Comment on What's up with lemmit.online?
Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week agoI’ve honestly been considering that line of work myself for the last couple of years because I’m reaching the point of last resorts. So I’ve spent the last couple of years lurking in the spaces where creators discuss the business so that I can learn from them. And also because I like to enlighten myself with what people from completely different walks of life are doing and saying.
And maybe that’s why I’m currently looking at them as human beings that are trying to make a living and not objects that everyone is entitled to for free.
I think a lot of people think that these creators are raking in thousands of dollars a day because of one or two success stories in the media years ago when OnlyFans was new. But these guys work fucking hard and often go through months where they’re battling to put food on the table. So personally, I think it’s pretty fucking shitty that a bot is taking all of their promo work and posting it here where people will never even look at their links.
And yeah, no one has disagreed here directly to me but I’ve seen what people are saying in other places.
hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 1 week ago
Agreed. I mean I don't think the general public is even concerned with that. For 99% of people, NSFW is visiting a porn streaming site, and they get whatever they're interested in. And for free. That's the expectation.
I think the BBC did a good documentary on NSFW creators a few years back. I can't remember the name. But what they depicted wasn't success stories. It was one gay couple who were very successful, with a very nice fanbase... But all the other people they showed didn't get rich or anything especially after the 20% cut and taxes. Seemed like really hard work, sometimes with severe downsides (sometimes not). And some of them struggled and the text card at the end said they quit after filming of the documentary. I might misremember the details. But at least that depiction of OnlyFans seemed more honest to me.
I've also seen a bit of what happens on Reddit. But all I've seen is using that platform to advertise for a paid account on a different platform. Seems to me it's often one or two pictures and an onlyfans link somewhere. So I'd say it's more advertising material than proper content on Reddit. At least if it's the creators themselves. Other people just steal arbitrary content and repost that somewhere. The majority doesn't seem to care for copyright too much. At least that's what I've seen on the more popular subs. But as I said, I've just had a glimpse at it, I might be wrong.
Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
Yeah they’re basically on any platform that will accommodate them. When they’re not filming anything, the bulk of their work is marketing. Their advertising material on Reddit (and other places) is what leads to money in their bank accounts. Their advertising material on Reddit being taken and posted here leads to no money in their bank accounts.
I think that apart from people just generally not caring how they get the content they want, people also just have zero respect for these workers. They don’t see them as fellow human beings trying to live. Or as deserving of credit as other types of content creators such as artists, musicians and talentless jackasses that complain about the woke agenda on YouTube. They’re just something to bust a nut to for these people but not real.
I’m not sure that I can really blame people’s attitudes towards it though. We’ve all been kinda trained by endless scrolling porn sites to expect it all to be easy and free. And I can’t say that I wouldn’t have also been dismissing this as not a big deal if I hadn’t taken the time to get to know what these people are all about on a different level. I probably would’ve still been under the assumption that they’re raking in endless cash and living easy.
So yeah. It’s probably futile trying to change people’s attitudes towards it. And it’s probably a problem that will never go away and is just part of the game.
hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 1 week ago
I'm not sure whether it's futile. I mean societal change happens. And it's a big step forwards that we have these platforms where independant creators get 80% revenue of a monthly subscription. A few years ago, stuff was just pirated, even on the big regular sites. Plus there wasn't a good way to do it directly. You had to get into the porn industry and get paid for some DVD production. And as far as I understand, the porn industry is super problematic. So I'd say we're making progress. But educating people... Idk, it's always hard. Maybe futile, yeah. This isn't my fight. I've tried lecturing people on other things and I found it's almost impossible to change the world. At least on a bigger scale. And if you're involved yourself, progress always feels painfully slow. I don't know what to make of this. I still refuse to resign with some topic.
Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
Even if it’s futile, I probably still won’t be able to keep my mouth shut about it lol. I do enough keeping my mouth shut in the real world, in a country where you have to assume that everyone you meet has conservative views until proven otherwise. So I’m not going to do that to myself online as well. It just feels wrong to me to not at least try when there’s an injustice going on because the easiest way for nothing to change is for no one to even try and change things.
And you’re right, things are at least better for amateur workers now than they were before. So that is progress. Although from what I’ve gathered, OnlyFans isn’t completely immune to dodgy shit either. I’ve come across a couple of stories involving practically human trafficking situations where women are forced into this by pimps and other pieces of shit. So you never really know what’s going on behind the scenes when the camera switches off and the put on smile goes away.
Which is why it’s also just more ethical to get this content from the content creators themselves rather than random 3rd party websites that lift content from elsewhere. At least if you’re getting it from the source, you can have some sense of whether it passes the vibe check or not.
Also, just want to add because I just thought of it. Places that set up bots that lift amateur content from around the web aren’t checking for vibes or doing their homework. So they’re the kinds of places that would be peddling pictures of abuse or trafficking victims, or even underage people, without even knowing it. Or caring.
The whole thing just gives me the creeps. I’m fine with people stealing from Brazzers or whatever because those workers have already been paid and you’re stealing from the suits that get rich from them. But amateur stuff just has too many variables and ethical concerns for me to be comfortable with people treating it the same way as Brazzers.