#sometimes i think the Internet was a mistake with how desensitized its made people to the way they speak & treat others

[hollabastiongirl]

some of you need to try & internalize the concept of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" some more.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

What it’s like to be Pornhub's social media manager

Managing a brand’s social media is tricky for anyone in 2019, and it’s even more challenging if you’re the social voice (and face) of Pornhub, the web’s most popular porn site. We spoke with Aria Nathaniel about the fine line she walks at the office each day.

Boasting a whopping 6 million followers on Instagram and 1.25 million on Twitter, Pornhub has amassed extensive reach on social media channels. By riffing on memes, trends, and current events — and interacting with readers — Pornhub stays relevant and continues to build an engaged community.

Most of that work is done by one woman — Pornhub's social media manager, Aria Nathaniel, who’s staying up to date not just on what Pornhub’s doing, but on the latest trends across the internet.

The voice of Pornhub

Between spreading awareness of the brand, engaging with followers, and keeping her posts within each platforms’ terms of service, Nathaniel has a big job. But for all the extra behind-the-scenes challenges of running social media for a porn brand, Nathaniel's work appears effortless to the average follower. 

Like all social media managers, Nathaniel's job requires her to stay up on what's happening online. “I try to latch on to mainstream trends and breaking news stories to boost engagement. If people are talking about something nonstop, I want to insert myself into that discussion,” Nathaniel tells Mashable via email. “It’s me 24/7, 365.”

“I’m constantly scouring the news and keeping myself 'in the know' on things — sports, politics, entertainment, video games," she says.

#instagramdown pic.twitter.com/yaZlCJy0tm

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub) March 13, 2019

Like any social media manager for a brand, Nathaniel has to follow certain rules (like the aforementioned platforms' terms of service). But as the voice of a large adult entertainment platform, she has more leeway about what she shares than, say, someone running social for a telecom or an airline. “I’m afforded a unique opportunity to pave my own funny/witty/sexy/raunchy lane and break away from all the mundane commentary that tends to typically proliferate [on] branded social media,” she says. 

This strategy, Nathaniel says, has made Pornhub more “approachable,” adding, “People are able to see me being silly on social media and are less inclined to think of us as strictly an adult entertainment platform. I like giving Pornhub a personality that many people can relate to.”

RT if you sexually identify as a mistake

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub) March 20, 2019

She puts thought into the type of content to put on each platform: The Twitter account is heavy with jokes and memes, because, as Nathaniel says, “it’s especially important to be relevant and topical with whatever you’re posting about there.”

Because Instagram is more visually focused, she notes, she focuses on promoting some of the adult entertainers and "posting pictures from various marketing initiatives we’re doing, whether it be a new product, physical activation, or stunt.”

SEE ALSO: Oh great, another 'Game of Thrones' porn parody is here

While some of the content Pornhub posts may get your heart racing just a bit or isn’t something you’d want coworkers in your office catching you scrolling through, Nathaniel says that nothing she posts violates TOS. While content has occasionally been removed from Instagram, she says those instances generally aren’t a TOS violation but coordinated attacks by dissenters, “a result of people mass reporting our account because they don’t agree with what we stand for.”

There are other social media challenges for Nathaniel, too, but, surprisingly, not the ones you might think.  

Side-stepping Twitter’s darker corners

We all know that along with the good things they do, like providing a platform for marginalized voices, social media channels can also be terrible places, filled with harassment and misogyny, making these platforms a minefield for women. One study, published in December 2018, found that women were harassed on Twitter every 30 seconds. And you know it’s not a good thing when that number actually feels like it's lowballing how often it occurs.

Nathaniel, though, says she’s actually been relatively lucky when it comes to harassment. She tells me she keeps a close eye on Pornhub's mentions so she can interact with followers, and doesn’t receive too many harassing comments. “The internet, by and large, has been rather kind to me/us in regards to comments and interactions," she says.

View this post on Instagram

Find me nowhere near the sun because my skin has evidently never seen the light of day....selfie. #phworthy

A post shared by Pornhub (@pornhub) on Feb 27, 2019 at 5:58pm PST

But Nathaniel does make an effort to evade trolls by being careful about what she chooses to post about, and avoiding controversial political topics. “I’m very cognizant so as to not post something too controversial because I don’t want my comments and replies to turn into a hateful thread where people are arguing back and forth with each other," she tells me. 

Still, there are some questionable queries thrown Nathaniel's way, even as she seems to take them in stride. “The one question I’m asked incessantly... is why I haven’t done porn, which I take as a compliment,” she says. 

In reality, she says she rarely even visits porn sets: “Because I’m the brand ambassador it’s pretty rare [that] I’d wind up on the production set unless it was for a marketing campaign. We do very little production ourselves, actually, which usually surprises most people.”

Nathaniel hasn’t had many issues with overzealous followers, either, and when she has it's been mostly positive. “For a while I had a wonderful fan sending me donuts every week. While it’s not uncommon for people to send me things, this was recurring and quite wholesome.”

Fans also appreciate her literal realness: “It always amazes me when people realize I’m not a bot and actually a real human," she says. "I always get a good laugh from that. Most people are super nice and gracious, and I’m always so appreciative.“ At the end of the day, regardless of someone’s profession, people should be mindful of the things they say to them.”

View this post on Instagram

Gal pals! #phworthy

A post shared by Pornhub (@pornhub) on Mar 13, 2019 at 8:03am PDT

The big online porn behemoths Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn are all owned by the company Mindgeek, and each has its own social media manager. When asked if these social media accounts might play a role in the misogyny that’s rampant on these platforms, Nathaniel points out that all of Mindgeek's social media accounts are run by women. “[Mindgeek] is a cool place for us as women to speak up and speak out on things that are near and dear to us."

Nathaniel says she also has a great relationship with those other social media managers: “I’m close friends with YouPorn Katie and the social media manager for RedTube, Emma.” 

All three women work in the same office, she says, and adds, “We do sometimes talk shop but rarely compare notes. We want to be as genuine as possible and if we compare notes or share tips with respect to what does and doesn’t work on our distinct platforms, that may compromise our authenticity and personality.”

Treading carefully

One might think a drawback to working in the adult entertainment business would be becoming numbed to sex. After all, there have been numerous stories about the effects on those who watch a lot of pornography; it stands to reason that working in the industry, even an arm's length from production, one might run similar risks.

But Nathaniel says she hasn’t experienced this in her job. “People always expect me to be super horny or super desensitized to sex from working here, but I don’t feel a shift in anything at all. If anything, I’m just more informed.”

Elaborating, she adds, “Working at Pornhub is like being in sex ed class 24/7, and I mean that in the best way possible. I’m more knowledgeable about sex and sexual health. I’m more aware of the sexual community and the challenges they face. I’m more in tune with sex workers and have been fortunate to form lifelong friendships with many of them.”

That’s not to say she doesn’t have any concerns. When you’re the person behind a major brand online, you’re always a target of trolls and others looking for you to make the slightest misstep. Or, sometimes, no mistakes at all; they’re just ready to pounce. 

The story of Amy Brown, the Wendy’s social media manager who blew up thanks to sassy tweets but soon experienced a backlash for no reason other than that people are jerks, is one such example.

Being sharp and genuine and connecting with the readership is a big part of the task, too, and Nathaniel is quick to praise the entire social media team at Pornhub, adding, “We work tirelessly to ensure we’re culturally competent, authentic, and sensitive to people.” 

“At the end of the day we just want to put a smile on people’s faces. I want someone to be scrolling through Twitter, stop on my Tweet and laugh out loud or smile. That’s all," she says.

And it's working: Users apparently like Nathaniel's voice so much, that there are multiple series on YouTube featuring her, including the day-in-the-life series “Chronicles of Aria,” and “Pyft,” in which Nathaniel operates a rideshare for porn stars. “[Many] people who follow us on social ask to see more of me and my personality, so we thought this would be a cool way to do so on a safe for work platform," she says.

While it appears that she leads an adventurous life, Nathaniel insists that she’s not “a wild and crazy person” but has had a few fun moments, like the 2018 Pornhub Awards in Los Angeles. “I never thought that I’d have Kanye West (who was creative director of the awards show) physically stitching a dress to my body.”

Ultimately, the success of both the Pornhub social media strategy and Nathaniel herself has boiled down to maintaining that much-talked-about authenticity and not losing her sense of self, particularly on a platforms littered with garbage, bots, and plenty of hate speech.

And, she says, it’s especially important to stay centered when you run the account for adult entertainment; the subject matter itself can inspire people who might think it’s okay to be horribly foul in response while at the same time angering people who, as Nathaniel mentioned, don’t like what Pornhub does.

Ultimately, Nathaniel has found that balance: “Pornhub Aria is who I am as a person. I haven’t changed to conform to people’s preferences or anything. I’m super authentic and take pride in that.”

[myinformationforyouworld]

Saul Loeb/GettySpecial Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation may not have turned up courtroom-ready evidence that Trumpworld cooperated with the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign. But Mueller’s forthcoming report on that probe still has one of the president’s top outside allies vexed and worried. John Dowd, who represented Trump for nearly a year of the 21-month investigation, told The Daily Beast he believes the report may cause trouble for Trump. “I haven’t read it, but it’s just wholly unnecessary,” he said. “You just don’t need it. It’s pure mischief.”The report, expected to run nearly 400 pages, will detail Mueller’s findings, but likely with heavy redactions. It’s one of the most anticipated documents in recent memory, and it already has its critics. Dowd, who called for Mueller’s probe to be ended long before that became Trumpian orthodoxy, is first among them. He said the report doesn’t need to be more than “five pages,” just a description of what Mueller did and whom he formally declined to prosecute. “The trouble is, these special counsels inflate themselves, think they’re more important—and they’re not, in the scheme of things, and it ruptures the system of justice and it’s not fair,” Dowd said. Dowd also criticized Mueller’s decision not to make a ruling about whether to charge Trump with obstruction of justice—a decision Attorney General Bill Barr revealed when he released a four-page letter about the report’s conclusions. (According to Barr, Mueller opted not to conclude whether to charge Trump, handing off the decision to others.) “To me, it’s a probe that’s tainted by politics and by hate, and I don’t like it,” Dowd said. With the report’s release growing closer by the hour, Mueller watchers beyond Dowd are bracing for impact—or lack thereof. For almost two years now, the special counsel’s probe has generated every emotion known to humanity: Fox News’ opinion hosts have excoriated Mueller as an emissary from the Deep State; liberal activists have hailed him as a white knight; and those in the conspiratorial corners of the internet have even cooked up theories to argue that he was secretly in cahoots with Trump to hunt down pedophiles (or something of that nature). “Mueller time” T-shirts became a hot item online. Publishing houses are preparing to frantically print hard-copy versions of the report. Legal experts have scored media contracts. The special counsel’s face even found its way onto devotional candles. But despite the buildup and hype, some now predict that Mueller’s final product will contain mostly black rectangles and old news. Ty Cobb, the lawyer who helmed the White House’s response to Mueller for a time, told The Daily Beast he doesn’t expect to be surprised by any of the findings. “I’m interested in the lawyering. I’m interested to see how they handle the redactions, and I’m interested to see whether there’s anything that I didn’t already know,” he said. “I don’t anticipate any great revelations, given my familiarity with the events and the law, but I’ll be looking for them.”Cobb hinted that the report may provide fodder for the president’s political foes. “It will not surprise me if people seize on otherwise inconsequential things to perpetuate whatever conspiracy theory they’re attached to,” he said. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told The Daily Beast he also has zero concerns about the report—adding, however, that he suspects Mueller’s prosecutors may pepper it with “snide comments.” Two other defense lawyers who dealt with Mueller’s team shared that expectation, with one predicting that the report will be a “non-event” because of redacted grand jury material, and another saying the report wouldn’t have any major bombshells or revelations. “I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that when the report is out, cable news and the Democrats will act like they are hearing for the first time things that have been public for 15 months associated with the Comey firing, the Flynn issue, and the recusal,” said the second attorney, who requested anonymity because of client sensitivities. “And they will somehow try to make Barr look like he was less than candid when in fact he previewed this in his first letter that Sunday night.”A Republican congressional staffer whose boss has been a vocal critic of the Mueller probe agreed. The staffer told The Daily Beast that their office has its fridges “stocked with Red Bull for a marathon speed-reading session.” “I think it’s probably not going to be a good day for Republicans because any kind of color that the report on Thursday sheds onto this is only going to be upside for Democrats,” the staffer added. “Four hundred pages is a lot of ink to say no collusion and no obstruction. I’m sure the Democrats will find things to pick out and try to sensationalize.”Overall, anticipation for the Mueller report on the Hill was muted, in large part because Congress was out of session. Among Democrats, the expectation was that redactions would be so thorough that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) would have to issue a subpoena for the unredacted material within 24 hours. On the Republican side, there was a feeling of near nonchalance. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a longtime Trump defender, said he would be visiting the border when the special counsel’s findings were released, texting a selfie of himself wearing shades before a metal-slatted wall, in the Arizona sun.Russia-gate obsessives critical to the president, meanwhile, were telegraphing a different kind of stoicism. Ben Wittes, a longtime friend of ex-FBI director James Comey and the editor in chief of the Lawfare blog, who became internet-famous for tweeting “tick tick tick” before major stories about Russian interference broke, said he has tried to steel himself for the report’s release. “I think it is a mistake to get emotionally involved, and I try not to do it,” he said. “And I think we all need to be emotionally prepared for answers that don’t validate our premises and also for answers that are orthogonal to our premises.”Max Bergmann, who helmed a project on Russia’s 2016 election interference for the liberal Center for American Progress, noted that because explosive revelations, such as the meeting between Trump campaign and Russian officials at Trump Tower, had already been made public, people had likely grown desensitized to the gravity of the investigative findings. “I’ve read the Mueller indictments and the information out in the public, and that info, in and of itself, is extremely damning,” he said. “I do think if there is nothing built off of that, then Mueller has a lot of questions to answer.”But beyond the concession that the Mueller’s final report may just reaffirm prior opinions, Bergmann had another fear. Barr, he said, could redact so much as to make Mueller’s final verdict unrecognizable. “Look,” said Bergmann, “sometimes cover-ups work.” —With additional reporting by Asawin SuebsaengRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

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[beautytipsfor]

Mueller Report ‘Is Pure Mischief,’ Trump’s Former Lawyer Says

Saul Loeb/GettySpecial Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation may not have turned up courtroom-ready evidence that Trumpworld cooperated with the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign. But Mueller’s forthcoming report on that probe still has one of the president’s top outside allies vexed and worried. John Dowd, who represented Trump for nearly a year of the 21-month investigation, told The Daily Beast he believes the report may cause trouble for Trump. “I haven’t read it, but it’s just wholly unnecessary,” he said. “You just don’t need it. It’s pure mischief.”The report, expected to run nearly 400 pages, will detail Mueller’s findings, but likely with heavy redactions. It’s one of the most anticipated documents in recent memory, and it already has its critics. Dowd, who called for Mueller’s probe to be ended long before that became Trumpian orthodoxy, is first among them. He said the report doesn’t need to be more than “five pages,” just a description of what Mueller did and whom he formally declined to prosecute. “The trouble is, these special counsels inflate themselves, think they’re more important—and they’re not, in the scheme of things, and it ruptures the system of justice and it’s not fair,” Dowd said. Dowd also criticized Mueller’s decision not to make a ruling about whether to charge Trump with obstruction of justice—a decision Attorney General Bill Barr revealed when he released a four-page letter about the report’s conclusions. (According to Barr, Mueller opted not to conclude whether to charge Trump, handing off the decision to others.) “To me, it’s a probe that’s tainted by politics and by hate, and I don’t like it,” Dowd said. With the report’s release growing closer by the hour, Mueller watchers beyond Dowd are bracing for impact—or lack thereof. For almost two years now, the special counsel’s probe has generated every emotion known to humanity: Fox News’ opinion hosts have excoriated Mueller as an emissary from the Deep State; liberal activists have hailed him as a white knight; and those in the conspiratorial corners of the internet have even cooked up theories to argue that he was secretly in cahoots with Trump to hunt down pedophiles (or something of that nature). “Mueller time” T-shirts became a hot item online. Publishing houses are preparing to frantically print hard-copy versions of the report. Legal experts have scored media contracts. The special counsel’s face even found its way onto devotional candles. But despite the buildup and hype, some now predict that Mueller’s final product will contain mostly black rectangles and old news. Ty Cobb, the lawyer who helmed the White House’s response to Mueller for a time, told The Daily Beast he doesn’t expect to be surprised by any of the findings. “I’m interested in the lawyering. I’m interested to see how they handle the redactions, and I’m interested to see whether there’s anything that I didn’t already know,” he said. “I don’t anticipate any great revelations, given my familiarity with the events and the law, but I’ll be looking for them.”Cobb hinted that the report may provide fodder for the president’s political foes. “It will not surprise me if people seize on otherwise inconsequential things to perpetuate whatever conspiracy theory they’re attached to,” he said. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told The Daily Beast he also has zero concerns about the report—adding, however, that he suspects Mueller’s prosecutors may pepper it with “snide comments.” Two other defense lawyers who dealt with Mueller’s team shared that expectation, with one predicting that the report will be a “non-event” because of redacted grand jury material, and another saying the report wouldn’t have any major bombshells or revelations. “I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that when the report is out, cable news and the Democrats will act like they are hearing for the first time things that have been public for 15 months associated with the Comey firing, the Flynn issue, and the recusal,” said the second attorney, who requested anonymity because of client sensitivities. “And they will somehow try to make Barr look like he was less than candid when in fact he previewed this in his first letter that Sunday night.”A Republican congressional staffer whose boss has been a vocal critic of the Mueller probe agreed. The staffer told The Daily Beast that their office has its fridges “stocked with Red Bull for a marathon speed-reading session.” “I think it’s probably not going to be a good day for Republicans because any kind of color that the report on Thursday sheds onto this is only going to be upside for Democrats,” the staffer added. “Four hundred pages is a lot of ink to say no collusion and no obstruction. I’m sure the Democrats will find things to pick out and try to sensationalize.”Overall, anticipation for the Mueller report on the Hill was muted, in large part because Congress was out of session. Among Democrats, the expectation was that redactions would be so thorough that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) would have to issue a subpoena for the unredacted material within 24 hours. On the Republican side, there was a feeling of near nonchalance. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a longtime Trump defender, said he would be visiting the border when the special counsel’s findings were released, texting a selfie of himself wearing shades before a metal-slatted wall, in the Arizona sun.Russia-gate obsessives critical to the president, meanwhile, were telegraphing a different kind of stoicism. Ben Wittes, a longtime friend of ex-FBI director James Comey and the editor in chief of the Lawfare blog, who became internet-famous for tweeting “tick tick tick” before major stories about Russian interference broke, said he has tried to steel himself for the report’s release. “I think it is a mistake to get emotionally involved, and I try not to do it,” he said. “And I think we all need to be emotionally prepared for answers that don’t validate our premises and also for answers that are orthogonal to our premises.”Max Bergmann, who helmed a project on Russia’s 2016 election interference for the liberal Center for American Progress, noted that because explosive revelations, such as the meeting between Trump campaign and Russian officials at Trump Tower, had already been made public, people had likely grown desensitized to the gravity of the investigative findings. “I’ve read the Mueller indictments and the information out in the public, and that info, in and of itself, is extremely damning,” he said. “I do think if there is nothing built off of that, then Mueller has a lot of questions to answer.”But beyond the concession that the Mueller’s final report may just reaffirm prior opinions, Bergmann had another fear. Barr, he said, could redact so much as to make Mueller’s final verdict unrecognizable. “Look,” said Bergmann, “sometimes cover-ups work.” —With additional reporting by Asawin SuebsaengRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

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