ManyVids is an inclusive, safe place for sex workers to grow their brands.
Porn is an ever changing and evolving business. It has to be. Those who work within the industry face scrutiny, ostracization and attack from the so-called (and often hypocritical) morality police on the daily. As society shifts, as technology adapts and grows, so does porn, in how it's delivered and consumed.
The age of social media has brought a complete and nearly absolute change in the traditional porn business model. The power has been placed squarely in the hands (and other bits) of the performers that populate it's ranks. These folks are not to be looked down upon for their profession, but rather respected for how they have quickly learned to navigate the social landscape for their own career gains, all the while beating back the negativity toward the porn industry that threatens their chosen livelihood.
This isn't the last time you'll read about porn performers given the reigns to control their own destiny while faced with unjustified deplatforming and stigma. Where once performers were limited to a few studios and a measly paycheck for a performance ending up on a tattered VHS tapes behind a curtain at the local video store, they now have a laundry list of websites to sell their wares. Where once porn was dominated by a few stats, it is now open to anyone with a webcam and the fortitude to build their personal brand. This takes time, work and platforms built to encourage success.
ManyVids is one such platform. ManyVids is taking a serious step toward replacing the void left by the removal of porn from Tumblr, enabling porn performers with a safe place to create lasting social relationships with their growing fan bases.
The marginalization of sex workers is showing no signs of slowing down despite the sense of connectivity and community of the internet age.
MV Social (NSFW) hopes to be that place. Along with any and all available social channels, has become a solid launching post and safe outlet for porn performers looking to grow their personal brands and connect with consumers and fans.
“The marginalization of sex workers is showing no signs of slowing down despite the sense of connectivity and community of the internet age,” ManyVids CEO Bella French tells me via email. “It’s very clear that sex workers are not welcome and are denied a voice on many social media platforms. It’s an unfair and unfortunate double standard. These same platforms continue to tolerate posts with extremely suggestive images and explicit copy from celebrities or influencers, but do not extend the same courtesy to those involved in the sex work industry.”
The sex work industry continues to grow thanks in part to the growth of the gig economy, which Intuit predicts will account for 40% of all workers by the end of 2020. ManyVids has 2.6m active members and is home to over 73 thousand content creators leveraging the platform to generate income as independent entrepreneurs. In order to assist this growing workforce in making a respectable living, ManyVids has been busy.
Since its inception in 2014, ManyVids has launched numerous product channels to assist creators in monetization efforts. MV Live is the live-streaming cam platform, MV Tube is the free porn tube site, MV Crush allows influencers to directly connect with fans. There's even an online publication, a podcast, a fetish site and a YouTube series. This is a live, always-on revenue machine.
ManyVids even produced a documentary called #WeAreMany that highlights the efforts of French and her team as they work to shift the overall tone of the adult industry to be a safe haven for sexual expression and inclusivity.
That free expression is what launched MV Social. If Facebook and Tumblr had a baby, then that baby grew up and during its freshman year at college decided to start camming but also was a bunch of lines of code it would be MV Social. It has the look and feel of Facebook in an overall posting and connectivity sense (but without the creepiness of the platform) and some of the sharing tools of Tumblr.
ManyVids is like a hybrid of Twitter, YouTube and Etsy. It's a one-stop shop, and having a built in social feature available — when it feels like every social media stream is deplatforming you — is wonderful.
Content creators can post content (text, pics or videos). Site members (consumers and fans) can respond to these posts only with text and cannot upload anything in any capacity. This does limit full engagement, but does better to keep out illicit content and harassment. Members are also able to Re-MV (reblog) posts. This creates situations in which creators' content is being shared with new groups of potential fans. It also directly affects the type of content creators are generating.
"I love asking questions on MV Social about what type of content fans want to see from me, so I'm not wasting my time creating content people don't want to see. It strengthens my relationship with fans because I'm also able to express different sides of myself," says Destiny Diaz. "I love posting memes related to sex work, the adult industry and NSFW jokes that I know the audience on MV would enjoy. ManyVids is like a hybrid of Twitter, YouTube and Etsy. It's a one-stop shop, and having a built in social feature available — when it feels like every social media stream is deplatforming you — is wonderful because I feel less worried about my income taking a hit."
It's that rampant deplatforming that is causing a rift between the thousands upon thousands of sex workers (and their fans) and social sites like Instagram. It's also pushed platforms like ManyVids to work harder to give sex workers a place where they can jump-start or maintain their businesses. While it might not be a mainstream social media channel, it's giving creators a safe, secure and technologically compatible place to build their businesses.
"Many mainstream platforms are very unfriendly towards those of us in the adult industry. That's one reason why I like MV Social — it's built for us," Allie Awesome reiterates. "As a sex worker friendly site where I'm able to express myself without fear of having my account shut down, MV Social is particularly attractive as a social home base."
In reviewing the quotes from sex workers for this piece, the overall sense of uncertainty and mistrust of mainstream social media platforms was clear. MV Social isn't going to solve all those problems alone. Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat — all can attribute growth to the same adult industry they now shun — are going to have to eventually find a way to work with the adult industry and sex workers, instead of actively working against them.
These companies are supposed to be progressive, forward-thinking entities, not ruled by archaic sensibilities tied to early 20th century modesty and pearl-clutching. Instead of boxing out the massive adult industry, social sites should find a way to better integrate this growing workforce. They bring with them millions of followers, millions of engagements and interactions. It's a detriment to any technology to ignore the adult industry and porn. Just ask Betamax and HD Dvd.
"Sex workers are seen as the enemy to many tech companies and platforms right now, especially with the passing of SESTA/FOSTA. If we’re not advertiser-friendly (ie: can’t make them money), then we’re worthless to social platforms as users and content creators," points out Gwen Adora. "In a society where we live in a consistent tug-o-war between progressive and prudish, most tech corporations aren’t willing to risk their money on such a stigmatized group.
“Despite sex workers being the driving force behind a lot of social platforms we are often the first group to be censored and deleted from the very networks we helped popularize. Porn companies beginning to incorporate social feeds, like ManyVids’ MV Social, allow me and other performers to express ourselves and connect with our fans in an unrestricted way.
Porn performers aren’t just having sex on camera — we’re multi-faceted people who deserve a space on popular social sites, for ourselves as personas, and for our businesses.
"As much as I wish I could give up on social media that don’t want sex workers on their platforms (looking at you, Instagram), it’s important for sex workers to have a presence on safe for work networking services,” continues Adora, “Porn performers aren’t just having sex on camera — we’re multi-faceted people who deserve a space on popular social sites, for ourselves as personas, and for our businesses. Reaching new people outside of the adult bubble is important to marketing ourselves — imagine if you weren’t allowed access to platforms where the majority of the modern world is congregating? Segregating us because of our careers is wrongful, and perpetuates stigmas we’re trying to eradicate."
It can be exhausting to manage multiple social platforms, but as it would be for any brand, necessary. Delilah Cass was recently suspended on Twitter, without warning, losing her audience of over 30k followers. None of the rules violations cited applied to her account and behavior on the platform. If you search for any kind of adult content on Twitter (go ahead and try the hashtag #friskyfriday for instance), you are going to readily find porn. Same on any other platform. Sex workers are punished while no-name accounts post porn without incident.
Many sex workers tell me the same thing — the rules of what's acceptable on mainstream social media sites is a moving target, but they find creative ways to promote their brands while still staying positive about their chosen profession. They also lauded the opportunity that MV Social creates, allowing them to be completely free with themselves and their content. MV Social ultimately gives content creators not only a platform, but a sliver of hope for the future of sex workers and their relationship with social media.
There will come a time when Twitter and Instagram especially will drop the double standard and loosen the perhaps unintentional but certainly focused attack on sex workers. There’s a middle ground somewhere, either with the technology itself or with moderation that will allow sex workers to freely grow their brands without the constant fear of being shut down.
This is part of our society, it’s part of the gig economy and sex workers are doing their best to work within the current set of social media’s murky rules. If there is nothing else we can count on, it’s the versatility of the porn industry when it comes to adapting to and directing the future of technology. MV Social is a good example of that.
“MV Social is a safe space where anyone 18+ can express themselves freely without fear of judgment or censorship,” concludes French. “Everyone deserves to have a voice online and an opportunity to express themselves without discrimination. We’ve purposely-built a platform for content creators to engage with their audience, elevate their brand and thrive financially without fear or shame.”
