There are plenty of online communities that are spread out across the internet. Some focus on films, others on music, and an awful lot on memes. But there's one that's pretty much in a league of its own.
Whichever way you spin it, and whatever way you look at it, porn is probably the biggest community on the web. Not in a seedy way, though, it's just that the vast majority of people watch adult content, whether it's regularly or irregularly, because it's so easy to find these days. And you're a liar if you say you've never found yourself discussing a certain video or category with your mates. We've all done it.
There's quite a misconception when it comes to the porn industry. It's perceived that it's full of obese blokes wearing food-stained vests donning a pencil-thin moustache with slicked back hair, telling pretty women to bend over. It's not.
Just like most other things, it's an industry and a business in which to be successful. And no one knows it better than the man, the legend, who created not only YouPorn, but everyone's favourite bawdy series, FakeTaxi - 'The YouPorn Guy'.
"[YouPorn] started off as a bit of a joke, really, a bit of fun," he told TheLADbible. "The framework was built and we managed to buy a cool domain. That was back in August 2006. A couple of months later the site started going viral, and we quickly grew to our peak of 370million monthly users, and the 26th busiest website in the world."
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Credit: FakeTaxi
Despite the success of his sites, including YouPorn, FakeTaxi and FakeAgent, in the beginning it wasn't all plain sailing. I guess you wouldn't think about what goes into running a domain because you'd be too busy lapping up a video you found. And due to breaking the industry, and representing a newcomer, competitors had certain feelings towards it.
"Running YouPorn was an 18-hour/seven-days-a-week struggle, and a dangerous one at that," he said. "By launching YouPorn we had decimated one of the internet's strongest and most lucrative industries - PORN.
"We didn't make many friends, that's for sure. For the first year or so, I called myself Nora, and we would not meet anyone face-to-face. Once we started our Content Partner Programme, and pay sites started earning literally millions of dollars from our traffic, we started to make friends and going to industry events.
"This is where I got the name, 'The YouPorn Guy'. I later started using my initials JT."
Credit: The YouPorn Guy
After all, the industry as a whole is a cash cow. Of course, if you compare it to television, then it's tiny. But since the late 1990s, when it branched out onto the internet, it's become far more valuable.
According to Forbes, physically purchased adult films contribute $500million to $1.8billion to the industry, while magazines and pay-per-views give $1billion and $128million, respectively, and the internet adds $1billion. Together, the overall value of the industry is $2.6billion to $3.9billion. You have to be doing something pretty special to be getting a big slice of the pie in the monster that is the internet.
As you'd expect, JT's life isn't the same as it was in the past. Having lived in Prague for six years, he now calls it home and hundreds of scenes are shot in the Czech Republic's capital each month. But what does the creator of unstoppable porn forces do? Well, other than certain treats, it's no different to anyone else's job. And with a family to support, it's important that they learn the true value of hard work.
"I eat in fancier restaurants and drive faster cars, that's for sure," he said. "But joking aside, the adult industry is no different from mainstream [industries], you just get to look at naked girls every day.
"I have seven kids and what it's shown them (hopefully) is that you really need to work hard to succeed. Loving your job helps, too."
We have no doubts that he loves his job.
Credit: The YouPorn Guy
Of course, what the vast majority of you are truly thankful for is the inauguration of FakeTaxi, and, 'John the taxi man'.
The creation of FakeHub, which includes a group of sites that revolve around someone posing in some sort of profession has really taken off, with videos receiving well in excess of 250million views a month on the big tube sites. JT says this is 'frightening when you think about it'.
"I had all the data to tell me what users liked to watch, and what memberships they bought, so it was a natural progression, really," he said. "I launched with DaneJones.com and FakeAgent.com and then sites like PublicAgent.com, MassageRooms.com and the now infamous FakeTaxi.com.
"I now have some of the highest rated and most watched websites on YouPorn and PornHub."
Talking about FakeTaxi, though, it was no shock to JT that it'd be a massive hit. From the get-go it seemed to him that he had an instant winner.
He explained: "As soon as I saw the first couple of pilot scenes, I knew we had a hit on our hands.
"I remember the day it launched, and the member joins coming through. It literally took me a couple of hours to get my initial investment back and it shows no signs of stopping.
"Because of the success of FakeTaxi, we launched a 'sister' site called FemaleFakeTaxi and this site also does thousands of new memberships a month.
"We also just launched the FakeTaxiStore.com where you can buy huge car stickers, t-shirts and caps. A lot of people woke up to FakeTaxi gifts on Christmas day around the world."
As keen followers may know, a new 'fake' site is launched every three to four months, which means very soon you'll be treated to another one. You needy bastards.
Credit: The YouPorn Guy
"[We've] gotta keep growing the pay site networks FakeHub and SexyHub," JT says. "The latest one was FitnessRooms.com and we are currently shooting a new 'Fake' site which should launch in March 2017."
There's no doubt that running sites that, across the board, have over 60,000 members, creates a life of luxury, but JT isn't really into counting his eggs. In fact, he rarely thinks about its true value as it's his, and always will be. "What's it worth? I've never really thought about it as it's not for sale," he said. "It's not a trade-off I'd want to make."Basically, the small empire he has created has become his baby - something that's he's nurtured into what it is today. It's the same as any creation; it's just that there's the added bonus of scantily-clad women hanging about.Advert
It's not a bad life, is it?
Featured Image Credit: The YouPorn Guy