Huge success for live webcam sex during confinement

Since containment has locked the whole world at home, digital sex sites like the platform have been a huge success. This practice, which links sex and social contact, is very popular and brings a lot of money to the people who sell their services.

No longer able to practice their profession because of the confinement, some sex workers have found alternatives, and it works very well! It is a question of these women continuing to offer their services, but virtually. For others, who are not in the profession at the base, it is also a very good way to earn a living. This is the case of Cheryl, who is a nail prosthetist and who stopped to start in this profession. She spends many hours a day there and earns "between 20,000 and 30,000 euros a month". 

It's a very popular platform in these times of containment. It allows users to send naked photos or videos to their subscribers. For monthly subscriptions, the user chooses an "artist" and has access to his entire photo folder. For videos featuring sex, there is an additional charge. Cheryl, a 24-year-old Belgian woman, explains that she created a profile on the platform a year ago and that this allows her to earn a living easily. "I got to know the application through an acquaintance. I thought 'why not'. I already had a lot of followers on Instagram, so the day I shared my account on the social networks, I had 40 fans at once. All these people were paying to see me naked," explains the young woman, who makes new videos every day for her subscribers. Cheryl explains that in times of confinement, she has even more success and demands. "For example, I have four webcam sessions from Skype tonight in my diary," she tells.

Hard work

Before the coronavirus crisis, Cheryl had 800 subscribers. Today, she has 1400: "I make videos and answer fan messages from morning until well after midnight. Since all my subscribers pay to see me, I think it's important that I respond to what they send me," says Cheryl, who says she makes a lot of money from her work. She has an acquaintance who "bought two houses through her online sex work. "I have nothing to complain about, since I earn 20,000 to 30,000 euros a month this way," Cheryl says, saying that the job takes up a lot of her time, especially since she has a daughter to take care of, while her fans expect more and more of her. "I easily spend ten hours a day maintaining my account, but despite the long working days, I still feel like I'm not up to it," Cheryl says.

Cheryl explains that men are becoming more and more demanding and that she sometimes finds it hard to manage everything. "People sometimes really think I'm a robot. Sometimes a man gets angry when he has to wait a bit for the Skype session.

Isla, who is also a fan of the platform, earns between 4000 and 5000 euros per month thanks to her profile. Some of her subscribers even routinely pay her very large sums into her bank account. "I am sometimes shocked, but I am of course very grateful to them. There are even men who know that I am a mother and give me some money to put into my daughter's savings account," Isla adds.

Sex workers are doing it too

For sex workers, confinement has come to put a brake on their profession. This is why some prostitutes have also started to engage in virtual sex. Amelia , who had about eight clients a day when she worked in a bar, says she received "eight requests at the same time around 11am to schedule a WhatsApp video call". "It's really incredible," she says. But Amelia admits that she preferred her job in real life, when the sex act was largely a social thing. "I'm tired of being here in front of my camera for hours on end, and I'm even more stressed than if I could see clients in person. I have a lot of appointments, I'm not used to it. And if I don't answer a message right away, some men send me nervous question marks," says Amelia, who says that if she wanted to, she could work 24 hours a day, her phone never stopping ringing. Amelia thinks the main reason why online sex is so successful right now is because "men are going crazy now that they have to stay home with their wives all day," she says, adding: "The day before yesterday I called someone who was in the bathroom and suddenly I heard his wife hysterical on the other side of the door. She had discovered her phone, with a few messages that we had exchanged. For these men, it's not easy either". Despite the current health situation, many men still ask Amelia to see her for real and have real sex. "When it's like that, I eliminate them and tell them no, I can't meet anyone now," Amelia explains.

Harry, a sex worker, also decided to go into digital services when he had to stop working because of containment. He explains that when he has a digital date with a man, it always revolves around sex directly, whereas when it's a woman, it's 'good conversation first and sex comes later'. Harry also says he is impressed by the fact that people pay for a video call. "You'll notice that there's a great need for affection, and sex work can be a great help," says Harry. For half an hour of satisfaction, Harry charges his subscribers 20 euros, a very low price compared to what he used to charge when he was in a real relationship. Amelia displays her prices according to the competition. If some girls lower their price, she will lower it too. She charges 40 euros for a 30-minute WhatsApp conversation. Others don't hesitate to offer rather high prices, like Emily, specialized in bdsm, who asks 75 euros for 30 minutes.

The search for social contact

But why pay when there are free porn sites? According to Cheryl, the work is different because "some people are really looking for personal contact. You can't chat with an American actress, but with me you can. I created my profile to sell sex, but that's not always why people come to me," she explains. And Isla agrees with Cheryl, saying that some men who follow her "are not happy in their marriage and seek attention on social networks so they don't have to cheat on their wives. Sexologist Wim Slabbinck agrees. "Many people who use sex workers don't just ask for sex, it can be very nice to have someone listen to you for a few hours. Especially at the moment, some people feel lonelier than ever because the many ways to relieve this loneliness have disappeared. For example, you can no longer confide in someone when you go out for coffee with a friend. The sex therapist also explains that the most important thing about digital sex is the fact that it is "active". "If you're watching anonymous porn, what you're doing won't change the person's behaviour on your screen. Especially now that attention has become a valuable commodity, more people are willing to pay for it. That's where the success of webcam sex lies," says Wim Slabbinck.