"“Gooning, as Kolitz writes, is ‘a new kind of masturbation at the heart of an internet-based, pornography-obsessed, GenZ-dominated subculture every bit as defined and vibrant as the hippies or punks in their prime.’”"
"“During his reporting, Kolitz distributed a thirty-three-question ‘Gooning Questionnaire’ to more than one thousand gooners online, travailed dark corners of Discord, and witnessed preparations for a ‘communal, in-the-flesh pornwatching party.’”"
"“If there is any coherent message to the sprawling folk-art practices of Goonworld, it is this: kill yourself,” writes Kolitz. “Not literally, but spiritually. Where mainstream porn invites the straight male viewer to imagine himself as the man onscreen, gooner porn constantly reminds viewers that they are alone, that they are masturbating to porn because no one would ever deign to sleep with them.”"
Judges awarded Harper’s Magazine the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing for Daniel Kolitz’s “The Goon Squad,” published in the November 2025 issue. The reporting examines “gooners,” an online porn-focused Gen Z subculture centered on “gooning,” described as a new form of masturbation. The piece links gooners to the loneliness and poor socialization associated with the COVID generation and frames the phenomenon as an intensification of broader cultural trends. Kolitz collected responses from more than one thousand gooners using a 33-question questionnaire, investigated Discord communities, and observed plans for in-person pornwatching gatherings. The diagnosis portrays gooner porn as spiritually isolating, emphasizing that viewers are alone and unlikely to be desired by others.
Read at Harper's Magazine
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