A subscription service for some, a porn site for others, what is it? It is hard to go onto social media without seeing an account advertising their OnlyFans account either in their bio or in comments on someone else’s post. Not only do content creators advertise their own accounts, but you may also see popular meme accounts promoting them as well.
OnlyFans was founded in 2016 in London by the Stokely brothers. The website has a sleek look with a blue and white theme, with millions of content creators. The company also recently released an app which does not allow for any nudity, therefore promoting more of its other content. Although most people surveyed believed OnlyFans exclusively offers sexually explicit images and videos, content creators also post cooking videos, inspirational speeches, and more. Some popular artists even use the app to promote new music videos. According to an article on Complex by Joshua Espinoza, OnlyFans offers users the option to subscribe to various creators from $4.99 to $49.99 per month.
Famous content creators
There have been many controversies recently with whether or not certain individuals should be able to create content when they already have such a large following on other platforms. For example, Joshua Espinoza wrote that Bella Thorne posted sexual content and earned about $2 million in the first two weeks, whereas one of the top content creators only makes about $100,000/year.Only Fans was created as a safe place for working people to produce content, so is it ethical for famous people to have accounts? When famous people join and start posting, it can draw attention away from the individuals who make a living off the app.
Potential dangers
Although an identification process is required while signing up, there is the potential for underage users to use fake IDs or a friend’s ID. According to the site Internet Matters, a 17 year-old girl joined when she was 16 and managed to stay on the site for seven months by using different profiles. She was also able to create an account by using a friend’s ID, even though they did not look alike. Therefore, there have been issues with underage individuals accessing and posting explicit content. OnlyFans addressed these issues with policy changes; they now require people who want to create content to submit a picture holding their ID next to their face.
Additionally, it is dangerous for the content producers because users could take pictures of their content and post it onto other platforms. If this were to occur, they could lose out on money, and it would be a violation of privacy. Although not necessarily a matter of a single user, Theodor Porutiu wrote for VPN Overview that there was a case of 1.4 terabytes of content being leaked to the public in March 2020.
Cheating?
A survey conducted within the NCC community asked individuals if they considered having an OnlyFans account in a relationship to be cheating. The responses were split almost evenly, as 54% of students surveyed said it is not cheating, while 46% said it is.
Some might believe this question is synonymous with asking whether or not watching porn while in a relationship is cheating. However, understanding that this platform offers more than just pornographic content shows how it is not that simple.
