Mapping the Creator Community
A look into the methodology behind State of the Creator and other SWR projects.
For all the news articles, political diatribes and shitty memes, the makeup of the adult creator community is still a bit of mystery.
We first launched State of the Creator survey in 2022 in an attempt to map this emerging community of creators. The COVID lockdowns and explosions of fan sites had brought millions of new people into the industry, but no one really knew who they were. Back then, a few things drove us:
Reliable data for creators. Most creator platforms are privately held. Few release any meaningful data as to the size and make-up of its community. Creators had little idea where they fit and were reliant on vibes to make decisions about what to sell and where to sell it. A community of millions that sprung up seemingly overnight, yet no one could tell us who they were, where they were, or how they earned money or how much they earned. That’s no way to run a business, let alone an industry.
Data for Advocacy. As positive stories about OnlyFans success started to surface, antiporn groups went into overdrive. Having spent years portraying sex work as a trafficking and exploitation, they struggled with stories about independent creators building businesses and buying houses. They found their solution in dubious stats, such as one oft-repeated claim that the average creator makes just $145 per month.1 Church groups and anti-sex work feminists used that stat and others to argue that online platforms were exploitative and needed to be shut down. If we were going to fight back, we needed data.
Media Misinformation. When the media wasn’t parroting lines from antiporn groups, it was sensationalizing sex work with lurid stories about creators making millions from selling everything from bathwater to farts in jars. For the everyday creator, this set unattainable expectations and fueled piracy and online harassment.2 These caricatures made the community more vulnerable.
Inaccurate data was leading to bad business decisions and worse policy. In 2022, to set the record straight, we launched the first wide-ranging community survey: the State of the Creator. In the years since, we’ve expanded and refined it. It remains a work-in-progress, but one of which we’re increasingly proud. Here’s a bit about how we do run it.
Over the years, SWR has assembled a survey slate of nearly a thousand adult creators. We use a qualifying survey to verify creator status, then use that list, in conjunction with other creator-only networks (e.g., Discord servers, group chats, creator organizations and community groups) to reach as many creators as possible. We use DMs to reach even more creators, particularly those in communities that are likely to be underrepresented in a general survey.3
Most importantly, the State of the Creator survey is anonymous. We need accurate, honest responses, so we never require anyone to identify themselves. The survey links are generalized, meaning responses can’t be tied to a particular creator. If creators want to sign-up to receive survey results, they’re taken to a separate form and program unconnected with the State of the Creator.
The survey does have its weaknesses. Since the survey is in English, it doesn’t generally include non-English speakers, and the United States is disproportionately represented in the data. While the UK and Western Europe make a decent showing, Eastern Europe and Latin America — significant hubs for cam and other online work — are much less represented. We’re working to address these in future surveys. In the meantime, we do our best to contextualize the data when presenting it.
We also know that newer and younger creators are harder to reach. They’re not always attached to existing networks or networks to which we are likely to have access. Older, and more established creators may be more likely to take a survey. Creators on the margins are less likely to be represented,4 as are creators aren’t personally engaged online,5 or those who don’t have time to take a survey. Whenever we can, we incorporate these concerns into our analysis while pushing for statistically significant samples of smaller, harder-to-reach communities and sectors.
State of the Creator is strongest among the most visible and active creator community, but we’ve made significant inroads and are constantly working to generate statistically relevant samples for even smaller communities. If you’d like to be involved, let us know.
Mapping a new and evolving community takes time, but we believe State of the Creator has established a baseline. More than 550 adult creators took the survey last year, a record high. While we may not have everything yet, each year we identify more of who might be missing and search for places to find it. We appreciate everyone who has contributed to the project thus far, and look forward to engaging with more of you as we grow.
The number was eventually traced back to a 2020 analysis of OnlyFans in which a start-up founder scraped publicly available data, made a bunch of highly problematic estimates and proclaimed the platform a “fake unicorn.” Among the issues in the analysis? He assumed “free” made no income, didn’t account for tips or PPV and excluded high-earning accounts from his analysis as unrepresentative.
Similar numbers have surfaced in years since, using the similarly bad math: the total OnlyFans payout is divided by the number of creators who’ve signed up for an OnlyFans account. Only a small fraction of those accounts are likely active in any real way. Unfortunately, OnlyFans, which is actively seeking buyers, is disincentivize from publishing this data.
There has long-been hostility against sex workers, especially in right-wing male spaces. Media stories of wealth and success provoked a backlash against “e-thots,” who were seen as parasites draining men of their money and respect.
We don’t share the survey publicly on social media. While theoretically, a creator could share the link with a non-creator, we’ve found the risk to be minimal in the real world. To guard against this, we limit responses on any given survey link in case it were to be distributed. But in reality, it’s hard enough even to get creators to take the survey. Few people want to spend ten minutes taking a survey that doesn’t relate to them.
In the most recent survey, creators of color made up approximately 19% of the dataset, 9% trans creators and and M4M creators just 4%. As its difficult to know what a truly representative percentage of the industry would be, we for now focus on finding enough creators to make analysis of their experiences and concerns measurable vis-a-vis the overall population.
For example, creators who outsource social media to management companies or chatters may be harder to reach.
Is there a way to participate in the next survey?