Why OnlyFans has become even more popular thanks to coronavirus

In many ways, porn has become a fundamental part of the quarantine experiences of many people. A prime example of this being PornHub which offered free premium membership to its users, first in Italy, then in the UK and eventually throughout the entire world. Following this, the site underwent an increase of 24.4% traffic since March 3rd. Another channel for adult content that has become increasingly popular is OnlyFans — which is a social media service where the creators run a paid monthly subscription for exclusive content. It could be described as paying to follow someone’s Instagram, just with X-Rated content.

Recently an Onlyfans spokesperson said that the platform has received 1.85 million new registrations worldwide both by content creators and consumers since February 29th as well as a 75% increase in users between March 6 & 17. Many of the platform’s content creators aren’t only professional pornstars, but amateurs, models, people with jobs who have either been laid off or use the channel as a second source of income. One of them, for example, is fitness model Igor Kolomiyets, who has 248k followers on Instagram and was already popular for Jeremy Kost's erotic shots as well as for his appearances in magazines like Fucking Young! and in a Diesel campaign shot by Terry Richardson.

A content creator who chooses only to be identified as Ricky told us of his experience with the platform:

“I work in a movie cinema part time and go to school online. My source of income stopped and I noticed I had a pretty substantial amount of followers on twitter who often ask about my workout routine,  so I thought why not give it a try. I was a bit reluctant at first, but it came to a point where it was one of my only options and it didn’t seem so bad. I officially started my only fans page around 3 weeks ago, I mainly post videos of me working out naked and I’ve earned like almost double the amount I would have earned on a monthly basis at my regular job.” 

Australia based fitness coach and athlete Jem Wolfie is another prime example of a jack of several trades, she has an Onlyfans page where she produces seductive and sexualised content and since the virus, she’s witnessed a major increase in subscriptions. 

“I’ve seen a huge increase in subscriptions, they’ve tripled in 3 weeks which is amazing. The CEO of onlyfans has recently confirmed that I’ve been the number 1 creator on the platform since I made the account nearly 2 years ago. I am never concerned about being in competitions with any other users. What others do never affects my income. I just mind my own business and keep working,” Wolfie explained. 

However, one can’t help but wonder if the current quarantine has affected the creation of content in any way. Martina Vismara, a content creator based in Italy, which has been quarantined for over a month says she’s not had great difficulties, 

“Of course It depends on the type of content you create, but being that my photos usually have a home-like self created vibe, I’ve not encountered great challenges. I have my own style in creating my content and my fans love it. I always create content in the same way with the same care, which is one of the reasons why my photos are very popular online.” 

The Onlyfans phenomenon isn’t yet as popular in Italy as it is in the US or the UK but it also calls to question, is this approach ushering the new era of porn? With access to this type of channels, can we all be “porn stars” in our own manner? Especially seeing that the stigma of porn is being slowly shed, and the great demand for amateur porn is being met on this basis - Pornhub reported amateur to be their top searched category in 2019. In the wake of things like the recent Telegram scandal, can a solution to problems like revenge porn be policing the use of our personal x-rated content and ensuring that you’re accurately compensated for each one?  Onlyfans content creator ‘Lis’ is a 24-year-old up-and-coming model in the fashion industry, and revenge porn seems to be the last of her worries: 

“I really just do this to pay the bills , I’m an attractive girl and I’ve had older guys offer to pay me for nude pics. So a year ago I started the page and it pays well so I keep it. I’m not worried about friends or family finding out because I’m not ashamed, I have a dream i'm working towards and this and thats all I keep in mind. If I’m gonna make someone feel good with a nude picture of myself then might as well make them pay for it. My biggest concern would probably be that the fashion industry won’t take me as seriously but that’s another story.“

Of course, an approach like this might not eliminate the provocative, vengeful intentions of aggressors, but it could possibly enable one to take control of the situation, and furthermore normalise the idea of nude images which could eventually help to disarm those with bad intentions.