Online Sex Work and Subscription-Based Digital Platforms: A Scoping Review.

Abstract

The rise of adult content creation platforms is triggering a deep revision of the social acceptability of new habits and the relations between the human body and marketing practices. However, academic research on this phenomenon is still scarce. This scoping review aimed to summarize and discuss the studies about content creators sharing adult content on subscription-based digital platforms. Based on the protocol established a priori, we selected 17 studies. Of these, we reported the field of academic research, the definition used for the content creators, the topic of interest, the results and the suggestions for future research. The current literature is mainly qualitative and focuses on the experiences of the creators of OnlyFans. While most authors used the label of content creator when referring to them, participants mainly defined themselves as sex workers. Some of the recurrent themes in the interviews were those that characterize traditional sex workers.