Sign of the Times

Author

Bubba
16 Sep

OnlyFans, the content subscription platform used primarily by sex workers, is making an absolute killing. (Fortune)

The numbers: In 2023, OnlyFans generated a record-breaking $6.6 billion in gross site volume, a 19% increase from the previous year’s $5.5 billion.

  • The number of creators on the platform grew by 29%, reaching 4.1 million accounts.

  • The platform saw a 28% increase in user accounts, totaling 305 million users.

  • The average annual payout per creator was approximately $1,300 (OnlyFans takes 20% off the top), though the most successful creators earn significantly more.

An interesting nugget: The combined 2023-24 season payroll for the NBA was $4.9 billion, or $1.7 billion less than OnlyFans’ total revenue.

The vibes: Studies and polls show Americans have been getting less puritanical about sex and pornography for decades.

The politics: According to polls, Republicans have grown more conservative on social issues, while Democrats have veered hard in the opposite direction.

Counternarrative: Over the past year or so, the current GOP’s top figures have seemed reluctant to carry the mantle of social conservatism.

  • Donald Trump and other Republicans have angered some pro-lifers by dialing back their support for banning abortion in the Post-Roe era.

  • Trump has also disavowed Project 2025, which in its foreword explicitly calls for banning pornography and imprisoning the “people who produce and distribute it.”

  • “Slutwalk Festival” organizer Amber Rose spoke at the RNC this year, illustrating the writer Constance Grady’s not totally unfair claim that the GOP has become “the party of raunch.”

Bubba’s Two Cents

So let’s lay out the state of things: mainstream society is trending more libertine, Republicans aren’t getting any less socially conservative. At the moment, the GOP isn’t too focused on fighting back against social conservative issues, and has arguably caved on several such issues over the past year. One reason for that might be that billionaire reformed playboy Trump is a suboptimal avatar for social conservatism. The other reason is that the GOP under Trump has higher priorities in an election year, chiefly immigration and economic issues.