Some Women Are Turning To OnlyFans—A Soft-Pornish Social Media Site—To Make Money During The Pandemic

You already know about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. You may not be aware of another fast-growing, controversial social media platform—OnlyFans.

OnlyFans allows people to sell racy, explicit photos and videos of themselves. “Fans” subscribe and offer payment to their preferred content creators. Business for the company and some of its models has exploded during the pandemic.

It's not just porn. The platform hosts celebrities, musicians, physical fitness experts, chefs and any content makers that can build a paying audience.   

The New York Times wrote about an OnlyFans creator, Savannah Benavidez. She “stopped working at her job as a medical biller in June to take care of her 2-year-old son after his day care shut down. Needing a way to pay her bills, she created an account on OnlyFans [and] 

started posting photos of herself nude or in lingerie.” Benavidez, 23, earned $64,000, which was a windfall for her. She said, “It’s more money than I have ever made in any job. I have more money than I know what to do with.”

Recently, an Arizona special-needs teacher, Courtney Tillia, made headlines for setting up shop on OnlyFans. She’s now earning a “six-figure income on OnlyFans.” Tillia said, “I make four times the annual income I would make as a teacher. I’ve been making even more money during the pandemic because people are just stuck home wanting to enjoy my content.”

Women and mothers bore the brunt of job losses during the pandemic. Desperately needing money, some have turned to OnlyFans. Angela Jones, an associate professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Farmingdale, said about the content creators, “These are people who are worried about eating, they’re worried about keeping the lights on, they’re worried about not being evicted.”

While Benavidez was successful, many aren’t. A lot of creators “end up with little more than a few hundred dollars and worries that the photos will hinder their ability to get a job in the future.”

Some people say the experience has been empowering. Melany Hall started an OnlyFans account in December. She told the New York Times, “I’m a mom of three kids. I never thought anyone would pay to see me naked. It’s been a confidence boost.”