Communications and semiotics expert Priscila Magossi pens another column in her series “The New Camming Perspective.”
The “New Camming Perspective” stems from a scientific analysis of the camming market that led to the following specific research problem: Is the sexual connection between members and models the most profitable aspect of camming?
My intuition as a social scientist said that it wasn’t, because it doesn’t make much sense that the same member would return to the same model if he didn’t have an affective bond with her. In business terms, not returning to the same models could mean not returning to the same cam site; this means the site must seek new traffic all the time. How long can such a business model survive in current competitive capitalistic environment, especially regarding the free porn access?
I tested my hypothesis for eight years at Imlive.com, with about 52,918 members, with 100 percent positive feedback. During these eight years the camming industry saw changes—as did as society, technology and porn. I took all of these into account, and I have concluded so far that the key element for profitability in camming is not the sexual bond, but the emotional one.
That is how I came up with the two first concepts of my theory: Building Connections, and the Social Aspect of Camming.
In short, Building Connections stands for the ability to use verbal language to interact with members. The Social Aspect of Camming is about the skills to establish rapport. This demands knowledge about human subjectivity, such as empathy, in order to create affection. In other words: emotional intelligence, good self-esteem and professionalism.
During all these years the theory of the “New Camming Perspective” has been improved. Previously it was called “Camming Sociology,” because of its foundation in social sciences applied to the camming industry. However, a deeper analysis of the scenario led me to conclude that it made more sense to divide the industry into two different perspectives: Old and New.
The “old” perspective is the reduction of camming to its sexual activity only. The New Camming Perspective is the introduction of the social aspect through building connections in the adult camming industry, a completely new element that hadn’t been discussed in the industry.
The New Camming Perspective works in real life. As a result of this, there are studios and other influencers talking about building connections; new companies trying to develop some services like camming mental health care; new categories of shows being created that propose not to objectify models; new seminar themes focused on female empowerment; and also space in magazines for models to discuss about the social aspect. Nothing like that could be found a couple of years ago.
To reach this result—that is, to impact the industry, provoking a shift in the scene—it was necessary to conduct extensive bibliographical research. After all, nobody reaches profound conclusions on their own. The social-cultural context analysis is imperative when addressing subjective realities, such as relationships between people. In this case, these relationships:
1. Models and members
2. Models and industry
3. Models among other models
4. Models and their emotional needs, etc.
Thus, the New Camming Perspective presents its main theoretical references. Tthe following authors from academia and their most important contributions to social sciences are listed below:
Carl Gustav Jung: Persona/ archetype/ meaning of life
David Harvey/ Pierre Anderson / Jean-François Lyotard: Postmodernity
Edgard Morin: Complex Thought
Guy Debord: The society of the spectacle
Jean Baudrillard: Hyper-reality
Sigmunt Freud: Cultural oppression
Theodor Adorno: Massification
Umberto Eco: Integrated vs. Apocalyptic
Zigmunt Bauman: Liquid modernity
Finally, all that glitters is not gold. That’s why it was important to use my intuition and perception and put them to the test of empirical experiments. The first conclusions led me to arrive at the notion of how important verbal interaction is. Since it was called “camming sociology,” it has developed and ponted out the division in perspective of the social actors in the industry: old and new as directions of resistence or adaptability. We can see some of the mentioned changes taking place now. These studies aim not only to assess but to transform the practices in this area, fighting women objectification, allowing for better conditions with higher profits.
For those who would like to learn more, here is a bibliography of research on the New Camming Perspective.
ADORNO, T. W. Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life. London: Verso. (1951)
ANDERSON, P. The Origins of Post Modernity. London: Verso. (1998)
BAUDRILLARD, J. Simulacra and Simulation: The Body in Theory – Histories of Cultural Materialism. Publisher: University of Michigan Press. (1981)
BAUMAN, Z. Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. (2000)
DEBORD, G. The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books. (1994)
ECO, U. Apocalyptic and integrated intellectuals: mass communications and theories of mass culture. London: Flamingo. (1995)
FREUD, S. The Future of an Illusion. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1928.
HARVEY, D. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Oxford: Blackwell. (1990)
JAMESON, F. Postmodernism and Cultural Theories. Shaanxi Normal University Press. (1987)
LYOTARD, J. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (1984)
JUNG, C. G. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Vol. 9 – Part I. Princeton University Press. 2nd edition (1981)
MORIN, E. On complexity: advances in systems theory, complexity, and the human sciences. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. (2007)
