Gooning refers to a euphoric state of pleasure from masturbation without release for hours on end. It is also a fetish and popular subgenre of porn.

To be a goon or gooner is to be an exaggerator of pleasure, but whether that sensual rapture is a performance or something done sincerely without inhibition can vary between gooners. Sex workers, such as cam boys, girls, and theys, use gooning as a method of servicing their clients. That’s why gooning, at least on the internet, is often considered fake or pretend — but not all gooners are performing. Gooning can have an intoxicating quality for the people doing it, which has helped it spawn an entire internet subculture, with Discord servers and other online infrastructure built to connect gooners to one another. But the question of whether or not this kind of “true gooner” is commonplace lies at the heart of much online discussion about gooning.

Gooning porn can feature a range of signature bodily displays, with performers crossing their eyes, sticking out their tongues, or even drooling because they’ve lost control of their body. Curated adult content Twitch streams feature gooners slack-faced, squealing or staring dead-eyed into monitors playing porn in front of them as they pleasure themselves for hours on end — and the question remains: Is it a true “goon state” or are they literally gooning for the camera?

The iconic imagery and absurdity associated with gooners all make great fodder for memes and internet slang, prompting many people to ask:

Is anyone actually gooning?