing.
Smut has been a cornerstone of fanfiction for the past many years, but it only became popular in the last few months thanks to TikTok, with the hashtag #wattpadsmut reaching over 127 million views, while other related terms like smut recommendations, fanfics, and AO3 also racking up millions of views.
With the rise of multiple fandoms and participatory cultures on social media built around a shared enjoyment of an aspect of popular culture, such as books, movies, TV shows, bands, sports or sports teams, it is no surprise that fan fiction consisting stories written by fans of a particular work of fiction (rather than the original creator) about the fictional characters or universe, have now garnered enough online attention that teenagers can't get enough of it.
Memes concerning popular tropes and fanfic clichés have amplified what has now become a semi-public topic. However, just because someone’s joke about sloshing down to the family dinner table after spending hours reading smut got thousands of retweets on Twitter and a million views on TikTok, many people on social media believe that doesn't mean that we should start normalizing smut addiction among teenagers.
A discourse on Twitter discussing the rise in smut addiction among teenagers erupted after multiple Twitter users started discussing what actually counts as porn addiction for those that just can't get enough of smut.
“Yeah as much as fiction with smut slaps, we need to discuss how early some of us were reading that sh*t and how some people were addicted. There's nothing quirky about reading hardcore PWP (porn with plot) infront of your parents, it's giving teenager with a porn addiction” said Twitter user @ZOROMINAJ on the issue.
Another Twitter user @k00k00CLOCK said, “Remember, reading hardcore porn, BL manhwa and only reading hardcore porn and BL manhwa is porn addiction. If you can't find satisfaction from reading things that don't have smut, then sorry to break it to you, but you have an addiction.”
Although more people are realizing how their addiction to smut and their inability to read materials without smut is becoming a problem they should take care of, there are a number of people that believe it should not be made into a big deal as it's simply fan fiction.
Twitter user @DrowningAllinMe reasons, “Smut doesn’t make you a porn addict. Someone online screaming about how if you read smut you’re a porn addict when they don’t even know you as a person can be so damaging. ‘Addiction’ is a very serious matter that shouldn’t be thrown around as much as it is.”
Discussions on social media over whether or not reading smut everyday means that one has developed porn addiction goes on almost everyday with more people joining in on the discussion. However, with the rise in lust-driven authors with demanding readerships and sites like Wattpad and AO3 (archive of our own) being accessible and free for all, it boils down to the teenagers themselves to decide if this habit will be detrimental to them psychologically in the long run.
