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

"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."

"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 [incomplete in source]."

"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."

OnlyFans, a platform generating $7.2 billion in 2024 revenue, connects explicit content creators with paying subscribers. While top creators earn millions monthly, the actual fan interaction work is often outsourced to low-paid third-party workers called "chatters." A Philippines-based woman described earning under $2 per hour while impersonating popular models, working eight-hour shifts five days weekly with sales targets. A subsequent position offered slightly better conditions at under $4 hourly. Workers engage in repeated sexting with multiple fans simultaneously, finding the work unpleasant despite understanding its explicit nature. A union representing these workers expressed concern about the largely unregulated nature of this employment, while OnlyFans maintains its business relationship is solely with content creators, declining further comment.

Read at www.bbc.com