Even though the name might bring back awkward flashbacks to middle school health class, ‘JOI’ has grown into one of the most successful and fastest-expanding categories in digital adult entertainment today.
MelRose Michaels, who is both the founder of S** Work CEO and an experienced content creator, explained in an interview with Vice: “‘JOI’ to me is an erotic performance style where the speaker, through voice, video, or text, guides the viewer or listener through the act of m**turbation.”
“It blends control, seduction, dominance, and emotional connection all at once.”And the numbers back it up. New data from Clips4Sale highlights just how quickly ‘JOI’ is catching on.
In the U.S. alone, sales have jumped by 186 percent since 2022. Globally, it’s also booming—Germany has seen a massive 208 percent increase, while Australia saw a strong 48 percent growth in demand.
“It’s a direct connection between the fan and the creators,” Martin said. “And since the pandemic, interest has surged across the board.”
Michaels pointed out: “‘JOI’ taps into more than just arousal. It fulfills the need to feel wanted, controlled, praised… or denied.”
“It creates a fantasy where they’re not just ‘another viewer’… Instead, they’re ‘the’ viewer.”For someone like MissWaltrude—a European fetish artist and expert in hypnokink—‘JOI’ becomes something much more immersive. It turns into a multi-layered, trance-like experience that blends eroticism with psychology.
“‘JOI,’ to me, is a m**turbatory trance experience with multiple layers,” she said. “It’s about taking control of another person’s erotic energy, layer by layer.”
“‘JOI’ gives permission,”she added.
“It lets someone safely confess, ‘Hey, this turns me on,’ and then be commanded to dive deeper. Obedience is pleasure – and there’s great pleasure to be found in obedience.”