Table of Contents
The social media world is in constant flux and with consumers wanting more exclusivity and community, subscription-based platforms are growing. Monetization has been the main pull for influencers and celebrities to search for other mediums to have their content viewed. Subscription-based models bring about exclusivity and instant monetization which is both a culturally and financially sound decision from an influencer or celebrity standpoint. In this article, we will be exploring one of the most popular subscription social media platforms: OnlyFans. We will explore how it works, how it differentiates itself from the competition, and how and what users are leveraging the platform.
What Is OnlyFans?
As subscription-based social media platforms are growing, platforms like OnlyFans have seen massive growth. The popular, controversial, and sometimes promiscuous social media platform has seen recent celebrity usage, influencer leveraging, and much more. But what is it? OnlyFans is a subscription site that allows content creators to monetize their influence immediately rather than based on engagement metrics. Allowing creators to keep their content behind a subscription barrier, OnlyFans has created monthly subscriptions to see content from specific creators.
Pay Structure
OnlyFans allows creators to charge a monthly subscription fee, between $4.99-$49.99, to users seeking their content. OnlyFans also allows for free accounts that have a pay-per-view style of content creation if they so choose. OnlyFans takes a 20% fee of whatever the content creator charges which makes their site a potentially very profitable endeavor for content creators.
Reputation
As the site has grown in popularity, it has been recognized as a rather notorious platform. Specifically, because of its privacy subscription model, content creators can post anything they want including pornography, X-rated videos, and uncensored pictures. With this freedom to post comes with a reputation that OnlyFans is a porn-based site which is not true. While there is that content on the site, there are a host of celebrities and influencers that use the platform for more traditional materials such as unreleased music, fitness instruction, cooking tutorials, and much more. While OnlyFans will continue to fight against this stigma, we want to focus on the influencers who are using the site for traditional methods of content creation.
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What Makes It Different?
While OnlyFans is not the only subscription-based software, it does provide some services that other companies, such as Patreon, do not. Specifically, the flat cost structure of OnlyFans is an anomaly in social media platform subscription services. Patreon has a tiered system of subscriptions. What this means is that there is some content that can be accessed with the minimum fee set by a content creator, but not all of the content is available for viewing. There are obviously more tiers to unlock as a user pays more in monthly subscriptions.
There are a few more notable differences in these sites as well. Namely, Patreon is a more “PG Rates” platform where it is dominated by gamers, YouTube personalities, and influencers. While OnlyFans has been combating its notorious reputation, the site is still relatively well known for more adult content. Additionally, Patreon is optimized for photo posting rather than video formats. This is a big difference between Patreon and OnlyFans considering that OnlyFans has a high percentage of video content rather than still images.
One of the most important differences in the platforms comes from the commission on content (Influencers, this is for you!). While OnlyFans charges a whopping 20% fee, Patreon has 3 types of fee structures for content creators to choose from. The first is the Basic Model which charges 5% plus a 2.9% processing fee. The second is the Pro Model which charges 8% plus a 2.9% processing fee. The third option is the Premium Model which charges 12% plus a 2.9% processing fee. The difference in these models is how much freedom is given to the content creator to create exclusive offers, tiers for subscriptions, and other monetary options.
One of the last differences we will cover is the subscription bound model of Patreon. While OnlyFans offers various options for bonus money through pay-per-view content, private messaging content, and contract work, Patreon only offers the subscription-based model. Patreon’s messaging system also only allows for the exchange of text unlikely OnlyFans where video and photo content can be exchanged over private messaging on the site.
Monetization
Onlyfans sets the minimum and maximum subscription rates as a result of the most recent monetization abuse from some celebrities including Bella Thorne. The range of subscription prices is from 4.99-49.99 and content creators can create tips, private message deals, and exclusive content deals.
Most of the content creators who are most financially successful tend to use subscription-based models with the supplemental options offered on the platform. One influencer, Monica Huldt, makes nearly $100,000 a year from various private transactions on the site while maintaining a relatively low subscription fee of $6.50 a month. What is interesting about OnlyFans is that the model for monetization puts the financial gain in the hands of the content creator rather than a dependency on engagement metrics, video length, and other variables that are more frequently used on platforms such as YouTube.
Notable Creators
Next, we are going to take a look at some of the content creators that dominate OnlyFans and what kind of content they specialize in.
1. Vanessa Sierra
After her famous appearance on the hit reality TV show “Love Island”, Vanessa launched an adult film career. She has gained incredible popularity and considers herself the Top .01% of content creators.
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2. Gina Stewart
Gina Stuart has been dubbed the “World’s Hottest Grandmother” and at 50 years old it’s easy to see why. After she was demonetized on Instagram for her content, she came to OnlyFans to do lingerie modeling and swimsuit shoots.
3. Zombaebby
Zombaebby is a professional gamer and content creator. She is streaming on twitch and other social media sites showing off her gamer skills. She also creates NSFW content for her OnlyFans but it has both gaming content and adult content.
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4. Zzyuri
- @zzyuridayo
Zzyuri is one of a handful of Korean models that you will find on the OnlyFans Platform. She is a Glamour Model and posts NSFW content. She is best known for her classy, tasteful content that is posted on Instagram and OnlyFans.
It is no surprise that OnlyFans is growing at a rapid pace. With users wanting more exclusivity and community, subscription-based content models are becoming the future of social media interaction. Even on places like YouTube, influencers are showing previews of their content that can be accessed in full on services such as OnlyFans and Patreon.
