The $2 per hour worker behind the OnlyFans boom

How is this not fraud, or at least false advertising? If I'm paying money to chat with a specific sex worker how is it even legal to let some random dude in a third world country pretend to be the person I'm supposed to be talking to? I've never personally engaged in these types of systems, but I don't think there's a problem with them as long as they are run honestly. It sounds like Onlyfans is exploiting workers and their own customers.

2$ an hour chatter and 20$ an hour 'model', both replaced by AI.

Now this is almost entirely automated anyway, there is a big adult ecosystem here in Cyprus and i talk to a lot of people. No manual work is used there anymore, "chatters" are a thing of the past.

Now they are well on the path to automate OnlyFans models themselves, there are plenty of hybrid sites where known live models are attracted with good terms to bring in the users, and then slowly switched for AI ones, and it WORKS.

Adult industry is so competitive and fast-evolving because there are few deep moats, it shows the way for everyone else, in fact.

We could free this poor soul from wage slavery by just banning pornography.

Let me complain about how I'm being exploited at my job while voluntarily choosing said job over literally every other job available to me.

2$ an hour chatter and 20$ an hour 'model', both replaced by AI.

Now this is almost entirely automated anyway, there is a big adult ecosystem here in Cyprus and i talk to a lot of people. No manual work is used there anymore, "chatters" are a thing of the past.

Adult industry is so competitive and fast-evolving because there are few deep moats, it shows the way for everyone else, in fact.

Does that mean that people do not recognize that some of the content is AI? Or do they simply accept it?

God that's depressing. Even when you _pay_ for human connection you're being fobbed off onto an AI

We could free this poor soul from wage slavery by just banning pornography.

Let me complain about how I'm being exploited at my job while voluntarily choosing said job over literally every other job available to me.

Does that mean that people do not recognize that some of the content is AI? Or do they simply accept it?

That's a good plan. We did that with drugs and it worked fabulously.

So your position here is that we should take away their job, leaving them to suffer in abject poverty, while simultaneously banning wealthy Westerners from looking at shocked gasp tits?

you couldn't because someone who sexts people for 2$ an hour is always going to engage in wage slavery, and if that is what offends you, you could just ban it directly.

We all know it's not the point though, you're just offended by porn, if she was cleaning floors for two bucks you wouldn't care. In fact her chatter job, on account of her doing it, is likely better than a lot of other work.

Now you have two problems: That poor soul has lost their meager income and you've criminalized countless people who will no doubt still be consuming porn but from illicit sources

Please do enumerate these other jobs that are available to the Filipino currently performing this job for... checks notes... $2/hour?

That's how exploitation works: The exploited don't have another choice. That doesn't make doing cruel things to them wrong and (hopefully) illegal.

For example, someone could compel people who are starving to do all sorts of horrible things for food, and then say 'well, they chose to do it!'.

That's a good plan. We did that with drugs and it worked fabulously.

you couldn't because someone who sexts people for 2$ an hour is always going to engage in wage slavery, and if that is what offends you, you could just ban it directly.

Please do enumerate these other jobs that are available to the Filipino currently performing this job for... checks notes... $2/hour?

That's how exploitation works: The exploited don't have another choice. That doesn't make doing cruel things to them wrong and (hopefully) illegal.

For example, someone could compel people who are starving to do all sorts of horrible things for food, and then say 'well, they chose to do it!'.

God that's depressing. Even when you _pay_ for human connection you're being fobbed off onto an AI

Bet you had some really deep human connection with that guy chatting to you from the Philippines.

To pay for a human connection, take someone out for a dinner, and foot the bill.

At OnlyFans you're paying for a video feed, and computers are pretty good at producing convincing video feeds now.

What do you mean by "human connection"?

It's going to kill the software industry as we know it!

We're literally killing our field by making the devices and internet so repulsive that people are actively unplugging. You can't hear about this online because the bot generated content is filling the gap and the people doing it aren't online to tell you about it.

Children are getting addicted to everything because the internet has killed any sense of self-stimulation and they are growing up into gamblers cards, sports, and prediction markets or rage-addicted media consumers.

There is plenty of free human connection to be had out there, it is free, and all you have to do is put down the phone or computer. It is getting extremely compelling as an alternative for increasing large groups of people.

The tech industry is energetically strangling its golden goose.

So your position here is that we should take away their job, leaving them to suffer in abject poverty, while simultaneously banning wealthy Westerners from looking at shocked gasp tits?

You can never tell for sure on the internet - but i would assume the person you were replying to was being sarcastic.

Now you have two problems: That poor soul has lost their meager income and you've criminalized countless people who will no doubt still be consuming porn but from illicit sources

That's what the private prisons are for!

Bet you had some really deep human connection with that guy chatting to you from the Philippines.

To pay for a human connection, take someone out for a dinner, and foot the bill.

At OnlyFans you're paying for a video feed, and computers are pretty good at producing convincing video feeds now.

What do you mean by "human connection"?

It's going to kill the software industry as we know it!

The tech industry is energetically strangling its golden goose.

You can never tell for sure on the internet - but i would assume the person you were replying to was being sarcastic.

That's what the private prisons are for!

'Icky and heartbreaking': The $2 per hour worker behind the OnlyFans boom

4 days ago

Chris VallanceSenior technology reporter

Getty Images A woman in silhouette sitting in front of a window looking at her phone Getty Images

A Philippines-based woman has described how "heartbreaking" it is to get less than $2 per hour pretending to be much better paid OnlyFans models in online chats.

The platform works by linking creators of explicit content to users, who pay a subscription to access their material and chat online.

However, while high-profile creators can earn large sums of money, the job of interacting with fans - and attempting to sell them images and videos - is often done by low-paid people, employed by third parties, such as the person the BBC spoke to.

A union representing such workers - known as "chatters" - told BBC News it was concerned about the "largely unregulated nature of this type of online work".

OnlyFans, which generated $7.2bn (£5.3bn) revenue in 2024, declined to comment but its terms of service state that its business relationship is solely with the content creator.

'It's really not pleasant'

The BBC is not naming the woman it spoke to in order to protect her identity.

Employed by an agency used by the model she was pretending to be, she says she first took up this type of work to support her family during a period of lower income, earning under $2 per hour and working an 8hr shift five days a week.

She would be set targets to earn the model hundreds of dollars worth of sales of pictures and videos during her shift.

The most popular creators on the platform claim to earn millions of dollars per month.

A more recent period of chatting work with a new agency offered improved conditions and pay, though still less than $4 an hour.

She said she knew the work would involve explicit content - but even so "sexting" was unpleasant.

"It's kind of icky when you think about it, because you'll have to do sexting a lot of times, like, several times in an hour because, you know, you'll be talking to several fans all at once".

She said the people she chatted to often seemed "really nice" but were obviously lonely, making the whole process feel sad, especially as she was not the person she was pretending to be.

That dishonesty troubled her, she said,

"Technically, I'm scamming them, because I'll be sending all those photos and videos to them, and I'm just after the sale," she said

Indeed the use of chatters has lead to legal cases against OnlyFans and the agencies who employ them, by users and law firms who feel the practice is deceptive. So far none have succeeded.

Some fans the chatter said would ask for "really weird, kinks or fetishes" which she could generally tolerate - but not always.

"There are days where I feel like, 'what the hell am I doing here?' because there are days that it would really take its toll on you".

Asked if she felt exploited, she described accepting an under two dollars an hour pay rate as "not her finest hour".

"It's really not pleasant, you know? You're going to question yourself. Your morality, even, and even your conscience," she told the BBC.

"It's really kind of heart-breaking, especially knowing that the agency is getting way more," she added.

The chatter also described concerns about potential legal risk in taking on the work, given relatively tough anti-pornography laws in the Philippines.

The BPO Industry Employees' Network or BIEN is an independent union representing workers in the outsourced business process jobs in the Philippines.

Mylene Cabalona, its president, told the BBC that "while the Philippines does have relatively strict laws regarding pornography, our main concern as a union is the largely unregulated nature of this type of online work".

This raised, she said, serious concerns about workers' exposure to "potentially egregious or harmful content, as well as a lack of clear guidelines on safety, accountability, and worker protection".

But there were also advantages to outsourced digital jobs, including chatting, which could, Cabalona said, allow workers to earn income from home, while supporting clients or platforms abroad.

"These jobs can also offer higher potential income compared to some local entry-level jobs and provide opportunities to develop skills in digital work," she noted.

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The $2 per hour worker behind the OnlyFans boom

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'Icky and heartbreaking': The $2 per hour worker behind the OnlyFans boom

'It's really not pleasant'