Selling Sexual Content on OnlyFans: A Focus on Self-Portrayal, Stigma & Attitudes

Abstract

In 2021, there was a decrease in street prostitution but an increase in digital prostitution. One example where digital prostitution is occurring is the social media platform OnlyFans. Selling sexual content on OnlyFans increased especially during the pandemic and lockdown. Prostitution is interrelated to several public health issues and sexual exploitation online has been found to be equally as harmful as sexual exploitation offline. The motivation for prostitution is hard to distinguish, theories suggest that self-objectification and self-portrayal is affected by individuals lived experiences and identity construction. Since OnlyFans became popular only recently, there is a lack of studies on OnlyFans. This study aimed to investigate how Swedish YouTubers portray themselves and experience stigma in relation to selling sexual content on OnlyFans, as well as viewers attitudes towards them and OnlyFans, as reflected in YouTube-comments. The method of analysis was qualitative content analysis. The recruitment strategy was purposive sampling since YouTube-videos were found and chosen with clearly specified search words and selection criterion. The findings showed that the participants portrayed themselves as unconcerned and confident when it comes to selling sexual content on OnlyFans, and viewers tend to be very supportive towards them, while some had a hard time respecting them. They do experience stigma but at the same time, they all explain how they love being photographed naked and sexually, which corresponds with theories about objectification among women. This study can be used in interventions aiming to increase knowledge about digital prostitution, but it would be beneficial to do the same study in a much larger scale.