During the 2020 global pandemic, people worked from home and the economy of the country saw a negative shift. Although many jobs could function virtually, sex workers had less work because of the lack of human interaction they could have while trying to stay safe. Their typical income of $1000 a night turned to zero when strip clubs and hotels shut down and the use of cash was restricted everywhere. Porn sites were changing, it was becoming difficult to create more content in a safe environment and people were consuming it at larger quantities per day. Amidst the increase in numbers- plus the need for sex workers to make money- emerged the well-known site Onlyfans. The only site that worked as a social media platform that didn’t ban users for inappropriate content like Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok.

In 2016, Onlyfans started by opening a platform for people to produce content and share them with their subscribers for a monthly fee. The founder of Onlyfans, Timothy Stokely, originally started the site after he previously created a sexual practice and fetish site GlamWorship.com in 2011.  Little did he know that four years later Onlyfans would develop into one of the world’s biggest platforms for sex workers and pornographic content. Onlyfans became a site where anyone could sell their nude photographs and videos leveling the playing field between your average person and celebrities, although social media influencers are the new celebrities in this era. Even the most unknown creator could make thousands in earnings with only one post. With 80 percent of earnings being paid to the creators in just seven days, OnlyFans surpassed any other porn site on the web with nearly 24 million users.  

Subject A, an OnlyFans creator in the top 3.5% of OnlyFans creators with approximately 300 subscribers making an average of $3,500 monthly, started their account to pay for college. “The site does not limit me or anything unless it deals with violence and any other illegal acts. As a content creator, you can upload anything you want on there. It doesn’t have to be nudity, but that is what most people go for,” Subject A says. As easy as it is creating an account OnlyFans making around $12,000 in three months, it is to no surprise the increase in the number of people that have joined the site since the pandemic started. 

The number of people alone in their homes also has a lot to do with the rise in numbers. According to Psychology Today, “Porn searches are up, in part, because many people are at home with more time on their hands than usual. However, they may also be up because some people are using sex as a coping mechanism for dealing with their fear of disease and death.” Because of the increasing number of porn searches, the amount of Onlyfans account creations increased by 42% during the 2020 global pandemic since it was at the reach of anyone with a computer and gave the creators the ability to make content from the comfort of their homes.

As easy as it is to create an OnlyFans account, it isn’t as easy to maintain it. It has its own creative process in place to have a successful account with numerous viewers. “What subscribers don’t see behind the scenes is the amount of time and effort we put into creating content. We have to plan ahead to have content in bulk to post frequently. I usually try to post every single day. Also, we have to edit our content, which also takes time out of our day. OnlyFans takes into consideration how active and consistent you are and how many subscribers you earn per day, and that is how we get rated by percentages.” subject A explains.

As the world continues to stabilize during the harsh conditions of the pandemic, Onlyfans is thriving economically, opening doors to an entirely alternative world of nudity and pornography. Anyone with access to a computer and a camera has the ability to make thousands in a year. Possibly more than one would make at a nine-to-five job. The demand for porn will never stop rising, and Onlyfans is meeting its expectations; Even through a global pandemic.