Constant change is a given when it comes to adult entertainment on the Internet. Websites pop up, then disappear before you even knew they were there, while increasingly restrictive laws enacted by an overzealous government intent on demonizing anyone who finds sexuality to be a healthy part of being human threaten to push Internet sex back into the closet from whence it came.
If anyone knows anything about what’s it like to be in the closet, it’s the many gay webmasters who have overcome governmental and societal oppression, claimed their sexuality, and made a living off of it through exciting and innovative sites that provide a (mostly) healthy service through which both openly gay men with superactive libidos and the closeted, repressed types just beginning to step into the rainbow-colored light can channel and explore their sexual energies. As times change, gay porn on the Internet will continue to change and evolve with them. Here, then, are a few hopes, dreams, and predictions for the future of gay webmastering—from someone who knows just how unpredictable finding really good dick can be.
* After realizing that there are far too many haphazardly thrown-together sites on the Internet with little to offer, there will be a slow-down in the oversaturation of sites, as single companies choose instead to focus their attention on one or two quality sites that convert and retain—rather the flooding the market with rehashed content.
* Traditional porn studios like Titan Media, Lucas Entertainment, and Channel 1 Releasing will continue to make bold strides on the Internet, offering one-stop shopping (exclusive Web-only content plus footage from their brick-and-mortar releases) for their fans and giving home-based, Mom-and-Pop webmasters a more difficult run for their money.
* Similarly, through its continued involvement with mainstream “gateway” sites like Gay.com, gay content will finally be seen as more of a market than a “niche,” with sites like NakedSword, Badpuppy, ChiChiClicks, and Maleflixsx continuing to lead the way—making it more difficult for the noobs to find their place in the industry.
* Conversely, as the big sites threaten to overwhelm the “little guys,” underground pornmeisters left out in the cold will be forced to create renegade, guerilla-style sites that focus more on specific niches not being covered by the giants and that actively combat the mainstream, which means …
* Hip, edgy sites like SleepingMen.com and DirtyBoyVideo.com will become the hot new sites in porn, encouraging new niches where the content isn’t as defined by the muscles of the models and the slickness of the production, and pushing other webmasters to come up with more daring ideas to replace the lack of originality in much of the mainstream gay niche content.
* Gay webmaster boards like GayWideWebmasters.com, Unity360.com, and TripleXGay.com will become essential stopovers for any burgeoning smut-peddler—cementing their reputations as invaluable sources of information and support for webmasters looking to break into the business.
* The mobile phone movement will initially take off big (mostly with openly gay younger people, like college students), but will ultimately prove to be a bust in the gay Internet world, where most surfers prefer to watch the content in the privacy of their own homes—and where closeted gay men won’t be “found out” for partaking in it.
* As metrosexuality continues to creep into every crevice of society (thanks, Queer Eye!), the lines between “gay” and “straight” will be further blurred. Consequently, we will see a rise in straight-identified male models experimenting with their sexuality on camera. This more pansexual, liberal way of thinking will launch a revolutionary new niche (boundary-free masculinity), replacing the overly saturated (and somewhat self-loathing) “straight niche.”
* And lastly, straight webmasters will finally realize that gay webmasters are on to something quite big, which means there will be increased partnerships between gay and straight webmasters, in much the same fashion as the recent merging of JennaCash.com with NakedSword.com (which – as the first project of its kind – more than likely will not prove to be successful). Meanwhile, there will be an increase in straight staffers employed at gay companies (and vice versa), and – as more and more straight-operated affiliate programs realize the value in quality gay content – they will launch more niche-based gay sites that focus on original, exclusive content as opposed to just licensing whatever they can find and slapping up a “gay site.”
Well, those are my predictions, folks. You may not agree with them, but just remember the message of hope offered by a famous composer: “On a queer day, you can see forever.”
