Life-lessons from OnlyFans
As we’ve noted before, the sex industry is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to the future of, well, everything. The incredible(ly) interesting rise of OnlyFans, an online platform that allows users to maintain subscriber lists and sell premium content to fans is a contemporary case in point.
OnlyFans is not a sex site per se, but it does allow, unlike many of its popular competitors, users to post and sell adult content, a concession which has been take up with enthusiasm by amateur and professional sex workers and their fans. OnlyFans has been particularly attractive to sex workers because it enabled them to work around the online porn industry monopoly controlled by the PornHub dynasty; a monopoly that has driven industry wages and profits perilously close to zero as free porn has flourished.
As interesting as that is, the lessons for wider society are more interesting still...
Firstly, from a social trends perspective, it is worth noting who is taking up the OnlyFans “work from home” opportunity.
It seem like everyone is turning tricks, and with top earners on the platform pulling in millions of dollars within months, it’s not hard to understand why. Celebrities such as Cardi B and Bella Thorn have OnlyFans accounts to keep the fickle public interested. Lifestyle Instagram influencers have OnlyFans accounts to supplement their incomes as COVID-19 cut into brand budgets and travel deals. Girls-next-door have OnlyFans accounts and are out earning their conservative parents. But what Is most interesting is how the new generation porn stars are being received by the public – shame free. OnlyFans stars use their own names and are not embarrassed of their career choice; indicating a massive social value shift towards normalising sex work as just another job.
There is no taboo (when it comes sex; money however is now definitely not a polite conversation topic).
Secondly, from a business trends perspective, it's worth exploring how personalisation is key to profitability on the platform.
As this video describes OnlyFans fans are happy to pay for premium porn, when they could get similar content for free on PornHub because of the personal service they receive. OnlyFans stars personally message the content to their fans, and often tailor their creative to fan requests and preferences too. This highlights how, in the digital, platform economy, where profit margins in most industries are being driven into the ground by tech aggregators, hyperpersonalisation and fragmentation of services, tailored to a target market of one, can put profit back into the profit margin.
Personalisation is worth paying for.
The extended version of this article first appeared on FluxTrends.com here.
Group Strategy Director
4 年and the music distribution industry lol
Managing Partner at The Foundation. Author of The Human Experience. Trustee of Young Enterprise. Part-time Writer, Professional Commuter.
4 年Love this! The direct-to-consumer model is fascinating, as well as the low barriers to entry. You can see both of these applying to so many other industries in the future, circumnavigating the platforms we've become so used to in the past few years. An app to store your favourite Uber drivers? One on one education and tutoring sessions from some of the world's best brains? How about storytelling and gig going with some brilliant writers and musicians who would otherwise be swallowed up by the industry (or hidden behind a YouTube algorithm)?. Also spot on, as always, with the lack of shame, too, seen more as a sensible money-making decision.