Meet the Manager Behind Pornhub's Social Media about:reader?url=https://www.papermag.com/pornhub-aria-2641226174...

papermag.com

Meet the Manager Behind Pornhub's

Social Media
Sandra Song
8-10 minutos

Despite never being involved in an adult productions herself, Aria

Nathaniel — better known as Pornhub Aria — is arguably one of the
most visible players in the porn industry.

The online face of Pornhub, she's been the brand's social media
manager for several years, and in that time, has cultivated an
irreverent, wickedly funny online presence that's inspired a league of
copycat accounts, all while blowing other brands' engagement
numbers out of the water (look no further than the brand's 1.69 million
Twitter and 8.1 million Instagram followers). More impressively
though, Aria also manages to do this in the midst of an uphill battle
against everyone from trolls to creeps to big tech censorship — all
with a smile and, sometimes, a meme.

Aria's story really begins more than five years ago. Recruited by a
former Pornhub employee she knew beforehand, Aria was initially
apprehensive about taking on the role — mostly because she had no
idea what exactly a job at Pornhub would entail. For all of her initial
hesitation though, the job has since transformed her, whether we're
talking about all the marketing and business experience she's gained
or one of the many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities she's had —

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including the time Kanye West physically stitched a dress to her body
at the 2018 Pornhub Awards.

Today, Pornhub has real cultural currency, but if you had told anyone
a few years ago that a porn streaming platform would have an
influential online presence, art shows exhibiting Bunny Yeager and
Tracey Emin, Yeezy collaborations, and an awards ceremony with
production value rivaling the VMAs, there's a slim chance anyone
would actually take you seriously. In a world where sex, sexuality, and,
to some extent, porn are slowly becoming a bigger presence in
mainstream pop culture, the emergence of Pornhub as a source of
legitimate online commentary makes sense.

"When I first started out here five-and-a-half years ago, things were
very different for us as a brand and in society in general," she says,
pointing toward the world's general trend toward "becoming slightly
more unhinged in all respects" as a likely reason why Pornhub's
social media presence has gone from a deep-internet cult fave to a
verifiable pop cultural phenomenon.

"The wider acceptance of sex has had a wonderful

impact on our industry. I think we've made very big
progress in the sex work realm, and there's still a lot
more to do."

"The wider acceptance of sex has had a wonderful impact on our

industry," Aria says. "I think we've made very big progress in the sex
work realm, and there's still a lot more to do, but I'm really grateful
that it's becoming more and more accepted and less like it's a vice.
Everyone watches porn, everyone gets horny. It's important we
celebrate that."

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But Pornhub's cultural cache wasn't something that came easy. As

Aria contends, it also took a lot of behind-the-scenes work on the
company's part to even reach this point. For example, in order to
make the brand "more mainstream," Aria says the company has
involved itself in various collaborations with like-minded brands such
as the Museum of Sex and Richardson, all while continuing to
advocate for sexual health and education. Through the Pornhub
Sexual Wellness Center, helmed by Sex Therapist Dr. Laurie Betito,
Pornhub aims to destigmatize sex-related discussions and fund
sexual wellness research.

But another big component that plays into Pornhub's mainstream

relevancy is the way they make a point of staying on top of pop
cultural trends — and that's where Aria comes in. In an online world
where every brand on Twitter tries to stay relevant by reposting a
stale meme or attempting to "shade" celebrities or competitors, it's
admittedly difficult for a social media manager to ensure they don't
teeter too far into cornball territory. That said, Aria is an arguable
master of the artform, though she admits that Pornhub's wide target
audience (i.e. everyone because, again, who doesn't watch porn?)
means that it is "a bit easier to please people."

"Truly, I think anyone, anywhere, no matter what walk of life they are
from, can be cringeworthy," she says. "I think it's my job to ensure I
don't make people cringe regularly. Maybe because I'm so sensitive to
how bad other social media can be, it's made me hyper aware and in
tune with what I deem quality."

Aria also fancies herself a "huge comedy buff" — something she

loves incorporating into her Twitter presence, especially if it's
"comedy you wouldn't necessarily expect from the Pornhub account."
Citing her love of Larry David's brand of self-deprecating, anxiety-

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ridden comedy, Aria says she enjoys taking the dry humor approach
for "mostly everything I touch." Keeping the jokes less sexual on
Twitter also has the added benefit of "allowing for more people to
follow, because it feels less 'taboo.'"

Just burned 2000 calories!!! That is the LAST time i leave weed
brownies in the oven while i nap.

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub ARIA)1439582609.0

#instagramdown https://t.co/yaZlCJy0tm

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub ARIA)1552518137.0

RT if you sexually identify as a mistake

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub ARIA)1553115657.0

That said, it's not all memes and riffing on the latest viral trend,
especially when it comes to Instagram and its infamously stringent
algorithm. Given Pornhub's product, a cursory scroll through the
Pornhub account will reveal a relatively chaste assortment of
Pornhub merch pushes, funny (and fully-clothed) screenshots from
the site, and reposts from talent. Yet, despite making a significant
effort to follow all of the guidelines and always be SFW, "I get
shadowbanned very, very easily" — an occurrence Aria laments
"makes it difficult to grow and conquer."

Unfortunately though, the limitations of big tech aren't the only issue
she faces on a daily basis. In addition to fielding the type of negativity
that inherently comes with being a front-facing person working on the
internet, Aria has also personally been subjected to a significant
amount of sexual harassment in the form of gross messages and
unsolicited pictures that she says, "I never in my life wanted to see."

While she takes it in stride — specifically making a point to not pay

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attention to the trolls and icky messages — it is, undoubtedly,

disturbing. As Aria points out, she and fellow female social media
managers, including Red Tube's Emma and YouPorn's Katie, are all
too often "put in a box where everyone assumes it's ok to be vulgar or
sexually open with us."

"Everyone watches porn, everyone gets horny. It's

important we celebrate that."

And though constantly experiencing this type of depersonalized

fetishization can be extremely off-putting and demoralizing, Aria
continues to carry on — working to further the understanding that
there is a "human side to working in the sex industry."

"For every shitty person trying to take you down, there's about three
who are super supportive and wonderful," she says. "It's a give and
take like anything else."

With all of this in mind, she's still incredibly committed to her work,
the mission of destigmatizing sex and the adult industry, as well as
continuing to facilitate conversations surrounding sexual health and
wellness education.

"I can't really see myself doing anything else to be quite honest," she
says. "Pornhub has given me an outlet to be an elevated version of
myself with a great platform to do it on. I've already been here five
years, what's another 20?"

Welcome to "Sex with Sandra," a column by Sandra Song about the

ever-changing face of sexuality. Whether it be spotlight features on
sex work activists, deep dives into hyper-niche fetishes, or overviews
on current legislation and policy, "Sex with Sandra" is dedicated to
examining some of the biggest sex-related discussions happening on

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the Internet right now.

Photo courtesy of Pornhub Aria

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