The controversial and strange case of OnlyFans, the pornographic social network

A quick look at the world ranking of social networks reveals that the top 15 (by number of monthly active users) are dominated with an iron fist by the United States and China.. The first brings eight platforms to this ubiquitous club, including the four leaders (Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram), according to Statista.. The Chinese number six and, anecdotally, in ninth place is Telegram, the instant messaging app created by the Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov.

OnlyFans, perhaps the most controversial and bizarre social network, moves in other coordinates. It works under a subscription model that allows two million content creators to set up a paywall so that the more than 130 million registered users can access (in general) erotic or pornographic material.

Curiously, the rectors of this British network cling to the most diplomatic definition. This is -they say- a proposal for chefs, athletes and painters to find new ways of monetizing in industries that are not always profitable beyond stardom.

The reality seems to be different. Marie Lippmann, from the Department of Psychology at California State University, launches her conclusions after conducting a survey with almost 500 OnlyFans users. The participants admit that this way of relating to others significantly improves their sexual life, allows them to learn new practices, clarifies their preferences in bed and improves their health in the most intimate sphere.

Since the platform was founded, emphasizes Marcos Blanco, a professor at ESIC, OnlyFans has disbursed 2,000 million to content creators. The model is profitable because the social network charges a fixed fee of 20% on each transaction, so that it has raised about 400 million in this time. The vast majority of traffic comes from the US, with the UK in second position and ten times less volume.

boom in pandemic

Active since 2016, OnlyFans recorded a remarkable boost with the pandemic. Itziar Tros, an expert in influencer marketing, points out two reasons: on the one hand, the impossibility of going out in search of adventure multiplied this other form of sexual consumption. On the other hand, “from generation Z onwards, personal relationships, from you to you and in a physical dimension, go to the background. The online has absolute priority to the point that an action as simple as calling a restaurant to make a reservation becomes an unthinkable gesture”.

Co-author of the book Web 2.0, focused on the first iteration of social networks, Octavio Rojas argues that OnlyFans essentially means “the normalization of porn”. In the age of “hyper-consumerism and hyper-capitalism,” he continues, “people don't care how they get money and fame as long as they have it.. I do not rule out that this platform ends up being one of the stars of the sector, since it gives access to photos and videos and covers specific needs, in addition to allowing some female athletes, for example, to supplement their income and be able to continue dedicating themselves to sport”.

“The interesting game of OnlyFans is that it hooks you because it combines subscription and request,” reflects Blanco. “The future of the porn industry has been approaching this scheme for years, but it is surprising that it works under the format of a social network. Barring any regulatory issues, the horizon for OnlyFans is reasonably good.”

Part of the pull of this phenomenon is explained by a cultural factor. Pablo Iglesias, CEO of the online reputation consultancy CyberBrainers, recalls that OnlyFans “was used by quite a few influencers as a way to obtain extra money by selling their sexualized image”. Likewise, “the accessibility of this application (which is not a social network, since it does not offer sociability as such) has democratized pornography among the new generations.”

Blac Chyna is the highest paid of Only fans. 20 million dollars a month.

If both factors are combined, “we have the perfect breeding ground to condition some kids who have been educated in the idea that generating income is easy and that anything goes for it: OnlyFans to sell you and Twitter, Instagram and TikTok as channels for attracting potential subscribers”, stresses Iglesias.

Big Brother

Talking about sex on social networks is quite common. “The Z champion a movement that goes beyond the male-female standard and prefers terms like fluid gender. The most appropriate comparison of OnlyFans is with other porn platforms, not with social networks. For a content creator, exposing yourself openly is the most effective way to attract followers, as if it were some kind of Big Brother,” Tros points out.

The promise of immediate profitability has side effects. At the height of the twenties, it is difficult to gauge the footprint that this more or less explicit production leaves on the internet, an immense sink where the individual's data is the main product. “In an Instagram account you post a video in a bikini and nothing happens. If you take off that bikini on the OnlyFans account, there is no perception that you adjoin pornography. At 20 you don't know where you want to be at 35. And these decisions can close many professional doors for you.”

This risk links to privacy policies. “That the content you upload to a platform is protected by a paywall does not make it more secure,” Iglesias settles. EliminateContent is a spin-off of CyberBrainers where “there isn't a single week that an OnlyFans creator doesn't write to us.”

“Like the rest of the intermediation platforms, OnlyFans cleans its hands arguing that it is impossible to ensure 100% that what you upload cannot be stolen (for example, recording the mobile screen itself while the video or the live is playing). It's not like he has a strong incentive to improve privacy and security on his service, either, given that the problem is with the creator, not the platform.”

Despite this laxity, Blanco rescues a striking fact: more than half of the requests to create content creation accounts are rejected by administrators.

Veto

During the summer of 2021, Visa and Mastercard threatened OnlyFans with a ban, prompting the platform to promise to ban the most risqué content.. The anger of influencers, models and users did not wait and everything was left in a feint of catharsis. The OnlyFans defensive argument fell under its own weight: yes, there are chefs who use this channel and even museums that use it to publicize the works of their artists, but porn was and is king.

Similar to OnlyFans is the Patreon proposal, although it is true that in this second case, porn faces more obstacles and the community is more plural.. In fact, Patreon only allows you to see nude content if it is justified as art or artistic photography.. Non-pornographic content is more profitable for Patreon creators because it only applies a 5% commission. OnlyFans also distances itself from Pornhub because free content does not exist. The minimum monthly subscription starts at five dollars and à la carte sessions are offered with a maximum of $100.