Sam began posting on Twitter as a way to feel more confident in his body.
It’s Monday afternoon and Wade is getting ready to leave work.
He has planned to meet up with a few guys on his journey home who he hopes to film with for his OnlyFans page.
Wade, who is a self-proclaimed “sexual and horny guy", likes to make the most of being clean and prepared, meeting up and having sex with as many guys as he can.
“I’ll probably hook-up with a few guys tonight, before I head home.”
He films around 20% of his "hook-ups", which he will later post on to his page.
Wade is a part of a growing number of people who are turning to sites like OnlyFans to share their own explicit content, showing off their body and sex lives to their hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of fans.
OnlyFans, which has seen rapid growth since the start of the pandemic, allows creators to monetise their own content, with fans paying to subscribe to their page.
Since August 2019, the number of users has risen from 7 million to 220 million, including 2 million content creators.
The success of the site has upended the porn industry, with the previously formidable porn studios, who used to control the market and the stars, no longer having the same stranglehold they once did.
Many OnlyFans creators are also using Twitter to promote their exclusive content, by sharing free photos and teaser videos.
“Twitter is the place to go if you want to build your OnlyFans,” Philip, who goes by @toyboyphilip online said. “It’s incredibly difficult to get subscribers by using other social media sites.”
On average, 1-2% of Twitter followers subscribe to a creators OnlyFans page, meaning top-level stars can bring in tens of thousands of dollars every month.
However, for some, they aren’t posting online for the money, but instead for the liberation and self-confidence it brings them.
Sam, who goes by @fitzroyotter on Twitter, does not have an OnlyFans, instead he chooses to post onto his page for his followers for free.
“I’m lucky in a sense that I don’t need the money,” Sam said. “I started posting because I wanted validation… which I wasn’t able to get during Melbourne’s lockdowns.”
He was no longer able to go out to a club or a bar, and get the affirmation he craved, so posting nude photos of himself online became the next best option.
Since joining in 2020, Sam has received an overwhelming amount of support, with his fans commenting on his posts as well as privately messaging him to let him know how much they are enjoying his content.
Having the ability to receive messages of encouragement and appreciation from their fans has given creators greater levels of self-assurance, and has meant they are able to create content that has been requested for them by their fans.
Some creators even allow their fans to pay for specific personalised content, ranging from saying their name in a video, to fulfilling a fantasy or fetish they have on camera.
For Philip, this resulted in him being asked to film himself while in public.
“I posted a video where I was jerking off on a train, and it became my most popular video ever,” Phillip said.
“It got over 700,000 impressions, and really boosted my profile.”
The success of the video led Phillip to post more content on trains, leading to him getting more followers.
“Twitter and OnlyFans have so many creators with so much of the content being the same," he said. "Fans are now starting to ask for different content, which is usually riskier, and if you want to keep them happy and them subscribed, you do it.”
While Philip's popularity was soaring from his train videos, he was unaware that his content was also getting the attention of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who were searching for creators who had filmed, and uploaded, explicit content in public.
In April, Philip went on a month-long trip overseas, and on his return, was apprehended by the AFP at Sydney Airport. He was charged and, according to Phillip, labelled as an “International Pornstar Fugitive”.
“When I returned, I was arrested, charged, and had my phone confiscated off me,” Philip said. “They even strip searched me which wasn’t necessary for them to do.”
Philip was charged with 13 counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, with each count carrying a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison.
“I got a really great lawyer who specialises in criminal law, who is confident he will be able to get me off of the charges.”
“They haven’t been able to prove I harassed or caused offence to anyone whilst on the train.”
Philip intentionally filmed during off-peak times, either in the middle of the day or late at night, ensuring there was no other person in the carriage with him.
“You can’t harass or offend someone if there’s no one there.”
Another creator, who has asked to remain anonymous, also had charges brought against him for similar offences, but managed to escape them soon after they were filed.
“We’ve been pretty lucky in the sense we’re some of the first few people who have been charged for this offence in Australia, which has meant there have been a lot of administrative and procedural errors, giving us a chance to get off,” Philip said.
“I’m sure the next people they charge won’t be as lucky.”
Since joining OnlyFans earlier this year, Philip has earned more than $40,000, which was going to go towards starting up his own horticulture business. But the cost of defending himself has meant all his previous earnings have now been spent on legal fees.
“I’m back to square one. I was saving for my business, but this has drained my account. I’m going to have to start all over again.”
The cost of Philip's legal battle, and the potential jail time, hasn’t deterred him from pursuing a career on OnlyFans though.
He still hopes to start his horticulture business and has a goal of consistently earning $10,000 a month to help with the cost of starting it up, which he wouldn’t be making if he joined a studio.
“I’ve been asked to film with a studio but it’s not worth it in the end, and a lot of creators I speak to feel the same.”
Philip has 13 charges against him after filming himself on a train for his followers online.
Connor Peters has over 538 thousand Twitter followers and now does OnlyFans full time.
He started out on cam sites before being contacted by a porn studio in Melbourne.
Tristan worked for US porn studio, Helix Studios, but left because of how the performers were treated.
Unsurprisingly, with more and more creators turning to OnlyFans, the power and control the porn studios have over the industry is dwindling.
For over a decade, the gay porn industry has been controlled by studios such as Helix, CockyBoys, Sean Cody and Bel Ami. Their stars, Joey Mills, Angel Rivera, Kevin Warhol and Johnny Rapid, were the biggest names in the industry.
Nowadays, the biggest names in the gay porn world are Twitter and OnlyFans creators, and this has made the studios incredible nervous.
Austin Wolf, Eli Chalamet, Reno Gold, and Australia’s own, Connor Peters, have all turned their backs on the studio life, instead focusing on building their career through Twitter and OnlyFans.
Connor, who lives in Melbourne, has amassed more than 630,000 followers on his Twitter page, as well as thousands of paying subscribers to his OnlyFans account.
He started out on cam sites, filming himself live for viewers to see before being contacted by a local Melbourne studio named Bentley Race who were keen for him to film with them.
“After joining Bentley Race, I heard about OnlyFans, so I decided to create a page and it kind of blew up from there.”
While Connor gained his initial followers through his work with Bentley Race, he soon realised the benefits that came from working solo far outweighed what came from working with a studio.
“Being able to have autonomy over what I post, what I wear and who I film with, is what I love about OnlyFans and Twitter,” Connor said. “I get to control every detail of my work, which isn’t possible when working with a studio.”
Connor, who now works full-time as an OnlyFans creator, has been approached by some of the major studios in the US and Europe to film with them, with his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers enticing the under-threat porn industry.
“It would be fun to film with some of the big-name stars that work for the big studios in the States or Europe, but not exclusively," he said. "It's just not financially, or creatively, worth it."
Philip, who began posting onto Twitter earlier this year, believes the studios are going to have to change their approach if they want to remain relevant as people no longer rely on them to kick start their career.
“I've been contacted by Bentley Race to film, but they were only offering me $600 for the scene,” Philip said. “At my height on OnlyFans, I was making $2000 a week, so it's not worth it."
Connor, who has been on OnlyFans for three years, also says that the money he is earning as a top content creator makes it hard to leave and work with a studio.
“I’m making more than the average family does on my own.”
“The money that is offered by these studios for one scene doesn’t compare to what I can make from posting a video on my site.”
On average, gay porn studios pay their models $1000 per scene, with some bigger name stars receiving more. However, because of the amount of work that goes into producing a scene, it is rare for a model to film more than four or five times a month.
The studios also don’t give their performers distribution rights, meaning they can only share clips that have already been edited and approved by the studio.
“We do all the work, and we don’t get a copy of it,” Connor said. “We aren’t able to use our own work to try and bring subscribers to our OnlyFans, so we’re losing out.”
Former Helix Studios model Tristan Adler said he had to pay for his own flights and sometimes accommodation when shooting a scene, which severely reduced his earnings from the shoot.
“Not only did I have to pay for my flights, and other costs during the trip, I struggled to hold down a steady job,” he said. “Employers don’t really like you having to take time off every month to go and film scenes.”
Since joining OnlyFans, Tristan no longer has to juggle a part-time job with his sex work because he is earning far more than what he was while at Helix Studios.
“Not only am I making thousands of dollars more a month, I get to film from the comfort of my home, with guys I find attractive, as well as getting to do what I feel comfortable doing.”
“I'm now in complete control.”
This freedom is why so many creators are turning to OnlyFans.
However, while they may no longer be controlled by studios, they are now controlled by the sites they use.
Like working with a studio, users of Twitter and OnlyFans must sign contracts when signing up, with the sites being able to block, suspend or permanently ban those who break their terms of use.
If a creator's Twitter or OnlyFans is restricted, their ability to make an income is severely impacted, which Philip found out.
In April, his Twitter account was banned after it was deemed to have broken Twitter's terms of use.
He decided to make another account, but every time he did, his account was suspended.
“I kept getting blocked because they said I was trying to evade my suspension,” Philip said. “After they blocked me, I couldn’t send them any new appeals because they said they wouldn’t be monitoring them.”
Following his suspension, Philip's OnlyFans began to struggle.
His subscribers, which had been steadily rising, plateaued, as did his income.
Looking for alternative ways to promote his page and get his OnlyFans back on track, Philip turned to Reddit, a social media site that focuses more on discussion than sharing content.
While Philip managed to earn over $2000 in his first two weeks on Twitter, he said it was far harder to build a strong fan base on Reddit because of how the site works.
“Twitter’s retweets blow you up and Reddit doesn’t have that, so it’s really hard to reach people who aren’t following or searching for you,” Philip said. “ (Twitter) is the only way you can substantially grow your OnlyFans and your income, so if you aren’t able to use it, it’s almost not even worth trying.”
Like Twitter, OnlyFans has a stranglehold over the adult content market, and creators who use other sites are struggling to earn as much as their OnlyFans counterparts.
Matthew, who goes by @melbourneboy00 online, decided to leave OnlyFans in August of last year, instead opting to use Fansly.
He left after OnlyFans announced they would be banning sexually explicit content at the request of their “banking and payout providers”.
The site eventually backflipped on the ban just days later, after creators threatened to move to competitive platforms.
However, for Matthew, the original decision to ban sexual content to appease their partners, was something he couldn’t forgive.
“They were happy to throw us under the bus because their investors said so, and I wasn’t prepared to stay around and make them any more money,” Matthew said. “They completely sold us out.”
Since leaving, he has realised how difficult it is to compete against OnlyFans.
In his first month since leaving for Fansly, Matthew made just over $200 compared to the $2000 he made in the first month after joining OnlyFans.
“I do lookback and wonder if I’d do it all again or if it would have been easier to stay on OnlyFans.”
“They have so much power, so it’s not easy using a different site.” Matthew said. “I wanted to work for myself so I could have complete control, but in reality, OnlyFans has the control.”
OnlyFans has also received backlash in the past year for its censoring and suspension of accounts that feature kink or extreme fetish content.
After reversing their 'porn ban', OnlyFan’s decided to limit what type of sexual activity was allowed on its site.
Content which depicts BDSM – Bondage and Discipline, Sadism and Masochism - is no longer allowed under its new rules, with some creators accusing the company of 'kink-shaming'.
“I don’t use OnlyFans because I know my content isn't be allowed,” James, who goes by @toyboy.jpeg on Twitter said.
He posts photos and videos which focus on his kinks and fetishes, specifically chastity and submission, choosing to upload for free on Twitter instead of the paid subscription sites.
“I have thought about it but I don’t think I’d be able to use OnlyFans. I’d have to use one of the smaller competitors, which wouldn’t be as financially beneficial to me.”
Philip had his Twitter account banned because of explicit images used in his profile and header images. The image below was deemed to have broken their rules of engagement, with their system flagging it as nudity.
Matthew decided to leave OnlyFans last year when the company announced a ban on explicit content, before reversing their decision after public outcry.
Wade and his boyfriend Nick chose to not show their face online because of their full-time jobs. They both also use fake names to help hide their identity.
Romeo has been using OnlyFans for two years and has earned over $3.5 million.
Although James, Matthew and Philip have all experienced some issues from their use of Twitter or OnlyFans, they, like many other creators, have found the overall experience to be extremely rewarding.
For people like Wade, who goes by @hungaussietwink on Twitter, posting online has provided him with a great deal of financial freedom, as well as a boost in confidence.
Since joining OnlyFans in 2020, he and his partner Nick have earned over $75,000, helping them pay off their mortgage.
“I didn’t join because of the money,” Wade said. “I joined because of the confidence boost it would hopefully give me."
“I’m very sex positive, and a very sexual guy and I get off on people watching me, so seeing how many people like my videos and photos, it’s been great for my self-confidence.”
Wade and his partner Nick have around 150 paying subscribers, which brings in over over $3500 a month.
However, when they are more active online, they see an uptick in subscriptions and an increase in revenue.
The couple intends to travel to Europe next year for six to 12 months and hopes to live entirely off of their OnlyFans income.
“We plan on being really active while over there,” Wade said. “There are a lot of creators we want to meet up and film with, which will bring in some more subscribers and hopefully, more money.”
Another creator, Romeo, who goes by @romeo_twink online, has earned over $3.5 million since joining OnlyFans. He began posting in October, 2020 and is currently in the top 0.03% of earners on the site. He created his account drunkenly when he was 18, hoping to have some fun and hopefully earn some money.
He now works full-time on OnlyFans, also posting photos and videos onto his Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter accounts, where he has combined 2.2 million followers.
For some other creators, posting online has allowed them to express themselves completely.
James said he began posting to Twitter because he wanted to be completely himself and to feel validated in his sexual interests.
He had just got out of a long-term relationship when he started posting and said the break-up, as well as Covid lockdowns, made him go searching for ways to feel better about himself.
“Twitter is the place I go where I can be someone else,” James said.
“I work in a traditionally masculine and fairly dominant industry, so Twitter is my place to unwind and express all the things I can’t while I’m at work.”
The sense of community Twitter and OnlyFans provide is another reason why these sites continue to attract more creators.
During a trip to the US, Wade and his partner met up with other OnlyFans and Twitter creators, many of whom they had only spoken with online.
“They took us to their favourite spots and introduced us to their friends. We weren’t just meeting to have sex; we were meeting them as mates.”
Wade doesn't only reach out to creators when travelling abroad, he also does it when travelling interstate.
He will post onto his Twitter, asking those living where he is travelling to to “hit him up” if they want to meet, with fans and other creators messaging him.
“It’s pretty great,” Wade said. “I get a bunch of messages, and I choose who I want to meet up with.”
James also believes the sense of community Twitter provides has been one of the most positive takeaways from posting onto the site.
“I’ve found people who have similar kinks and fetishes as me, and it’s made me feel so much more accepted,” he said. “Seeing the amount of people online who are also into chastity, submission and other BDSM kinks has been really empowering.”
“I feel as though I’ve found my people and I can finally be myself.”
*The names of some of the people in the article have been changed in order for them to remain anonymous.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
