Social Support in Digital Patronage: OnlyFans Adult Content Creators as an Online Community

Abstract

OnlyFans is a digital patronage platform where independent creators provide exclusive content to their audiences for a monthly subscription fee. However, the platform affords creators limited resources to build their audiences, which is crucial to their success on the platform. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews with OnlyFans adult content creators, this study finds that creators must navigate the platform’s limitations through community building with fellow creators. Specifically, they engaged in computer-mediated communication with fellow creators to solicit, and provide, forms of social support. Our study thus sheds light on the social strategies that workers in the gig economy employ to overcome platform constraints.