Onlyfans: the new phenomenon that explodes on social networks!
It’s not new, social networks are nowadays the rhythm of many people’s lives. If the first big social network, Facebook, arrived in 2008, everything has followed very quickly since. Instagram arrived in 2010, then Snapchat in 2011 and Pinterest in 2013. We regularly see new social networks come to life and for some time now, the one that has been making a lot of noise is called Onlyfans.
What is the principle of this new social network? How does it differ from its counterparts? Why does it seduce so many people in the world? We explain everything about this phenomenon that exploded with the confinement due to Covid-19: the number of users has jumped by 75%.
Onlyfans, the new social network that breaks the codes
Indeed, Onlyfans differs from Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat since it is a paying social network. If Onlyfans had more than 85 million users in December 2020, the social network was not unanimous when it was released in 2016 in the United Kingdom. Thousands of Internet users took offense at the concept.
Real Girls with chat camera
On the principle, Onlyfans is very similar to Instagram: it is a social network on which you can follow content creators who post mostly photos. The notable difference is the cost of viewing these contents: from 4.99 to 49.99 US dollars depending on the creators. The platform pockets a 20% commission on each transaction, the remaining 80% ends up in the content creators’ pockets.
So, one might ask: why would users pay to view photos? As surprising as it may seem, it is the celebrities who have used this concept to create an even stronger sense of exclusivity around their community.
Celebrities are using Onlyfans en masse to monetize some of their content
For singers, actors and other Instagram celebrities, Onlyfans is a godsend. In the end, what they did was pretty simple: they split their photos between Instagram and Onlyfans. Specifically, photos of nice moments and fashion are posted on Instagram. The photos that are a little naked or sexier in swimwear or lingerie are posted on Onlyfans. To access it, you have to subscribe and therefore: pay. And for the content creators, it works well. Thanks to Onlyfans, the actress Bella Thorne pocketed more than a million dollars in 24 hours (yes, you read that right). A totally unknown girl whose nickname is “Polska” posted her income generated with Onlyfans: she collected more than 10 thousand dollars in 45 days.
But as you can imagine, the temptation to commercialize photos that can be considered erotic unfortunately leads to certain abuses that are important to note. Today, Onlyfans is the social network where it is allowed to monetize sexual photos and videos.
The excesses of Onlyfans, the social network that exploded with the containment
Since the democratization of Onlyfans, some even go so far as to nickname this social network “the Instagram of porn”. And for good reason, if some content creators are artists filming their musical performances or personalities making tutorials, the vast majority of monetized content is erotic (or even pornographic) content. As a reminder, the subscription to a profile is paying and the amount is fixed by the content creator. But there is another way to make Onlyfans even more lucrative: monetize the sending of exclusive photos by messages.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, it is difficult for young people to find internships or student jobs. Many testimonies show that more and more students resort to this monetization of naked content to make ends meet. A large part of them hide their faces. If the platform takes precautions by verifying the identity documents of the users who wish to create an account on Onlyfans, the users affirm that they are easy to circumvent.
This social network thus reinforces the trivialization of pornography and (filmed) prostitution. Moreover, if Onlyfans is automatically associated with pornography, it is because the network has allowed performers in the pornographic industry to consider a new income model.
A social network taken by storm by workers in the porn industry
With the monetization of sexual content, the whole porn industry is concerned. Pornographic actresses such as the French Nikita Bellucci have used Onlyfans to distance themselves from the pornographic industry’s production studios in order to enjoy more independence.
For actors and actresses in the porn industry, it’s a new way to leverage their fame and monetize their business. They can choose what they want to do or not do. They can control the videos and photos they post and are paid directly by their community.
As you can see, the Onlyfans phenomenon has not finished being talked about. If the majority of users exploit this aspect of sexual content, the big celebrities such as Beyoncé or Cardi use the social network to get closer to their communities. They organize games, share exclusive moments and privileged content with their biggest fans. Today, the platform wants to detach itself from its image of “porn Instagram” by seeking to attract more “conventional” content creators and directs its communication to sports coaches or musicians. In case of force majeure, the social network still has the option to ban nudity.