By Jennifer Ryan 

As a music student, I’m self-aware enough to know that getting a job in my field is hard, if not impossible. So, recently thinking about my future, I did what most “hot” people on the internet do, and decided I would consider starting Onlyfans. 

I came up with a porn name, researched the site, and studied the lives and behaviours of the models on the platform. In doing so, I stumbled upon a magazine article written in January, detailing the life of a popular creator on the platform. In the article, the adorably handsome man details his image as a “boy-next-door” type, his love of DMing his followers online, and his crippling loneliness. How sad. How available. How handsome. How strategic.  

In trying to get a gauge for how communication with my subscribers would go, I decided to pose my experiment. I would DM this creator, see how he responds, and then use the information gathered to dictate how I would communicate with my subscribers. A field test. 

So, I did exactly that. And what do you know? I got a response. Immediately. And not only a response, but a thoughtful, detailed, not AI generated (I checked) conversation. And on top of that, he followed me. The same way someone you meet in a new class would, or a new friend from the bar. As well as this, his responses doubled mine in length and depth. Every time. How personable. How caring. How warm. 

Remaining suspicious, I went to bed. When I awoke the next morning, I responded to his latest message, and then… nothing. The line goes dead. He doesn’t unfollow me, or unlike my posts, he just goes cold.  

Now, I won’t say who this man is, but if you go to my Instagram followers, you’ll find him. There aren’t a lot of blue checkmarks in there.  

I’m not going to lie, I was a little annoyed, but mostly, I was impressed! What an incredible strategy! Build the character of a lonely, available, charming man, and then leave the audience wanting more!  

Now, I’m a smart woman, I recognized this as a marketing strategy. A scheme that makes him money. But I couldn’t help but feel bad for every person who genuinely seeks human connection and companionship from him. What would it be like to engage with this perfect candidate, feel like you’re wanted, and then realise you’re a mark! Or worse yet, start subscribing to the attention!  

All I could think was “are we fucked?”. 

As a woman in University, I know how hard it is to meet people. I know it’s not like it was in the 90s. No one goes out to make friends anymore. Hell, no one makes friends anymore. When speaking with the older women in my life, they all told me about how before the internet, socialising was easier in-person. That meeting new people was a regular occurrence, and a welcome one! So, what happened? 

All we’re told all our lives, is that love is magical, and friends are crucial. But if no one leaves their house to socialise, we’re driven to the internet. But then if our interactions on the internet are monitored and monetized, where do we go? Listen, I’m not a hater of Onlyfans, I really respect it for what it can do for people. I just feel like society’s reassurance that social interaction is important, doesn’t match its capitalisation on relationships. 

 
If we live in a world where human connection is praised as an important aspect of life, has the internet’s capitalisation on relationships ruined the entire concept of connection, and therefore our lives?  

Or is porn just porn?  

You tell me, but I personally don’t like where we’re headed.