‘You have to make them like the girl, like me . . . cause . . . I’m the girl’: Intermediated intimate labour in the Romanian adult webcamming industry

Abstract

Adult webcam performers cultivate financially rewarding digital interactions with clients. Like other creators they monetise ‘authentic’ relationships with their audience. This article examines the ways in which this livestreamed intimate labour is shared between admins and models in Romanian webcamming studios to maximise profits. It draws on 25 interviews with Romanian webcam performers, the ‘admins’ that assist them, and studio managers. Analysis of these interviews shows how webcam studios intermediate in intimate labour to maximise labour control. This sharing of intimate service work weaponises gendered narratives of skill and the invisibility of admins to control how performers present themselves and interact with clients. This analysis of intermediation in intimate service labour highlights the role of synchronic management control in purported individual service labour processes. It contributes to analyses of platform labour by showcasing how intermediation reinforces traditional control over workers and conceptualises the digital optimisation of intimate service interactions.