Blythe's comment sections are tame in comparison, although he does receive some very excited DMs. “I get really weird emails saying, 'Would you mind massaging my feet with my socks on?' or something like that,” Blythe said. “I don't know if they thought the sock part made the outrageous request more normal, but something about it makes me laugh.”
However, with 60% of Blythe's audience being women, he feels he has it easier than most of his peers. “I think if you're a woman on the app making pottery, you're probably going to get a lot of creepy messages,” he said. Monaco – which receives comments such as “Nobody looks at ceramics” And “We all know why we're watching— said she doesn’t “think it’s that bad.” She added: “Most of them are quite funny.”
Unfamous said influencers may not want to admit that they are purposefully quenching a thirst. “If you lean that way, it comes with a negative judgment,” she said. “There’s another cringe factor: it’s cooler to pretend you’re on the sidelines and pretend you’re above it than to admit you’re doing it.”
Unfamous also told BuzzFeed News that while she can appreciate the sex appeal of TikTok ceramics, eager viewers should follow the lead of influencers when it comes to the comments they leave. “There is a border. There are people who take this calmly. [being sexualized]”and there are others who don't,” she said. “Viewers need to take this seriously from a consent standpoint.”
For ceramicists like Pottery Boy, however, excited comments are a small price to pay for success. Although he did not admit that he deliberately lured his followers into a thirst trap, he does We welcome the attention that such viewers attract. After everything last year they helped him sell all of his $53 mugs in 40 seconds.. His business in real life is also thriving: he manages three pottery workshops which attracts 350 students a week and plans to open two more this year. “It's going very, very well,” said Pottery Boy. “But I don’t think my TikTok can fully acknowledge that.”
“To be honest, I don't care too much about how I'm perceived,” PotterBoy said. “I want to create content that people will enjoy watching and that will attract more people to pottery. I think my videos do that and that's the most important thing. Whether you come for the pottery or the sex appeal, I welcome everyone.”
