NSFW: Onlyfans’ tricky business
In an increasingly digital world, the platform has given online creators a new way to make money
When creator and influencer Abby Zeus launched her Onlyfans account, all she had was her Samsung Galaxy S7 to take the NSFW (not safe for work) photographs her followers pay to see. Now she makes about R32 000 a week through the site.
Onlyfans, the social media platform that helps creators to connect to their subscribers, has exploded over the past year. According to Google trends, since March there has been a steady increase in the number of people looking up Onlyfans, which peaked in August. In April, Onlyfans reported a 75% increase in month-to-month sign-ups.
The coverage of the platform’s burgeoning popularity includes stories of how creators like Zeus have managed to rake in large sums of money. But behind the scenes, Onlyfans creators are navigating the rapidly changing space of online work.
For Zeus, Covid-19 — and the accompanying growth of Onlyfans — has left her feeling that she has to compete with a larger pool of creators. When Zeus began her Onlyfans, there were only a handful of well-known creators.
“Now there are professional sex workers on Onlyfans … So now you have to step up your game,” Zeus says. “It gets tiring because now you have to tap into this version of yourself. Sometimes you want to be basic old you, but you have to keep up.”
Smaller creators losing out
Earlier this year, Disney star Bella Thorne garnered controversy after breaking the Onlyfans record for the most money made on the platform in a single day, raking in $1-million. Sex workers expressed dismay at the news, saying the move could signal the end for smaller creators.
Zeus considers herself to be an adult influencer, rather than a sex worker, but Onlyfans has become known for as a space for monetising NSFW content.
Mistress Violet, who began doing online sex work two years ago, says Covid-19 took a toll on her income. “So many people have become unemployed or have had their salaries cut or aren’t being paid,” she says. “So it’s really affected them, which means it has really affected us.”
For others, like Mistress Cyanide, the pandemic has had the opposite effect. “Quarantine helped me grow my clientele,” she tells the Mail & Guardian. “People often just want companionship or someone to care for them. I fulfil that need, and do so gladly.” Another big creator, Tivona Rain, says her Onlyfans began picking up because of the lockdown. Her income derived from real-time sessions of foot worship and light femdom was cut off, so she could commit more time to her online work.
Growing influence
Onlyfans can demand a relatively steady stream of content to generate a following. But Onlyfans creators rely on mainstream social media platforms, like Instagram and Twitter, for marketing — a dynamic that can be difficult to navigate.
Kat* says: “Marketing is everything! With sex work, you’re limited by where and what you can post and marketing is entirely social-media based.” NSFW content creators miss out on ad revenue and some platforms, like Instagram, censor creators with Onlyfans accounts.
“On Instagram, we have to be careful and creative with our hashtags and captions … The company has the squeaky clean front of existing for influencers, but is very, very much kept going by its NSFW creators.”
Kat says the perception that online sex work is easy money is flawed. “Online sex work is about getting established as a content creator. You face the same challenges as any other streamer or Youtuber. And it takes time. You won’t be making money quickly unless you go viral.”
Safe space?
But going viral can have its drawbacks: Onlyfans creators are vulnerable to the trolling that plagues most influencers. Zeus, for example, has had her nudes sent to her parents and members of her church.
For many of the adult content creators who spoke to the M&G, Onlyfans has provided space to do their work safely. Sex work is criminalised in South Africa and street- and brothelbased sex workers regularly face violence by their clients and the police.
“I work online because it’s a safe space and because I’m an exhibitionist,” Mistress Cyanide said. “Being online fulfils two needs for me: it ensures my safety because no one can touch, beat or rape me, and I enjoy being watched.”
Rain echoed this sentiment, but added that she does get the occasional troll discrediting her work. “Because apparently sex work isn’t real work. I wish they knew the hard work that goes into being an online sex worker.”
* Not her real name