The Boob Tube: Tracking Pornhub’s Emergence

This chapter examines the emergence and evolution of pornographic tube sites, focusing on Pornhub’s early years and its transformative impact on the pornography industry. When “porntubes” began appearing in 2006, they disrupted the traditional paywall-dominated market, offering free access to adult content and challenging industry norms. Initial skepticism from industry veterans contrasted with the enthusiasm of those who foresaw a fundamental shift in content distribution and consumption. This chapter briefly traces the history of online pornography from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, and focuses on Pornhub’s origins from 2006 to 2009, analyzing its role in the advent of Web 2.0. By foregrounding the concept of the “tube,” this chapter highlights the intersections between technology and pornography and addresses the lack of academic research on this pivotal moment in online porn history. Moreover, the chapter includes a comparative analysis with Pornhub’s main non-pornographic contemporary, YouTube, examining how user-generated content websites signaled the eventuality of platform enclosure.