Will this reference to YouTube pass moderation?

[mildlyaroused]

I'm almost ready to publish a story I've been working on for a while. I'm wondering whether this reference (and Note to Moderator) would fly, or whether the story is likely to be sent back. If anyone with experience on the matter could chime in, I'd be grateful!

(I think I remember someone, maybe EB, getting rejected because they included a tumblr blog in their story. If the rules are that strict then this almost certainly wouldn't be allowed).

Reference in question:

Having said that, the musical ideas are fascinating. Much of my inspiration for Mr. Shibuya's third movement came from a Radiohead song called Videotape. This track (on top of being a great listen) shows how composers can interpret their own music completely differently to their audiences. If you are a musical creature, I’d therefore highly recommend you look into the hidden syncopation of Radiohead’s Videotape. There are plenty of resources around. A YouTube video by a chap named WarrenMusic comes to mind.

My Note to Moderator:

[omitted] I also reference an off-site YouTube video at the end of the story, in my author's note. Since a musical analysis video isn't really competing with Literotica for audiences, and advertising the video isn't benefiting me in any way, I thought this was fair. I just wanted to share a musical idea!

 

[THBGato]

In my latest story, Desire and Duendehttps://www.literotica.com/s/desire-and-duende-ch-01, I wrote this in the author's note at the start:


If you want to, there is a playlist on youtube to accompany this. Search "Desire and Duende" or check my profile.

It was published with no issues.

 

[ChuckWolf]

Maybe better to avoid specific references to stuff like YouTube, which might make your stories come off as dated later on, as things change (like mentioning a MySpace page in a story).

 

[mildlyaroused]

Maybe better to avoid specific references to stuff like YouTube, which might make your stories come off as dated later on, as things change (like mentioning a MySpace page in a story).

Hehe, I like the sentiment here. Like, my smut is going to survive the ages, like drawings on cave walls and such.
(the reference to YouTube is not actually part of the story itself; it's part of my author's note at the end of the story).

 

[TheLobster]

Hehe, I like the sentiment here. Like, my smut is going to survive the ages, like drawings on cave walls and such.
(the reference to YouTube is not actually part of the story itself; it's part of my author's note at the end of the story).

Don't worry about datedness. As your story is reproduced through the centuries and millennia, scholarship will develop to explain to the contemporary audience what those weird ancient terms like "Youtube" mean

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

You should try a story search for “youtube” and see how other authors are referencing the site in their submissions. (Sort by most recent, as editorial policy can change over time.)

For amusement, I did a quick story count for a grab-bag of new and old site names:

YouTube – 4181
Wikipedia – 865
Facebook – 8681
Instagram – 3697
"twitter.com" – 12
"x.com" – 5
Baidu – 3
4chan – 35
"yahoo.com" – 119
ChatGPT – 19
Linkedin – 334
Flickr – 59
eelslap.com – 0
AltaVista – 8
xHamster – 141
DuckDuckGo – 14
Netflix.com – 0
“Netflix and chill” – 342

“Twitter,” “yahoo,” and “X” are mentioned a lot more than this, but probably not as website references.

 

[ElectricBlue]

(I think I remember someone, maybe EB, getting rejected because they included a tumblr blog in their story. If the rules are that strict then this almost certainly wouldn't be allowed).

It was years ago now, and as others have said, Laurel changes her policies. I'd go with your proposed note - if it bounces, the reference doesn't seem to be critical to the story.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Yeah - it isn't critical by any means. Just a pointer for people who like music, if they want to fall down the same fun rabbit hole that I did.

 

[TheLobster]

You should try a story search for “youtube” and see how other authors are referencing the site in their submissions. (Sort by most recent, as editorial policy can change over time.)

For amusement, I did a quick story count for a grab-bag of new and old site names:

YouTube – 4181
Wikipedia – 865
Facebook – 8681
Instagram – 3697
"twitter.com" – 12
"x.com" – 5
Baidu – 3
4chan – 35
"yahoo.com" – 119
ChatGPT – 19
Linkedin – 334
Flickr – 59
eelslap.com – 0
AltaVista – 8
xHamster – 141
DuckDuckGo – 14
Netflix.com – 0
“Netflix and chill” – 342

“Twitter,” “yahoo,” and “X” are mentioned a lot more than this, but probably not as website references.

A few others:

WhatsApp - 1333
Snapchat - 791
TikTok - 561
Reddit - 1264
Digg - 12 (some could be typos)
Slashdot - 2 (yes, two)

There are tons of mentions of "discord," "slack," and especially "twitch" but of course you can't tell which one of these refer to websites.

For comparison, the sites that are more, ahem, relevant to Lit's main focus:

OnlyFans - 755
PornHub - 1076
Redtube - 50
Youporn - 94
"sex.com" - 8

Make of that what you will

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

There are tons of mentions of "discord," "slack," and especially "twitch" but of course you can't tell which one of these refer to websites.

Same problem with "bing" but here are some others:

AOL – 415 (popular in Gay Male)
IMDB – 71 (popular in Celeb & FF)
DeviantArt – 39
“archive.org” – 2
"project gutenberg" – 1 (70,000 copyright expired ebooks)
duckduckgo – 14 (including one of my stories)
voyeurweb – 15
megaupload – 2 (defunct site)
persiankitty – 2 (defunct site)
"google earth" – 203

 

[mildlyaroused]

Hopefully it will fly under grounds of artistic dessimation

The contentious part would be that I'm recommending this video as the author, not as a character; I am directly telling readers to go check something off-site out, outside of the story itself.

 

[KeithD]

The only rewrite I had to do was in including a named URL and web site--one that wasn't currently in use. That was rejected.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I don't think active external links are allowed in any part of the story text. Since your reference to YouTube is not a link, you should be fine.
I handled it like this in Savage Daughter.

---

As I noted in my brief foreword, the song 'My Mother's Savage Daughter', written by Karen Kahan, strongly influenced this story. I can't offer you a link, but I can recommend you look it up and give it a listen, especially if you have or are a daughter that had trouble coloring inside the lines. As a Transgender Woman, I found a piece of my soul in its words.

 

[Voboy]

I invented a fake version of Facebook VERY early on which all my stories use. It has solved any number of technical questions for me over the years; I can give it any functionality my characters could ever need in a social media platform, and it's been able to adapt to new trends and technologies. I, too, fear my stories appearing dated later on.

My SM platform is called Pixboox, and anyone here is welcome to use it. There's Pixboox Chat, Pixboox Personals (a dating app), and even an OnlyFans spoof (I forget what I called that one). Pixboox Plus allows more explicit content.

OP, I think advising readers to go check out a song or video is quite fine. I wouldn't even suggest a platform for them to go to; they are more than capable of finding it in 2025, if they're inclined to follow your rec.

 

[OffNSFW]

My last story has a whole-ass list of movie recommendations at the end. (One of the heroes is a sci-fi buff.) I don't see why that would be permissible but a YouTube video wouldn't.

 

[CarmineBlancheJr]

I'm almost ready to publish a story I've been working on for a while. I'm wondering whether this reference (and Note to Moderator) would fly, or whether the story is likely to be sent back. If anyone with experience on the matter could chime in, I'd be grateful!

(I think I remember someone, maybe EB, getting rejected because they included a tumblr blog in their story. If the rules are that strict then this almost certainly wouldn't be allowed).

Reference in question:


My Note to Moderator:

It seems to me that, these days, as ubiquitous as YouTube, Tumblr, TikTok, and the like are, they would pass with no issues.

It's part of who we are. I know in one of my stories, I mentioned McDonald's, and there was no issue. I will usually not mention politicians for fear of having that ONE PERSON that decides that if I mention Trump/Biden/Clinton/Obama... etc... that my story had suddenly turned into a political rant.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

It seems to me that, these days, as ubiquitous as YouTube, Tumblr, TikTok, and the like are, they would pass with no issues.

It's part of who we are. I know in one of my stories, I mentioned McDonald's, and there was no issue. I will usually not mention politicians for fear of having that ONE PERSON that decides that if I mention Trump/Biden/Clinton/Obama... etc... that my story had suddenly turned into a political rant.

Had that happen in a story of mine. The bad guy president was with the Socialist Party. The story is an imaginary dystopian fantasy with mutants, and some readers reamed me for not knowing what socialism 'really' was. First time I ever deleted comments...

 

[jaF0]

Just leave the ad out. If somebody wants to listen to a song, there are literally dozens of streaming sites out there.

 

[Devinter]

For amusement, I did a quick story count for a grab-bag of new and old site names:

eelslap.com – 0

You just casually tried to sneak that in there, didn't you?

 

[CarmineBlancheJr]

Had that happen in a story of mine. The bad guy president was with the Socialist Party. The story is an imaginary dystopian fantasy with mutants, and some readers reamed me for not knowing what socialism 'really' was. First time I ever deleted comments...

Maybe I should write a piece of erotica called Congress and Senate Games. About how someone injected a compound into the Senate and Congress while in full session, which made them all wildly horny and caused a mass orgy.

It would be like the darker, more porny, version of Clancy's "Debt of Honor."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Maybe I should write a piece of erotica called Congress and Senate Games. About how someone injected a compound into the Senate and Congress while in full session, which made them all wildly horny and caused a mass orgy.

Only fiction is allowed on Lit.

 

[Yarglenurp]

Maybe I should write a piece of erotica called Congress and Senate Games. About how someone injected a compound into the Senate and Congress while in full session, which made them all wildly horny and caused a mass orgy.

It would be like the darker, more porny, version of Clancy's "Debt of Honor."

You say this as if it would be worse than what do now.

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

View attachment 2365018

You just casually tried to sneak that in there, didn't you?

Surely someone shares this fetish?

 

[THBGato]

It seems to me that, these days, as ubiquitous as YouTube, Tumblr, TikTok, and the like are, they would pass with no issues.

It's part of who we are. I know in one of my stories, I mentioned McDonald's, and there was no issue. I will usually not mention politicians for fear of having that ONE PERSON that decides that if I mention Trump/Biden/Clinton/Obama... etc... that my story had suddenly turned into a political rant.

I've had my characters slag off Brexit and The Tories in several of my stories. Hasn't affected my scores (or maybe it has... but certainly nobody has commented on it).

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've had my characters slag off Brexit and The Tories in several of my stories. Hasn't affected my scores (or maybe it has... but certainly nobody has commented on it).

I have political references in most of my stories, but little comment. I've no idea what the frothing types from the Politics Board choose to read on Lit, but should they click on any of my stories I suspect they'd be the types who say "British shit. Coulnt finish the furst page."

So wouldn't get as far as, say, the guide to American scientists warning them not to tell anyone in the UK if they'd voted Bush, and if they had, not to come over. No commenters have mentioned that. It also mentioned lack of free refills or Dr Pepper, which did get a few comments!

One story is pure politics, just to plausibly (by Lit standards) get a kink scene and sex into the UK Supreme Court and House of Lords. I did set it in 2028 just to avoid references to any then-current politicians.

The only time I thought political views might get kickback was my Christmas story which has a character describe a proper English (vs Scottish) Christmas and then wonder why Americans think Christmas is a Christmas thing, which Jews and Muslims etc pointedly don't celebrate, instead of getting a halal turkey. But it was about 7 pages into a 10-page story. I was quite chuffed when a folklorist enjoyed it recently and liked the descriptions of Father Christmas being derived from old pagan traditions like Father Time and Mother Nature.

Back in 2020 I read that some stories had been rejected for mentioning websites, so I made up a couple that weren't Grindr. Except one I'd just forgotten was real (Gaydar), and I wouldn't be surprised if Londonboyz has become one. I do have a 2028 character refer to 'a Twat feed of the case - what used to be known as Twitter'. Elon hasn't objected yet...