How many people have a tickle fetish?

[vince1024]

I've long wondered about the prevalence of our fetish. My very rough order of magnitude estimation is that it's maybe something like 1 in 50,000. Or at least somewhere between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 100,000. But that guess is solely based on the fact that I think I've come across maybe 3 to 5 accounts on here who seem to live in my metro area, which has a population of about 250,000. But there are so many assumptions in that guess. Are there more people on here in my metro area than I realize? Can I extrapolate from metro area? Also, my guess is based on the assumption that most people with a tickle fetish use this site, but I have no idea if that's true. If anyone has any thoughts, or has tried to make similar guesses, I'd love to hear what you think!

 

[TMF Jeff]

I recently heard from clips4sale that tickling is the second most popular fetish after feet.

We get about 150 thousand unique hits a month, which is a decent launching off point for making some guesses.

I should qualify this by saying I am not a numbers person so I'm about to do some pretty wild speculating.

There are about 400 million native English speakers in the world. On the one hand, you don't have to be a native speaker to use the TMF. But on the other hand, about a third of the people on the planet are children.

So if we guesstimate that there's a pool of about 500 million people in the world who could potentially be users of the TMF - meaning they speak English, have access, and are adult enough to have an interest in it - 500 million divided by 150 thousand is 3,333.

So I think a not terrible guess would be that one potential person out of every 5,000 is a user of the TMF. And not every single person with a tickling fetish uses the TMF.

So I would make my completely bullshit guess at people with a tickling fetish being probably between one in 500 and one in a thousand... something in that range?

 

[pacattack]

I recently heard from clips4sale that tickling is the second most popular fetish after feet.

We get about 150 thousand unique hits a month, which is a decent launching off point for making some guesses.

I should qualify this by saying I am not a numbers person so I'm about to do some pretty wild speculating.

There are about 400 million native English speakers in the world. On the one hand, you don't have to be a native speaker to use the TMF. But on the other hand, about a third of the people on the planet are children.

So if we guesstimate that there's a pool of about 500 million people in the world who could potentially be users of the TMF - meaning they speak English, have access, and are adult enough to have an interest in it - 500 million divided by 150 thousand is 3,333.

So I think a not terrible guess would be that one potential person out of every 5,000 is a user of the TMF. And not every single person with a tickling fetish uses the TMF.

So I would make my completely bullshit guess at people with a tickling fetish being probably between one in 500 and one in a thousand... something in that range?

What really fascinates me in general regardless of numbers is how many people have a kink or fetish but are too ashamed of it to admit it to a partner or even to themselves.... also the amount of people how there who shame people who have kinks/fetishes. Like... why... who cares? Drawing the line at pedophilia and non-concentual anything...

Very interesting numbers work and theory btw Jeff.

 

[vince1024]

I recently heard from clips4sale that tickling is the second most popular fetish after feet.

We get about 150 thousand unique hits a month, which is a decent launching off point for making some guesses.

I should qualify this by saying I am not a numbers person so I'm about to do some pretty wild speculating.

There are about 400 million native English speakers in the world. On the one hand, you don't have to be a native speaker to use the TMF. But on the other hand, about a third of the people on the planet are children.

So if we guesstimate that there's a pool of about 500 million people in the world who could potentially be users of the TMF - meaning they speak English, have access, and are adult enough to have an interest in it - 500 million divided by 150 thousand is 3,333.

So I think a not terrible guess would be that one potential person out of every 5,000 is a user of the TMF. And not every single person with a tickling fetish uses the TMF.

So I would make my completely bullshit guess at people with a tickling fetish being probably between one in 500 and one in a thousand... something in that range?

Thanks, that's helpful info!

 

[Wolf]

I recently heard from clips4sale that tickling is the second most popular fetish after feet.

We get about 150 thousand unique hits a month, which is a decent launching off point for making some guesses.

I should qualify this by saying I am not a numbers person so I'm about to do some pretty wild speculating.

There are about 400 million native English speakers in the world. On the one hand, you don't have to be a native speaker to use the TMF. But on the other hand, about a third of the people on the planet are children.

So if we guesstimate that there's a pool of about 500 million people in the world who could potentially be users of the TMF - meaning they speak English, have access, and are adult enough to have an interest in it - 500 million divided by 150 thousand is 3,333.

So I think a not terrible guess would be that one potential person out of every 5,000 is a user of the TMF. And not every single person with a tickling fetish uses the TMF.

So I would make my completely bullshit guess at people with a tickling fetish being probably between one in 500 and one in a thousand... something in that range?

I think that's pretty reasonable; especially when you consider that a lot of people have it as one of their fetishes, as it can sort of pair with so many, either as the main course, or a side dish.

 

[TMF Jeff]

If tickling is second, is that more a function of the particular patrons Clips4Sale attracts (as in, something less mainstream to what "vanilla" sexual interests are common), or can that be extrapolated onto a more general global scale?

I wondered this too, and I've concluded that it extrapolates out to the general population, because when I see something mainstream that brushes up against our fetish, it always explodes in a similar way to the foot fetish mainstreams. Like when a youtube channel talks about sex, their two biggest view clusters will be first feet, then tickling close behind.

 

[me4o]

I'm not good at maths, but I come from a country with around 7 million people population, plus roughly another 2 million scattered across the globe. And I've come across exactly 7 of my compatriots, who share this fetish. With me - 8. 7 of them are men, and 1 is a woman. Which is not great, percentage-wise. Even when we remove the kids and the elderly, it's still pretty bad. So...it's either a very unpopular fetish in my neck of the woods, or everyone is hiding

 

[SugarSoaker]

Statistics ������

 

[Sensualswitch10]

Statis-tickley speaking, 99.5 to 99.9 percent of people don't have a tickling fetish. Many more people than that still enjoy it, even if it's not a fetish / paraphilia for them.

 

[brotherted]

Statis-tickley speaking, 99.5 to 99.9 percent of people don't have a tickling fetish. Many more people than that still enjoy it, even if it's not a fetish / paraphilia for them.

You hit on one reason this would be so difficult to quantify. How many of us knew we liked this particular hobby long before we would have ever seen it in ourselves as a fetish?
And how many view it as just another aspect of foreplay, with a sexual aspect to it even if they don't see it as the main event, similar to giving a massage or kissing or spooning on a couch? I think a lot of people fit this. Should they count in the stats?

 

[kucheeku]

You hit on one reason this would be so difficult to quantify. How many of us knew we liked this particular hobby long before we would have ever seen it in ourselves as a fetish?
And how many view it as just another aspect of foreplay, with a sexual aspect to it even if they don't see it as the main event, similar to giving a massage or kissing or spooning on a couch? I think a lot of people fit this. Should they count in the stats?

There's also the added complication (for me, at least) of the number of men who enjoy tickling/being tickled by other men. Does the desire constitute a fetish for them? Are they interested ONLY in tickling? Are they even aware of any potential sexual crossover? Do they view it as a consuming urge or as just loving "horseplay"? If m/m tickling can be taken in the very broadest context, then I would say that the number of guys interested in tickling guys is much higher than most people realize.

 

[JohnTK]

This is a very interesting subject and one that has been bugging me for years. I think the numbers that people already replied should be accurate, which definetely makes it a rare fetish and for sure not the second most popular after feet regrettably... Of course this has to do with how broad your definition of a kink or fetish would be.

In the short time and with the people that I have been opened about my tickling fetish, I really couldn't find anyone that seemed to share it or even understand it, besides people in this forum, or people who wrote comments in various tickling videos for example in tik tok etc

What is even more frustrating is that over the years I have asked more than a few escort girls (tickling is listed as standard service in an escort site I have occasionally used), and they have mostly been ignorant about it and with the exception of one or two even confirmed that it hasn't been asked by a client so far. Considering that those girls visit 5-6 clients every night this is a really frustrating statistic.

Having said that, the percentage of the population could be higher considering that there is still a lot of shame about admitting a fetish in many societies and countries.. I mean people have been much more open about foot fetish lately, than 20 years ago for sure, but the tickling fetish is generally not so easy to admit as there is a lot of fear about being labelled as weird.

 

[Myriads]

The tickling paraphilia is one of the top half dozen historically.

This was best shown by the very early era of porn produced for this market in the 80's.

With the arrival of the VCR the traditional porn market underwent a huge explosion, rather than just shooting films that would be shown on loop machines or in Porn theaters, they started to produce material that could be rented, or bought by the home user. The consumption of porn spiked up significantly once people could enjoy in their own homes.

The producers started to look for ways to expand their product lines, and started to shoot fetish material on the side. The started with Bondage with light S&M elements, and spanking videos (then charmingly called "English Discipline") these sold, and they worked their way down the popularity chain. Foot oriented material, water sports, damsel in distress, and then tickling.

All these proved to sell at levels that were worth it to these large production houses.

And that reflects the general popularity of the tickling paraphilia in the population. If we group the Bondage and DiD stuff together, and also the S&M stuff also (Spanking gets to stay on its own, its a huge segment) It leaves ticking in the top five or so for the general population.

How this translates over into raw numbers is much more difficult too track. Many studies have been done over the years regarding kink tastes but they are not the strongest studies to reference, as the users are often easily biased by the questions, my not know they have a paraphilia until its explicitly shown to them, and so forth. Also people lie or deny and that messes with numbers also.

The most we can ay is that it's not uncommon. Perhaps one in a thousand to five thousand is the number that I last heard as a guess.

Myriads

 

[maniactickler]

Im going with 1 out of every 10 people.

 

[Hiphophooray]

Statis-tickley speaking, 99.5 to 99.9 percent of people don't have a tickling fetish. Many more people than that still enjoy it, even if it's not a fetish / paraphilia for them.

I would imagine that a very large portion of those actually DO have a tickle fetish, but are too ashamed/scared/ to admit, or just hope that one day it'll magically go away.

 

[HallowedGround5]

I expect that far more people have this fetish than are willing to admit it. It's time for the stigma to go away, especially considering how many lifestyle choices are accepted and celebrated that are far more extreme.

 

[cletus]

It's like 1 in 2 or 1 in 10,000. I think it's 1 in 2 because polls show lots of people are okay with it, but it's 1 in 10,000 who are actually into it as a kink. Because I'm 1 in the 10,000 I have always felt that besides my movement disorder and my financial situation I'm pretty much screwed to find anyone to be with other than on a normal relationship, which sexually wouldn't do it for me, so what's the use?

 

[ticklishfossil]

That is a ridiculous underestimate. Though this has never been scientifically studied, I would guess 50% of people get turned on my tickling. Maybe 10% of those fetishize about it. In any case, I am confident I could brainwash most partners into it.

 

[Wolf]

That is a ridiculous underestimate. Though this has never been scientifically studied, I would guess 50% of people get turned on my tickling. Maybe 10% of those fetishize about it. In any case, I am confident I could brainwash most partners into it.

I think you're confusing foreplay with fetish activities. Tickling is only a turn-on for that "50%" you're citing if they're attracted to the tickler. As for the "10%" figure, wouldn't that mean we'd have millions of members in this forum? 10% of the population is a helluva lot.

 

[barefeetarebest]

I expect that far more people have this fetish than are willing to admit it. It's time for the stigma to go away, especially considering how many lifestyle choices are accepted and celebrated that are far more extreme.

This. Precisely, exactly this.

 

[Nedward]

What stigma exactly?

 

[Wolf]

What stigma exactly?

Some people like to equate having a fetish with sexual orientation or gender identification. It's not an accurate comparison.

 

[Nedward]

Oh is that all? That does not seem too terrible

 

[Wolf]

Oh is that all? That does not seem too terrible

I didn't assign any good or bad to it, I just said it isn't accurate.

 

[Nedward]

No not you. I gathered from other posts they did not mean "good stigma"