When *Lily posted an online video of her and a friend dancing in their university halls, she wasn’t expecting it to go viral.
Almost instantly, notifications on video sharing app TikTok came flooding in as the post gathered more than a million “likes”. And it just kept going.
She concedes the huge interest was “primarily because of my body”. But that wasn’t her intention.
“I just remember everyone on my floor [at halls] talking about it … and I wasn’t sure how I really felt about it.”
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Platforms like OnlyFans – a subscription-based service hosting mostly adult content – had loosely been on Lily’s radar. Colleagues at her former retail job often joked about her starting one.
She never took it seriously until she realised she was gaining an audience on TikTok, but could not monetise it.
Burnt out from working 40 hours a week while also studying full-time, the 19-year-old decided to take a gap year. She decided to start an OnlyFans account during a South Island holiday in January.
Her boyfriend offered to take photos of her posing in a bikini on the beach.
Within two weeks of setting up the account, she paid off her student loan. “It just went crazy.”
Not long after, Lily quit her retail job and was on a monthly five-figure salary.
“Now I just get to work for myself and it’s great,” she said.
Lily is one of more 2 million content creators on the platform, which boomed in popularity since the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Content creators and subscribers has boomed since the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic as many interactions were forced to go online. (File photo)
It is technically open to anyone – the website front page shows lifestyle videos, personal trainers, craft beer reviewers and wardrobe tips. But it’s best known for sharing explicit adult content, with creators charging their own subscription fees for exclusive content, generating income from tips and private messaging.
Official statistics are hard to come-by, but the top 0.01% are known to earn up to US$180,000 (NZ$295,000) a month, while the average user earns about USD$180 (NZ$295) a month.
Massey University media studies lecturer Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith, who researches representations of sex work, says while OnlyFans has the best brand recognition of various fan sites, it is unusual in the way it actively distances itself from adult or erotic content creators.
It therefore made it difficult to get established on the platform unless creators had a following elsewhere.
“This means that while a few people are able to make huge money on the site … for most people building that income is a lot slower.”
Lily attributes her success to a large following on TikTok and Instagram before she began working on OnlyFans.
But like any other form of gig-economy or platform economy work, like Uber or Airbnb, her income fluctuates from month to month.
CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
Liam Donnelly, managing editor of student magazine Canta, proposed a communal OnlyFans account for University of Canterbury students. First published February 27 2021.
Having control over her work hours and what she posts are upsides to the work, but “the feeling of being chronically online or always checking my laptop” is draining.
Before she got help through an all female-run agency, she was working 12 to 13 hours a day. Contacting other creators and becoming a part of a supportive community, helped her navigate the job and made her feel less lonely.
Lily either does her own shoots or has her partner as photographer. She is often asked about how her partner feels, but says it is “much more of a safe space for me”.
“It’s great to do it with someone who you feel comfortable around and who hypes you up and is supportive of you – he’s unbelievably supportive of my choice.”
Being on OnlyFans has taught her how to run a business and is “extremely empowering”.
But she is no stranger to misogynistic and derogatory comments – online and in person, and with persisting stigma around adult entertainment work, she is careful who she opens up to about her job.
She is also conscious of coercive behaviour on the platform, particularly by agencies who can raise a creator’s profile, but also take high cuts of earnings and can lead them into content they aren’t comfortable making.
Fun, interesting work – but also precarious
Easterbrook-Smith says the boom on OnlyFans, which went from 30 million global subscribers in May 2020 to 120 million in September 2021, from a content creator’s perspective is partly due to its appeal, mostly to women, who found themselves unemployed as a result of the pandemic or had to leave full-time work because of increased care-giving responsibilities.
It also attracts sex workers who usually worked face-to-face before lockdowns were introduced. Anecdotal reports indicate the isolation of lockdowns and quarantine drove an increase in audience.
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Lecturer Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith says there are pros and cons to working on OnlyFans, similar to any gig economy work, but it can be useful for people who might be discriminated against by in-person sex work venues.
A lesbian couple under the name, Blakebambiwild, began creating pornography on the platform during the pandemic after they were unable to perform at strip clubs.
They continue to be in the top 1% of earners on OnlyFans worldwide over the past two years and use platforms like Reddit and Pornhub to filter their audience.
“It gave people a way to survive when they didn’t have many options,” says Blake*, who also wrote her master’s thesis on the ways OnlyFans adult content creators disprove anti-porn feminist arguments.
The work is “super fun and creative” and can be done from anywhere. But the barriers that exist as a result of stigma and discrimination are the same as any other kind of sex work, Blake says.
It includes banking discrimination, where platforms such as AVN Stars shut down as a result, or creators having their income rejected by banks.
Sex workers and OnlyFans creators are also at constant risk of having their social media suspended if there is a link between their sex work persona and social media account, Easterbrook-Smith says.
It is something Blakebambiwild experiences “all the time”, despite sex work being legal in Aotearoa.
In 2021, OnlyFans suspended a plan to ban sexually explicit content after backlash from creators and sex workers advocates.
Easterbrook-Smith says it is indicative of how creators are not in full control of their work. “You rely on the platform and you have to follow the rules they set.”
Similarly to Lily, Blake enjoys the sense of autonomy OnlyFans gives her over her work. She has learnt business, editing and promotion skills through her work.
She believes it provides a safer option for women to work in adult entertainment.
“The platform is not the problem – although it could be. I could wake up in the morning and find it deleted because OnlyFans decides it doesn’t want sex work anymore.”
Lily had sleepless nights and wrote long pros and cons lists before deciding to start her account, but believes she’s made the right choice.
Having previously gone through treatment for an eating disorder, she feels proud of how far she has come in having a healthier relationship with her body.
Working online does make it difficult to not compare herself to others and stay content in her own skin.
“I’ve definitely gone through phases where I’ve felt uncomfortable about my body, I didn’t want to post content, but I’m the one who’s in control of that and I love the job.
“It’s taking ownership back over my own body after trying to fit into all these standards for such a long time.”
*Not their real names
