Les plateformes OnlyFans et MYM génèrent des milliers d’euros pour les créateurs de contenus. (Illustration) Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH
Divided between eroticism and pornography, OnlyFans and MYM are used by hundreds of millions of people. From simple amateur photos to professional videos, you can find everything on these platforms. A real underground economy. Midi Libre investigated the world of adult platforms, considered the antechamber of prostitution.
It is not uncommon to find profiles on social networks promoting platforms dedicated to adult content. Students, employees… There is no typical profile of creators or subscribers. Selling photos or videos of one's body is becoming an increasingly common practice and represents a real source of income. First of all, you need to understand the concept of these platforms.
What are OnlyFans and MYM ?
"OnlyFans is the subscription platform for over 18s that allows creators to realize their full potential, monetize their content and develop authentic connections with their fans."
MYM, acronym for Me. You. More, was born three years later, in 2019. It is a French platform, launched by two Lyonnais. "MYM gives back the power to creators by allowing them to live from their passion and generate recurring income. On the user side, they access quality content that they really need, via paid subscriptions to learn, have fun and interact."
Some figures
In less than ten years, these new social networks have become essential on the web. The French platform MYM has nearly 3 million daily visits. As for OnlyFans, millions of Internet users have been on the subscription platform since its launch in 2016.
According to figures provided by OnlyFans, there are more than 3 million creator accounts and more than 220 million fan accounts in 2024. But behind this popularity that continues to grow, there is a very lucrative business, since more than $15 billion in earnings have gone to creators since 2016.
These two platforms host all types of creators: from athletes to musicians, including chefs and gamers. But it is adult content that generates a real online economy.
Hundreds and thousands of euros per month
Raphaël, an 18-year-old Parisian, launched himself on MYM and OnlyFans the week after he came of age. Employed on a permanent contract in sales for four months, he uses these platforms to finance a life project that really motivates him: music. “With my salary alone it's complicated, it requires a certain amount of financing, so I need a little more.”
On average, I make between 500 and 600 euros per month.
He anonymously posts erotic videos and photos of himself as well as pornographic content that he films with women. What brings him the most money is the orders from customers, for which he sets a price according to the demand.
“If I'm really into it, the most I've made is almost 2,000 euros in a month”, he confides, specifying that to generate this sum, he devoted between 30 minutes and 1 hour of his time per day. “Otherwise, on average, I make between 500 and 600 euros per month.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000To recruit his clients, Raphaël uses other platforms such as Reddit. Operating in the form of sections, this American discussion site is a fertile ground for pornographic content. “You post in the categories that match, while sharing your links to paid platforms and after a while you accumulate a kind of fan base. The content must be softer otherwise there is no interest in going to buy behind.”
Diverted from their initial function, many social networks such as X (ex-Twitter), Snapchat or Telegram are also used by MYM or OnlyFans content creators to get in touch with potential customers.
“There is money to be made”
But like any activity that generates money, it attracts the covetousness of many people, sometimes with bad intentions. Julie*, 25, lives in Montpellier and is a sex worker. The young woman is also present on the platforms and explains that there is a real commercial strategy behind what she considers a “business”.
“I take erotic photos, lingerie photos, it can be censored nude photos. You have to make men want it, so that you can then make them pay by sending them direct messages (called private media). I do the cheapest subscription, at around 6 euros per month, I also do a promo code for the first month. They enter their credit card and then, as for private media, they tend to click a little easily. You have to put one photo out of three that is free, accessible to everyone, and for the others you have to be a subscriber”, she emphasizes.
We don't realize it from an outside point of view, but there is a real business.
“There are guys who claim to be managers of girls on the platforms. There was one who had accosted me and at the time, he had sold me a bit of a dream. 'You know, there are girls who make 4,000 euros…' But in reality, they take 50%, you have a sort of contract and he has all the rights to your photos”, Julie continues. Although she admits that she does not give “all out” in the virtual world, the Montpellier resident affirms that the money generated is a significant resource.
“Today, I can make a little over 100 euros per month. In October, I earned 160, but when I worked with the 'manager', I earned up to 300, that was the maximum. In reality, it was a little over 600 euros, but with the 50% commission… I have friends who told me to get started, there is money to be made. This is not how I earn my living personally but it gives me a little extra. We don't realize it from the outside, but there is a real business. In the industry, you should know that there are many who started with the virtual, whether it's cams (live videos) or the MYM and OnlyFans platforms. They then moved on to the real world”, she says.
“It's the amateur side that I prefer”
While the porn industry seems to be undergoing an upheaval with the arrival of these platforms favored by new technologies and social networks, subscribers are looking for “curiosity” and a new style of porn, explains Grégory, a former subscriber to these platforms contacted by Midi Libre. “The content is often amateurish and that's the side I prefer compared to the big scenarios.”
The thirty-year-old says he had several subscriptions, for several months, but never at the same time. “I rarely paid a lot. There are often promo codes that creators put on their social networks for example. That's when I subscribed”, he adds.
But he also points the finger at this commercial strategy put in place. “There are sometimes photos or videos that are sent to you privately, at prices that are far too high. Sometimes 30 euros or even 100 euros for a single media.”
Despite these flaws, the search for proximity while maintaining a certain distance, the very essence of Onlyfans, MYM and the others, generates an economy that continues to grow and to gain momentum. To the detriment of the individual's privacy which is increasingly exposed.
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