[user104658]

The thing is though there’s this massive misconception that OF is guaranteed big bucks if you’re willing to perform when it’s just not true, and that promise of cash that never materialised is what lures a lot of young women into it.

The actual facts broken down are that A VERY SMALL NUMBER of high-profile individuals can make crazy money from it, a chunk of others make what you’d consider a decent full time income from it and can live comfortably on it. The vast majority do not make big money from OF. Those who were already sex workers often consider it “supplemental income” and they’re still engaging in traditional sex work, and in fact use it to find more in-person clients. And a not insignificant number who went onto OF thinking they’d make big money from selling photos and videos find that they aren’t making that money - but have a message inbox full of bigger money offers for sex in person. Inevitably some are tempted into what can obviously be a very risky situation, especially for a 20 year old who has no real idea what they’re getting into.

And then of course there’s the majority. Who make next to no money from it, don’t get tempted into taking it further, and (as I said above) end up having made no more than a few hundred pounds from it but having to live with the anxiety of knowing that some random people on the internet have their nudes and can do whatever they want with them, because they naively thought they could make a fortune at 18 “like other girls did”.

It’s also been used BY pimps and traffickers to target girls - exactly those ones - the ones who came to the party thinking they were going to be loaded, ended up making very little, but are clearly “enthusiastic”. Prime targets for someone offering them a meet up, or offering them bigger cash to be in traditional porn.