Inside the x-rated world of "premium" social media accounts

Abstract: During the last few years, there has been an upsurge of social media influencers who are part of the adult entertainment industry, referred to as Performers. To monetize their online presence, Performers often engage in practices which violate community guidelines of social media, such as selling subscriptions for accessing their private "premium" social media accounts, where they distribute adult content. In this paper, we collect and analyze data from FanCentro, an online marketplace where Performers can sell adult content and subscriptions to private accounts in platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. Our work aims to shed light on the semi-illicit adult content market layered on the top of popular social media platforms and its offerings, as well as to profile the demographics, activity and content produced by Performers.