And now Pornhub is taking it from there, launching Shorties: a vertically scrollable video feed built for rapid, mobile-first viewing. The launch brings the short-form, pervasive style of content that has been dominating social apps from Instagram to TikTok into adult entertainment as well, where consumers may be looking for a modern approach to discovery without twisting their phones.
Shorties is live on the main platform and on Pornhub Gay, with a lesbian iteration in development. The company developed the feature in direct response to how people already watch video on phones, with an acute focus on speed, swiping and creator discovery.
TikTok-Style Feed, But Designed For Grown-Ups
Shorties replicates the familiar swipe-to-advance, vertically stacked experience popularized by TikTok, Reels and Shorts. Clips are served up in a never-ending feed to minimize friction — you open the app or site, start scrolling and content is waiting for you. Optimized one-handed user experience allows users to pass from short, minute viewing into longer-lasting experiences.
Outside the feed, Pornhub is embracing creator-friendly features. A lot of Shorties clips also feature a “More of Me” module that sends users directly off to a performer’s fan sites and social profiles, acting as a discovery surface that adult creators can find hard to come by on mainstream platforms where sexual content is heavily moderated and accounts face regular shadowbanning.
Mobile-First Approach Driven By Traffic Data
Betting on vertical video is not a crapshoot. According to Pornhub’s own stats, 84% of global traffic was mobile in 2020. External tracking by Statista shows that the mobile share increased even more during 2022-2024, reaching its peak at 97% in October 2023. In other words, practically the entire audience now arrives on phones, where short-form feeds are for many the preferred way to consume video.
Short-form designs also lend themselves to optimizing recommendation feedback loops. The more a viewer swipes and watches, the better the system can match the next clip. Although Pornhub hasn’t revealed its ranking signals, industry standards would say watch time, completion rate, quick engagement and creator trustworthiness should all be key for what gets surfaced.
Creator Visibility And Monetization Avenues
For performers and studios, a vertical feed means faster discovery and broader reach — an attractive option in a climate where many creators have multiple revenue streams across subscription platforms, clip stores and direct fan sites. In the More of Me integration, Shorties becomes a traffic funnel that slakes the emotional immediacy between capturing a viewer’s attention and converting that attention into paid support elsewhere.
This method also addresses the endemic issue of distribution. Mainstream platforms increasingly restrict adult content, and creators often face restricted visibility or suspension of their accounts. By consolidating discovery within an adult platform and streamlining outbound channels, Shorties might become the top-of-funnel layer that mainstream social rarely permits.
Safety Protocols in the Face of Increasing Regulation
The launch arrives particularly as age-verification laws continue to spread across legislatures. Many U.S. states, such as Utah and Texas, have passed laws that require platforms to confirm a user’s age via government ID or similar mechanisms. Facing particular compliance challenges, Pornhub has previously restricted access in certain localities, and the company once stopped service in France amid a legal wrangle.
“All Shorties content is uploaded and verified to ensure it adheres to the existing safety systems,” the company said, pointing to moderation workflows, performer verification including facial recognition checks and documented consent from co-performers. Those are steps that follow broader industry standards outlined by advocacy and trade organizations focused on consent, verification and platform accountability.
What This Means For The Adult Video Market
Short-form video has remade user behavior across the internet; bringing that format to adult content is less about novelty than matching how people already watch. The likely end results are more frequent sessions, quicker content sampling and faster signals about what’s resonating — useful for product teams optimizing output, but also valuable to creators.
The questions that remain will be product economics and policy: Will Shorties introduce new ad formats or creator bonuses based on watches, how recommendations balance risk with novelty and how regional compliance could affect rollout? If Pornhub can maintain a fast, relevant and safe feed, Shorties just might become the default way we browse for adult videos on-the-go.
