A Wandering Eye: Sexually Explicit Media Usage of MSMs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted lifestyles, including sexual behaviors. With the lack of data on men who have sex with other men (MSM) and their usage of sexually explicit media (SEM), this research focused on examining if COVID had a similar impact in this area as it did with the general population. The researcher administered a survey to a small number (N = 45) of participants recruited from an MSM-focused Reddit group. The results indicated that nearly all participants used SEM to some degree, with most reporting pornography usage increased or remained the same during COVID. Dissimilar to other research, the participants largely indicated pornography usage did not impact their sexual encounters. While this was a pilot study, the research may indicate that SEM usage is different in MSM populations.

Keywords: Sexually explicit media; COVID-19; MSM

Abbreviations: Sexually explicit media (SEM); Men who have sex with men (MSM)