In the world of websites, apps, and entertainment there is one relatively new newcomer and that is OnlyFans. If you don’t know yet OnlyFans is a new website and app that allows you to purchase subscription-based packages for men and women. Usually known as a more adult site, many mainstream celebrities are now posting their content on OnlyFans.
What is Onlyfans?
As the site really started to pick up steam, A-list celebrities began joining the site to sell their content. In 2023, Forbes began to question whether OnlyFans helped or damaged the careers of these stars. Monica Koyama, a professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, told the outlet, “It’s just another way to reach a new demo of fans and cash in, so it feels like a win-win for these celebrities.
Time will tell whether OnlyFans can shake its brand reputation. If ‘Playboy’ is the model, it moved from a racy magazine to a lifestyle brand – and became a coveted cover opportunity for celebrities.” While sites like Fanscout.com predict that the industry is only set to grow in the coming years, it is difficult to project it based on how future legislative and internet trends will take hold.
Why do celebrities seem to migrate over?
It would seem that many celebrities like Bella Thorne are ok with being freer with what they do. Thorne said that OnlyFans is the only place that allows her to have total control over her content. That sentiment has been echoed throughout the industry by many other celebrities. It would appear that this is the main reason for the mass move. While there are OnlyFans accounts that are basically just pornography, many of the celebrity accounts are just racy and maybe a little more risque than you would usually find on their free platforms.
Bella Thorne was a pioneer in the field, and her efforts have made others feel more comfortable about moving as well. After the success of her OnlyFans accounts, she created a social media management company, called Content X. The success of her OnlyFans page has shown other celebrities the possibilities that the success of OnlyFans can produce.
A different connection with followers
Other celebrities like the access to followers. Some of the OnlyFans subscriptions come with the ability to chat with the person you’re subscribing to, even video chat with some. While some of the account holders on OnlyFans do this as a purely “adult” call or video chat, many celebrities are just connecting with their fans. Yes, they charge people but it still allows a possible connection that otherwise wouldn’t be available.
OnlyFans isn’t only for porn. A great example of other content would be Whitney Cummings. She has created a career for herself based on comedy, so it was no surprise when she shared on Instagram her plans to move: “Jokes I can’t tell on other platforms will now be on my @onlyfans.”
The idea was to utilize this platform to share all the naughty jokes that wouldn’t fit anywhere else. She made it clear that even though she had a sense of humor about all of it, she did not feel confident enough to actually put her nudes up there and charge people for them. “Instead of dirty photos, you’re gonna see dirty jokes,” she said.
Whether these celebrities are moving to connect better with their fans, express themselves more freely, or just to make more money OnlyFans is providing a platform that is unique and successful. You can now find A list celebrities there before it was just adult content. OnlyFans is hoping to make the move from adult content provider to lifestyle brand and their work with Hollywood is helping to make that happen.