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Why is @NoFap verified on Twitter?

Cum? Retained. Big brain mode? Unlocked.

Ana Valens 

Ana Valens

Internet Culture

Published Oct 28, 2019   Updated Feb 28, 2020, 3:06 pm CST

Opinion

There are many well-known public figures with a blue checkmark next to their name on Twitter. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.). William Shatner. Lil B. But there’s one account on Twitter that does not need to be verified: NoFap, the masturbation abstinence community that preaches the psychological benefits of semen retention.

NoFap caught Twitter’s attention after Kanye West opened up about his relationship with porn in a recent interview. Ye told Apple Music he found his dad’s copy of Playboy when he was 5, and the magazine was a “gateway into full-blown pornography addiction.” He said there was no turning back.

“With God, I’ve been able to beat things that had a full control of me. That Playboy that I found when I was 5 years old was written all over the moment that I was at the MTV Awards with the Timberlands, the Balmain jeans,” he said. “That was such a script out of a rockstar’s life.”

NoFap took advantage of the news, asking West to “hit us up” and claiming Ye’s single “Stronger” is “the new officially licensed song for porn addiction recovery.” “Yo, Kanye West, I’m really happy for you releasing your new album, but you deciding to quit porn was one of the best decisions that you have made of all time! One of the best decisions of all time!” the account tweeted.

After the account wrote over a half dozen tweets celebrating West’s new lease on life, Media Matters researcher Brendan Karet noticed NoFap’s Twitter account is verified. That means NoFap has something worthwhile and valuable to add to the public discourse, right?

Right?

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1188708955536744448

At least NoFap makes room for LGBTQ inclusion in the, uh, cum retention world.

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1188711479291326464

Maybe the blue checkmark means the NoFap account hasn’t nutted since it joined Twitter.

It’s definitely not a kink.

And it definitely isn’t enabling Ye to spread the gospel of porn addiction.

NoFap originated with founder Alexander Rhodes’ subreddit r/NoFap, created in June 2011. The official NoFap website says “NoFap®” is a “comprehensive community-based porn recovery website.” The site is designed to help users “overcome their sexual addictions so they can heal from porn-induced sexual dysfunctions, improve their relationships, and ultimately live their most fulfilling lives.”

In short: If you stop nutting, you can unlock big brain mode.

“By the 1000s, men are discovering that excessive Internet porn use can lead to erectile dysfunction. And by the 1000s, men are leaving porn behind and GETTING THOSE BONERS BACK!” NoFap proudly declares. (The Daily Dot reached out to Twitter, NoFap, and Karet for comment.)

But while NoFap’s blue checkmark gives it the air of credibility, there’s a strong argument that porn addiction isn’t real. In a report for the Daily Beast, Samantha Allen points out how the “porn addiction” model benefits both therapists who specialize in an addiction-based porn recovery program and religious organizations who are hellbent on marginalizing porn access. It’s undoubtedly true that some porn users have an unhealthy relationship with the medium, but sexual content isn’t uniquely addicting compared to other forms of media.

“Some self-described ‘porn addicts’ may experience legitimate problems as a result of their habits, the researchers are quick to clarify, but neurologically speaking, they do not appear to have the same relationship to porn as a substance addict has to their drug of choice,” Allen reports, citing a 2015 study on the neuroscience of porn usage. “In other words, porn and sex addictions are probably not addictions and treating them as such could prove counter-productive.”

So no, holding back your nut and giving up porn won’t fix your life. It just gives you cum brain.

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*First Published: Oct 28, 2019, 12:02 pm CDT

Ana Valens

Ana Valens is a reporter specializing in online queer communities, marginalized identities, and adult content creation. She is Daily Dot's Trans/Sex columnist. Her work has appeared at Vice, Vox, Truthout, Bitch Media, Kill Screen, Rolling Stone, and the Toast. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and spends her free time developing queer adult games.

Ana Valens