OnlyFans exploded into mainstream culture back in 2020. During lockdown, it became one of the first platforms to bridge the gap between creator and consumer truly. It offered fans a more personal, direct connection with the people they followed online, but now Onlyfans is dying.
At the time, it felt revolutionary. Millions sat stuck indoors during the pandemic, bored, isolated, and craving connection. Governments handed out furlough payments, meaning many had extra disposable income and fewer places to spend it.
Suddenly, paying £15 a month to subscribe to the attractive girl from your local area or favourite coffee shop didn’t feel like a huge expense. OnlyFans thrived in that environment.
The platform gave creators a level of financial freedom that traditional social media never could at that time. Instead of relying on sponsorship or brand deals, creators could monetise themselves directly and keep most of the profits, even with OnlyFans taking a 20% cut from earnings.
But as lockdown ended and normal life resumed, the culture around the platform began to shift. The hype faded, but many creators had become dependent on the lifestyle and income the platform provided. Competition increased, audiences became oversaturated, and standing out online required increasingly extreme behaviour.
Thirst traps, public stunts, online feuds, viral controversies, and shock-value content became common tactics to stay relevant. At first, audiences bought into it. But now, many people seem to be growing tired of the constant cycle.
Fast forward to 2026 and the whole OnlyFans game has changed. What once felt personal and authentic now feels heavy and disingenuous.
A huge number of creators now use management agencies to run their pages. Personally, I believe that’s one of the biggest things damaging the platform long-term. Most agencies don’t care about the creator’s well-being, and they certainly don’t care about the subscriber experience. The focus is often purely on gaining as much money as possible from paying customers.
Then there are the “chatters” – outsourced workers hired to message subscribers while pretending to be the creator themselves. Subscribers believe they’re speaking directly to the person they follow, when in reality they’re often talking to someone trained to keep conversations going and maximise spending.
This has created a huge trust issue within the industry. Many are now hesitant because they no longer know what’s real and what’s scripted. You can buy pre-written sexting scripts on Etsy, which must be better, surely? Some effort is involved.
Ironically, AI has only added to the confusion. AI-generated models are becoming increasingly popular online, and surprisingly, some people feel more comfortable with that. Perhaps there’s no illusion – people understand exactly what they’re buying into. Which says a lot about where the internet is heading – we’re so desensitised.
For me personally, the part I still enjoy is the creativity and genuine connection – something we are losing day by day. I still run my own page, reply to each message and create my own content. I feel my quirky personality is what has carried me. Financially, that may not be the smartest business decision. I’m constantly told I’d make far more money if I handed my page over to a management team. Believe me, I have hundreds in my DMs promising me the world.
But maybe that’s the biggest question facing the industry now: if audiences can no longer tell what’s real online, does the fantasy eventually stop working altogether? Or is the OnlyFans era not ending – it’s just losing the authenticity that made it successful in the first place?
Hey, maybe I’m the silly one for not following the crowd and sitting in a mansion somewhere right now.
