From Tumblr to X To BlueSky: Online Spaces as Archives of Sexual Autonomy
Long before TikTok and Twitter ran the internet, a different “T” was popular: Tumblr. Now defunct, Tumblr was an incredibly popular microblogging site that was used for various reasons, including the circulation of adult content. While Tumblr is gone, adult content on social media is still available on Freak Twitter.
Freak Twitter is more than a platform for promiscuity; it’s an essential space for Black queer men to engage in raw, unfiltered conversations about sex, taboos, fetishes, and stigmas that mainstream spaces ignore. For some, especially Black queer men, sex is treated like a closed book on the top shelf—within reach but intentionally left untouched. But Freak Twitter helps open that book. Freak Twitter also stands as a testament to the legacy of Black queer men carving out our sanctuaries in a world that refuses to make room for us. Now, our sexual sanctuaries, resistance and reclamation have gone digital, and while far from perfect, Freak Twitter is where that digital defiance thrives. On Freak Twitter, while some pinpoint promiscuity, others propel power. While some see sin, some see strength. While some indicate ignorance, others infuse information. Each post, interaction, and connection becomes a new line in our story, a narrative we own unapologetically in a book we, as Black queer men, create.
What is “Freak Twitter?”
Unlike the commonly known concept of Black Twitter, Freak Twitter is far more nebulous and lesser-known. When Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to describe his test for obscenity and rule on pornography in 1964, he responded, "I know it when I see it." Over 60 years later, I adopted this same mindset regarding Freak Twitter.
The explicit and taboo nature of Freak Twitter makes it nearly impossible to estimate its user base or gather reliable data. This lack of information isn’t accidental; it mirrors societal discomfort with Black queer men in spaces that refuse to conform to sexual norms. This is why any existing information about Freak Twitter typically centers on a White, straight perspective. For example, Google’s AI assistant says "Freak Twitter" is a term that refers to a strange, abnormal, or unusual person, thing, or event on Twitter. That could range from a suspected UFO sighting to ghost stories. I would be floored if a Black queer man would define it this way.
Thus, I roughly define "Freak Twitter" as a digital subculture focused on adult content, where users openly share and engage with consensual sexually explicit material. The roughly constructed digital community frequently embraces unfiltered discussions of sexuality, personal fantasies, and taboo topics often avoided on mainstream platforms. Freak Twitter is a hub for both consuming pornographic content and actively creating and circulating it; Freak Twitter allows users to share their pornographic content or engage with existing material on the platform.
What is allowed on “Freak Twitter?”
As reported by The Associated Press, The Hill, and USA Today, in June 2024, X (“Twitter”) updated its policy to allow consensual adult content, provided it’s clearly labeled and not prominently displayed without warning. Of note, this relatively hands-off approach differentiates X from platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, which have stricter rules on adult content. Twitter (“X”) remains the only mainstream social media website that allows pornographic content to be freely shared. Unlike sites that enforce rigid content guidelines and uphold respectability politics, Freak Twitter stands in stark contrast to the hyper-curated, pristine world of Instagram or the censorship-heavy policies of Facebook, where conversations about sexuality are restricted or banned.
Depending on who you ask, you will get a different answer on what is allowed and what you see on the website. Policies are not universally applied, and your network determines your feed. Videos of submission and domination indeed appear. There are also hundreds, if not thousands, of posts featuring group scenes, orgies, cuckolds etc. Countless scenes feature the use of toys/equipment ranging from dildos to buttplugs to cockrings. These posts often go off without a ripple. On the other hand, some posts spark waves.
For example, “watersports” and exchanging other bodily fluids are allowed on Twitter. As one interviewee told me, “It is not hard at all to find videos of piss play. You just gotta follow the right pages.” On the other hand, with a face of dismay and disgust, another avid follower of Freak Twitter exclaimed, “I’ve never understood why someone would want to get peed on. Let alone post it on social media. But I try not to kink shame. If you like it, I love it. It is def out there though.”
Regardless of the topic, this tension was repeatedly hammered home, adding more pages to the book of Freak Twitter. For instance, consensual “race play” is also allowed on Twitter. Some are appalled by this, while others find it necessary. One tweet read-“To me, saying someone is racist because they like race play is fucked up. If a man likes being dominant to a woman in the bedroom, does that make him a misogynist? Am I homophobic if I like my bottoms to be feminine?”
Discussions around cruising and public sex, a hugely popular fetish on Freak Twitter, exist in a legal and moral grey area. Twitter could be held liable for appearing to promote or support activities deemed illegal, like public sex, which can be prosecuted under various laws, including indecent exposure. As a result, this type of content is more likely to be flagged and/or removed. But by who is the question?
One interviewee who disclosed a cruising fetish explained, “One time, my post got taken down. I didn’t understand because, let’s be real, we see cruising content all the time. Why was my post different than the other ones?” This user discovered that the post was reported by someone else; Twitter did not flag or remove it on its own. “I found out it was someone hating. So, I think Twitter only removes it if someone else tells them to. They don’t seem to care until they have to.”
The Revolutionary Power & Promise of Freak Twitter
While writing this piece, it became glaringly evident that Freak Twitter isn’t just understudied—it’s outrageously overlooked and purposely under-discussed. So I not only did a deep dive into traditional research, I also asked Black queer users how and why they use the platform.
Beyond individual motivations, Freak Twitter stands as a groundbreaking archive and living repository of Black queer sexuality. For many, if sexual liberation is denied everywhere else, Freak Twitter can become (and currently is) the one place where gay Black sex is unapologetically centered. This has impacts on Black queer men in multiple ways.
Culturally Constructed Sexual Information & Conversations: By default, Freak Twitter is a social media platform dedicated to network building and sharing information. Sometimes, that vital information is sexual info that needs to be circulated to Black queer men. “ I’m young, and I grew up in the South, and I remember logging onto Twitter for the first time in college and learning so much. Like, I never even learned to put on condoms. I saw that on Twitter,” one 24-year-old user explained.
Similarly, another user explained that they used a viral “how to bottom post” to learn about preparing for intercourse. When asked why did he go to Twitter instead of asking someone else, they told me, “ ……uhhhh at the time. No way I was asking someone that. That’s embarrassing. And at that time, I didn’t have anyone to ask.”
For a variety of reasons, including internalized homophobia too, sex stigma, to the systemic erasure of queer-friendly sexual education, Black queer men frequently lack accurate and culturally relevant information related to sexual intercourse. This results in a myriad of impacts, including a stark increase in new cases of HIV as well as a general lack of knowledge related to sexual wellness. However, when leveraged correctly, Freak Twitter can change this. One user who considers themselves an educated health professional with an anonymous Freak Twitter explained, “There is a lot of bad information out there, but good can outweigh the bad. I had to let someone know that on-demand PrEP exists. They really thought that if they missed one pill, they were in danger. Just because it’s my freak page doesn’t mean I lose my responsibility to educate.” Another elaborated that Freak Twitter is unique because of its network, saying, “Once you use the platform enough, you start to feel a community. See the same people enjoying the same things.”
Community Building & Stigma Reduction: Since the internet’s inception, Black queer men have turned to online communities as powerful tools to create and sustain sexual culture on our terms. As outlined in this Salon article in 1999, AOL chatrooms were once labeled “the bathhouse of the internet,” but Black gay men have frequently used chatrooms or specific websites to create our own narratives. On early platforms like Adam 4 Adam, we were forced to navigate relentless and overt racism, a grim reminder that even queer spaces adhere to aspects of Anti-Blackness.
“I remember using Adam 4 Adam and chile, some White boy told me- why am I on here? This is Adam 4 Adam. Not Adam 4 Antonio. I cussed his ass out and will never forget that. I knew then. Oh, baby, this ain’t the website for me.” said an older millennial. Unlike early chatrooms, Freak Twitter allows users to curate their experience—deciding who they follow and who follows them. It’s a stark contrast to the days of enduring or retreating from racism just to exist online. If shame and stigma are poisonous, community and context are the antidotes.
Another user added nuance, noting Freak Twitter’s role in geographic equity. “For some people, maybe in big cities, Twitter don’t matter. But for people like me, in the South or in places without a lot of Black gay men, Twitter is the only place I have these conversations. Good, bad, or indifferent,” he said. He concluded, “ I didn’t even know I had a fetish until I went on Freak Twitter and realized there were hundreds- maybe thousands- based on my follower count who are into the same thing I am. How would I have known that without Freak Twitter?”
Connecting with a community that shares the same fetish proved to be not just important but vital. In a world of shame, Freak Twitter provides solidarity. “Finding people who like the same thing as you in the same city is hard. Even on apps because it’s like damn, what if I see you and you judge me,” stated one user disclosed. By utilizing bookmarks and specific group pages, fetishes move from stigmatized desire to proud proclamations. Sharing a page or group inherently establishes an unspoken agreement: this is a safe space to express and explore that shared desire without judgment.
For example, two users disclosed that they proudly subscribe to multiple feet pages. On the other hand, more “controversial” fetishes like race play and financial domination maintain a large following. While I was not able to interview someone who participates in financial domination, one user did explain to me, “You see any and everything on Twitter. One time, I saw someone get paid to call someone a slur. That was a first. So yeah, it isn’t about what is on there; I think the question really is- how do you find it, and what do you like?”
Sexual Empowerment & Autonomy: “What do you like?” is a question Black gay men are rarely afforded the privilege to answer. But on Freak Twitter, Black queer men reclaim the power to both ask and answer that question unapologetically. Often to each other.
For Black queer men, Freak Twitter grants something genuinely transformative: the power to control their narratives, content, and, when desired, access to their bodies for sexual pleasure. As one user with over 50K followers told me, “People gonna talk anyway. You might as well give them something good to talk about and control when they talk about it.” This level of agency can be revolutionary for a historically objectified and exploited community. On Freak Twitter, Black queer men decide how they’re seen, and for some, who sees them.
This is especially true with the use of “alt pages.” Short for “alternative pages,” alt pages are typically private and anonymous, and users have to be invited to follow the page. Everyone interviewed for this story disclosed that they had alt pages. Most argued that an alt page allowed them to express sexual desires while maintaining boundaries and a sense of professionalism. They do not desire to be content creators, but they do desire sexual liberation. “Of course, I have an alt. Who doesn’t?” said one user, and another stated, “It’s like every day, I see someone say y’all want the alt? But they don’t drop it. It seems like they are wanting attention for real.”
Sure, some might turn to Freak Twitter for attention or personal gratification. But in a world where our sexuality is relentlessly policed and systematically erased, is that the biggest problem here? Why shouldn’t we claim the sexual spotlight we’re so often denied? When I asked one user for any concluding thoughts, in a hilarious final take, he joked “You ever seen that Bella Noches video? That is what it is like for me. I feel like, if you can’t go to Freak Twitter, where the hell can you go?”
Like the friend in the viral video, I responded, “That’s sad.” And while we both erupted in laughter, we knew that the topic we were discussing was serious and vital for thousands of Black gay men.
