Safaree: Here's why people love posting thirst traps and leaking nudes

What better way to get attention than to post a photo of yourself leaving little to the imagination?

There’s nothing really new about people painting themselves in a sexual light or creating a sexually charged image. But as Safaree Samuels showed yesterday, a simple thirst trap or a leaked nude can become the biggest news story on a Monday morning.

Yesterday, photos and videos of the rapper, at various stages of being unclad, showed up on social media with his love stick taking center stage.

Very quickly, many people settled on one thing. The general consensus was that Safaree was packing heat.

For the rest of the day till the moment of writing this, social media users have made Safaree’s john into a trending topic, by asking questions about why Nicki Minaj would leave him or why he focused on rap instead of other apparently more obvious career options.

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Now if this surprises you, you either have sworn to be away from social media or you don’t have a phone. Or maybe you’ve been living beneath a rock. Or in a bunker.

 

In today’s social media-driven world, sexually suggestive photos have become a norm, a commonly served dessert, like the critically-acclaimed soap opera that comes at 6pm after the regular line-up of shows.

But how did it all begin?

People have always been thirsty.

Urban dictionary defines a thirst trap as “ A sexy photograph or flirty message posted on social media for the intent of causing others to publicly profess their attraction.”

Judging from this definition, the self-portrait was probably the first type of thirst trap.

Think about it. Centuries ago, painters and artists would make portraits of themselves in the best light possible. Then these paintings would be hung up in prominent places and sold to art collectors who would marvel at the beauty and skill of the artiste.

Fast forward to the present age, where your 16 MP Camera can do things that would throw Leonardo Da Vinci into depression.

Attaining the peak of celebrity status is usually impossible without being seen as a sex symbol in some capacity. With many mouths to feed and appetites to whet, they first began to introduce this thirst trap culture.

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Kim Kardashian, for instance, is a master of the thirst trap. Whether in a dimly lit bathroom or at the launch of a book, the beauty entrepreneur has mastered the art of posting alluring, suggestive photos.

Nigeria also has its own evangelists of the thirst trap ministry. There may be varying accounts of how she got her body but Uche Mba’s photos typically cause a ruckus on Nigerian Twitter whenever she wishes.

With time, some of us common folk have started posting thirst traps too. But with no audience waiting for our updates, it makes it clear what the whole idea of thirst traps is about.

ATTENTION.

The second half of that urban dictionary definition reads, “ This is done not to actually respond or satisfy any of this attraction, but to feed the poster's ego or need for attention, at the expense of the time, reputation and sexual frustration of those who view the image or reply.”

Whether or not craving for attention is healthy is a matter for another day, but think about it, what better way to make yourself the focus of attention than to post a photo of yourself that exudes sex?

The thing with this is that thirst traps are pretty obvious. When you post a thirst trap, your objective is pretty clear.

In other caes, the photos or videos are released by way of a leak.

Now, a leak basically implies that something of value, a photo, message or intellectual property was released to the public without the knowledge and permission of the owner.

One of the more infamous cases of any such leak in Nigerian history happened when photos of Wande Coal spread-eagled on his bed, made their way to social media.

Primarily, a leak is usually done to discredit an individual or embarrass them.

 

Here's where things get interesting.

In some cases, regardless of their social status, individuals are often worried about how posting a suggestive or especially sensual photo or video would be interpreted.

Except you have thick skin or you’re convinced that the reactions will end up playing in your favour, the risk of the backlash is often too high to take.

Sometimes, a person wants attention but they don’t want to look desperate.

So they ‘leak their nudes’.

Nowadays, it is all too common to hear of someone’s nude photos being leaked, only to discover by some twist or the other, that the individual in question leaked it themselves.

There are examples; a few years ago, topless of photos of Tonto Dikeh made their way to social media. After the photo drew equal parts admiration and criticism, the actress failed to deny having a role in letting the photos out.

Our culture of thirst trapping and leaking nudes has become an industry on a global scale, as evidenced by Instagram models and accounts that amass millions of followers.

All of this because, regardless of the time of day, sex sells.

Depending on who's posting, the outcome may be different; but for the most part, at that moment when you hit 'SEND', the motive is usually the same.