Elia Hills, a 19-year-old OnlyFans model from Oklahoma, has issued a stark warning to other young women considering the platform, stating she would 'never encourage' anyone to join despite earning the vast majority of her $100,000 (£75,000) monthly income from it.
Why She Won't Encourage Others
Hills, who has been on the subscription site for a year, said: 'I would never go to another woman and encourage or promote OF to them. I think it's a really hard decision that a woman has to make on her own. It could be really detrimental to her but it could also be really good.' She emphasised that each woman must decide for herself, based on whether she has a plan and can handle the workload, trolling, and stigma.
The Challenges: 100-Hour Weeks
Hills revealed the demanding schedule: 'Realistically, you've got to spend 40 hours a week on the site and probably another 20 making content for your other socials. You might have a full or part-time job on top of that which puts it at around 100-hour weeks.' She warned that such a pace leads to burnout quickly.
Learning Technical Skills Alone
Without funds to hire editors or videographers, Hills said models must teach themselves scriptwriting, directing, filming, editing, and presenting. 'These take hours to go from an idea to a 10-second post and often fail to go viral,' she noted. She added that to make a living, videos need hundreds of thousands of views consistently, which is disheartening when efforts fail.
The Stigma and Privacy Loss
While Hills didn't lose relationships, she acknowledged others have: 'Some people lose relationships with parents, siblings or close friends. I know of some women who have lost husbands over it.' She warned that privacy is compromised, and the label 'sticks and is hard to shake,' potentially affecting future relationships and children.
Trolling and Threats
'Once the money starts coming in, so does the attention, and not all of it is positive,' Hills said. 'The comments can be horrific.' She advised reporting illegal threats but said most trolling must be ignored, and if that's not possible, the platform may not be suitable.
Advice: Have a Plan
Hills entered OnlyFans to pay for college tuition, a goal that later changed. She advises: 'Write down what you want to achieve from it then work out how much you need to earn to make it worthwhile. I'd also start planning what you'll do with the money if you make it.' She stresses saving as much as possible, as earnings are not guaranteed long-term.
