Is X trying to compete with OnlyFans?

Last October, X began experimenting with various tiers of paid subscriptions. Then, seven months later,  X (formerly known as Twitter) changed its policy around adult content to be far more permissive, allowing users to more freely share explicit imagery. And earlier this month, Elon Musk announced that the platform would be hiding likes, removing a tool with which users could see others’ engagement.

Individually, the three changes are comparatively small. But together, they raise an interesting question: Is X trying to compete with OnlyFans?

Adult content has for years featured heavily on X: A 2022 internal report seen by Reuters found that it constituted about 13% of posts on the platform. And according to Carolina Are, a content moderation researcher at Northumbria University’s Center for Digital Citizens, there was talk of X considering turning its subscription service to enable those creating adult content to monetize their work as far back as late 2022. “This had been floated around as an idea as well when Twitter Blue became a thing,” she says, referencing the premium tier that was introduced after Musk took control of the company. (Twitter Blue has since been renamed X Premium.) 

The series of incremental changes to X appear to suggest a more directed effort to welcome in adult content creators, says Are. And the changes come at a time when platforms like TikTok and Instagram have been accused of enforcing draconian policies around those who choose to post lewd, nude, or otherwise explicit content.

In the past, X has been accused of shadowbanning users by blocking their usernames from appearing in the platform’s search bar. Adult industry website XBiz reported in late 2023 that some users were encountering shadowbans simply for the “potential” inclusion of sexual content on their profiles. “I’d welcome any relaxation of the adult rules here on X because adult businesses—not just porn performers but sex bloggers, sex toy companies, erotic writers and many more—are really struggling to survive,” says pseudonymous blogger Girl on the Net, who posts on X to her nearly 23,000 followers. “But I’ve not seen much movement yet that would make me want to take any business risk in investing more time on a platform that still deliberately tries to hide my content.”

However, a more adult-friendly X could also present a Catch-22 of sorts for adult-themed content creators, many of whom have used X for years as a shop window to promote their subscription services on OnlyFans. During his tenure as X’s owner, Musk has proven to be especially hostile to other platforms: In December 2022, he began blocking links to competing services like Mastodon, and banning users who sought to direct their followers to rival apps. (Last year Musk reportedly tasked his staff with delaying access to links to content that would take users off the platform.)

Are, for her part, wonders whether explicit teasers for outside platforms or websites would be limited if X leaps fully into the adult game. “The platform will then be more restrictive on the things that you post outside of the paywall,” she says.

Still, there are plenty of barriers standing in X’s way of truly competing with OnlyFans. “They will need special adult-friendly payment processors, costly age verification software, and ways to ensure the content is compliant with Visa and MasterCard’s increasingly draconian rules for adult sites,” says Jessica Van Meir, cofounder of the sex-positive content platform MintStars.

X declined to answer Fast Company’s request for comment but earlier this month X said it was in the process of simplifying its rules and guidelines around content moderation.

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