Massive OnlyFans Leaks. What does this mean for Content Creators?
By Patrick @ Arousr
BuzzFeed reported on Feb 27 that Terabytes of Stolen Content have leaked and its access links are being actively shared on Social Media. Entrepreneurs are actively selling the link to the whole database for $5 and making a business out of it.
This is unfortunate for the thousands of Content Creators that rely on this income to pay their rent and grocery. Numerous threads can be seen on Social Media, started by models who see their content for free all over the place who try to reason customers by telling them this is stolen content, and they should not buy it out of respect for the creators.
Consider me pessimistic, but this will not work. Remember when Pornhub launched. Netflix. Spotify. Hardly anyone thinks twice today about the artists that were ruined by them. They just watch for free or subscribe.
This is just the continuation of the same trend.
The Internet has this effect of commoditizing anything that can be digitized. I have recently seen threads on Twitter from Content Creators complaining that ‘subs’ are becoming ‘cheaper’ and do not want to pay top dollar for nudes anymore. This gives the impression that the value of nude images and videos has dramatically decreased, not only because of Pornhub, Google Images and leaks but also as the result of competition, driving prices down.
The recent epidemic of… OnlyFans Discounts illustrates this quite well. Men are being bombarded with OF Discounts on Social Media. This makes the lives of thousands of Content Creators financially harder, as they have to compete with each other for money by promoting themselves, while still having to produce fresh content to keep their ‘subs’ active.
We tend to forget it but It’s in the very nature of the Internet. That’s why Streaming has replaced CDs and Netflix replaced DVDs. When bombarded with free stuff everywhere, people will naturally invest their money where they see an added value.
But is Sex all about consuming digital images? Of course not.
There’s one thing that cannot be copied and redistributed: Intimacy.
You can’t copy Intimacy between 2 persons and give it to someone else. It just does not work. For Intimacy to happen, both persons need to be open to the other. And show a healthy dose of vulnerability and empathy. You can’t copy/paste Intimacy or download it.
Content Creators often claim that they have a connection with their users. Yes, they can communicate and exchange messages on most platforms these days. However, you can hardly talk about a real connection when your conversations are 5–6 messages, once a month.
A model cannot pretend to know a ‘fan’ without asking him questions about himself. Show interest in him. Remember him. Connection. This is what all humans want at the core.
At Arousr, over 75% of the revenue comes from text conversations. Words. Much more than images or videos. While we are a modest player in the Adult Industry, we believe that we found a very particular niche, catering to the needs of people who want more than just being a ‘fan’ or a ‘sub’. They want to be known, intimately.
Interestingly, some of our chat hosts do not show nudity at all. They still get clients. How do they do it? They create a space between them and the member that allows intimacy.
Of course, we are also using images, but we think these should be more than a ‘selfie’ to have some value. That’s why we produce video tutorials explaining modeling and photography techniques to models. They can use these tips to improve their images on Arousr or anywhere else, even outside of the adult industry.
However, these images, no matter their quality will never replace Intimacy. They will help the Chat Host to create more connections and show their style and personality. Images will attract people to them. But what really matters happens after.
The Age of nude selfies is not coming to an end anytime soon. But they are now more a marketing tool than the product itself. Think about the Music Industry. Before streaming, Artists were earning money selling vinyl and CDs. Now they give their music (almost) for free as a marketing tool to sell Concert Tickets.
Because their customers want the experience.
