Launched in 2016, OnlyFans is a subscription-based social media platform where users can sell and/or purchase original content—typically of the pornographic variety. When utilized as an adult site, users will post NSFW videos and photos to their accounts, which are protected by a paywall. To gain access to the content, an individual must pay a monthly subscription fee that ranges anywhere between $4.99 and $49.99.
Though Bey's shout-out on the "Savage" remix caused a 15 percent increase in OnlyFans traffic, the site reportedly experienced a surge in activity around the time stay-at-home orders were put in place. Blake Montgomery of The Daily Beast reported the platform had garnered 3.5 million new signups in March; of those signups, 60,000 were new creators.
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Experience levels vary from user to user. Some creators are professional sex workers who have been in the industry well before the platform existed. Porn stars, escorts, and webcam models are among those who have expanded their services and supplemented their income through OnlyFans; while other creators had little to no sex work experience prior to the lockdowns.
"I was worried about money, about paying off my mortgage, bills, and stuff. Before lockdown I was looking after animals – pet dogs, mainly. But because it's an independent business my boss can't pay me until she gets her grant from the government," a woman who goes by Miss June told Vice. "... At the minute I'm living off savings. OnlyFans seemed like the easiest option."
Veteran sex workers have expressed mixed reactions about the influx of newbies, with many cautioning amateurs to consider all consequences of this line of work as well as urging them to shed their preconceived notions.
"Sure, do it, create an OnlyFans, start camming — but that means you have to support sex workers all year round now," Portland sex worker Valentine told the New York Times. "You can’t just dip in and out of it because you think it’s easy and then trash us in the end ... The idea that all sex workers make a lot of money is not true — or that we’re just simply just showing our bodies and we have no integrity and we have no brain behind us. It’s really so much more than that. We’re all people."
Which celebrities use OnlyFans?
OnlyFans has also been utilized by a growing number of celebrities, many of whom found success in more mainstream markets.
The-Dream recently launched an account to promote his "baby-making album of the year" SXTP4. But don't expect to see explicit videos or images of the rapper. He instead created the free page as a way to better connect with his fanbase, while also encouraging them to post "their own sensual choreography to his latest tracks."
Reality TV stars like Blac Chyna and The Bachelor's Chad Johnson have also joined the platform, along with Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood couple Safaree Samuels and Erica Mena.
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