An Introduction to NSFW Social Media Platforms

Whether you’re a writer, model, camgirl, influencer, or just someone who needs a creative sexual outlet, it can be a tricky balance to maintain an NSFW social media account that both follows the platform’s terms and conditions and also is an accurate representation of who you are and what you want to put out there. 

What is NSFW? 
NSFW stands for “not safe for work.” This refers to any kind of content that, you guessed it, wouldn’t be appropriate for you to be looking at in your office. Typically this refers to sexual content, although I supposed “not safe for work” could refer to violent imagery as well. For the sake of context and continuity throughout this article, I’ll be referring to sexual content only.

Why would I need an NSFW social media page? 
Many people find themselves in need of a social media outlet where they can express their sexual creativity, ideas, and experiences. Why? Many reasons: maybe you’re a cam model hoping to build up an audience, or a sex worker hoping to build up a client list. Sex-positive influencers, erotic authors, sex bloggers...there are many people who need NSFW social media pages and, from what I’ve seen, there aren’t very many guides on creating and running a successful NSFW social media page. Until now, that is. 

Let’s just dive into it, shall we?

Let’s talk about NSFW Twitter

Naturally, Twitter is the place to start. I’m a little biased here, as my go-to for sex-positive content has always been Twitter for several reasons (which I’ll dive into shortly). Twitter is the place where I share all of these articles, articles from my personal blog, teasers for my erotica writings, and more. I promote sex-positive influencers and models, review sex toys, etc.  

Known as the Tumblr refugee social media (RIP Tumblr), Twitter is one of the original social media platforms that have relatively “lax” sexual content sharing rules. Although it can be difficult to play Twitter’s algorithm while you’re sharing sexually explicit and provocative content, there are several ways you can game the system, so to speak. 

Twitter is the new Tumblr 

Back in 2018, Tumblr, a social media platform that, at the time, had little-to-no content guidelines for sexually explicit content, started to ban nudity from the platform. Under the new policy, anything considered “adult content” (ranging from pornography to nude art) was banned, leaving the droves of people who used the platform to promote those things with nowhere to turn...except for Twitter. 

According to Insider, Twitter was the go-to place for creators who found their NSFW content was no longer able to be posted on Tumblr. There is even a popular Twitter hashtag (#TumblrRefugee) that you will come across frequently in NSFW Twitter circles. 

Marking your NSFW content as “sensitive media” is an important step. 

While Twitter does allow you to share sexually explicit content to their platform, I highly suggest you take the time to mark your profile as one that shares sensitive media. Of course, you don’t have to do this - but if someone reports your content because this wasn’t done, you could face repercussions that hurt your account. 

When you mark your account as a sensitive media account, individuals who have the “do not show me sensitive media” feature turned on in their own accounts will see a blurred out picture with a prompt asking them if they’d like to see the content. To mark your profile as one that shares sensitive content, follow the instructions provided here. 

Using appropriate hashtags for NSFW content. 

If you’re someone who promotes or shares what is considered NSFW content, you are going to want to “game the system” (as I mentioned before). No one really knows how social media algorithms work, but you’re either on the good side or the bad side of them. To help your account along, you’ll want to begin using appropriate hashtags when you share NSFW content. For a fun and useful list of NSFW hashtags, check out Best Hashtags.

What are Twitter’s guidelines for NSFW content? 

The TOS (terms of service) for Twitter can be found here, and the “rules and policies” can be found here - but I’ll gloss over the non-NSFW specific things and get to the good stuff. 

1. “You are responsible for your use of the services and for any content you provide, including compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.” This is straightforward - you post it, you own up to whether or not it breaks the rules. If you’re knowingly posting content that doesn’t follow a social media’s TOS, you understand you’re taking the risk of being banned or restricted there. 
2. “All Content is the sole responsibility of the person who originated such Content. We may not monitor or control the Content posted via the Services and, we cannot take responsibility for such Content.” This is basically Twitter washing their hands of responsibility for what you post, which is totally fine, considering they have millions of people uploading. At the end of the day, you are responsible for what content you put out into the world. This is an especially important thing to remember when you’re sharing sexual health, wellness/educational content.
3. “By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods now known or later developed (for clarity, these rights include, for example, curating, transforming, and translating).” Although you own your content, you’re able to give “rights” to companies (like Twitter), when you upload to their platform, to allow them to share and display the content. This is what allows things like “favorites” and “retweets”, etc. 
4. “You may not post media that is excessively gory or share violent or adult content within live video or in profile header, or List banner images. Media depicting sexual violence and/or assault is also not permitted.” This is pretty straight-forward - don’t share violent content. They also include the term “adult content” here, which we can assume means anything NSFW (nudity, porn, etc). While Twitter does explain that they understand social media is used to show what’s happening in the world (which can sometimes be awful and violent), and what’s happening in their lives (which, for NSFW accounts, can include nudity), they also understand some would like to not be exposed to that kind of media. 
   
   For this reason, they’ve restricted where you can post those things, stating that you can’t have it anywhere that’s immediately visible on your profile (like header images, for example). Now...I’m unsure of how I feel about this. Of course, I think it’s a fair ask - but I don’t believe it’s realistically enforced on the platform, as I’ve seen many (many) completely nude profile photos or headers on NSFW accounts. 
5. “If you share this content on Twitter, you need to mark your account as sensitive. Doing so [including excessively gory, violent and/or adult content in] places images and videos behind an interstitial (or warning message), that needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed. Using this feature means that people who don’t want to see sensitive media can avoid it, or make an informed decision before they choose to view it.” I suggest you do this. I have it done on my page for the main fact that I don’t think anyone should be forced to see content that could be harmful or triggering. It’s the same reason I post “trigger warnings” before content that mentions sexual violence. People who have the “show insensitive content” marked on their account will not see the warnings before what you post, and people who have it marked that they would like to see warnings before NSFW content will see a blurred out image with a question asking if they’d like to see it. 
6. “Adult content is any consensually produced and distributed media that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal.” Under the Twitter guidelines, “adult content” is given this definition. Twitter also has specific rules for “non-consensual nudity”, which you can find here.
7. “You can share graphic violence and consensually produced adult content within your Tweets, provided that you mark this media as sensitive.” and “If you don’t mark your media as sensitive, we will do so manually if your content is reported for review.” Lastly, I wanted to focus on these two points. Really, if you have your content marked to “mark as sensitive”, you shouldn’t run into any problems sharing consensual NSFW content on Twitter.

Let’s talk about NSFW Snapchat

Snapchat is a social sharing platform that has been synonymous with sexual content since its creation due to the fact that messages, pictures, and videos disappear after being viewed. This makes it especially easy (and safer) to share NSFW content with people. 

Premium Snapchat accounts and sex workers... 

Premium Snapchat accounts are regular accounts that have a paywall. You make the content posted on your private Snapchat available to select people who pay for access with a monthly or a one-time subscription fee. When it comes to Premium Snapchat accounts, the type of content can be anything, but this is most often used by sex workers and/or models who want to post and share NSFW content. 

As I’ll get into below, selling access to your Snapchat account does violate their terms of service. However, I also highlight below that loopholes and discretion seem to be the way most people get around this, and Snapchat cannot possibly crack down on the sheer number of accounts that do this.

Snapchat for models and influencers...

If porn and sex work goes against the terms of service, how are there so many influencers and models on the platform doing this? The name of art, I would say, along with a hint of discretion. As I outline below, while pornography is not permitted on Snapchat, “other forms of nudity in certain non-sexual context may be permitted.” 

While you can argue that models posing nude is pornography, they could easily argue that it’s art. An art service they are providing to their fans. It’s all in the branding. 

What are Snapchat’s guidelines for NSFW content? 

The terms and conditions for Snapchat can be found here, The community guidelines can be found here. Below, I’ll simplify things and pick out what is specific to NSFW/adult content to make this easier. 

1. “We prohibit accounts that promote or distribute pornographic content.” This is the big one. One of the first things you see in the community guidelines of Snapchat...and yet, Premium Snapchat accounts are mainly used for this purpose. How? Loopholes and discretion. I break it down even further in my Premium Snapchat review article, but the short version is that, while disrupting pornographic content is on the no-no list, “other depictions of nudity in certain non-sexual contexts may be permitted.” With the right branding and discretion, sharing NSFW content on Snapchat is something many users do without any problems.
2. “While we’re not required to do so, we may access, review, screen, and delete your content at any time and for any reason, including to provide and develop the Services or if we think your content violates these Terms. You alone, though, remain responsible for the content you create, upload, post, send, or store through the Service.” This is the basic blanket statement to say that if your content violates the terms of service on Snapchat, the company has the right to review and/or delete your content. 
3. “We report child sexual exploitation to authorities. Never post, save, or send nude or sexually explicit content involving anyone under the age of 18 — even of yourself. Never ask a minor to send explicit imagery or chats.” Snapchat being good. Thanks, Snapchat. 
4. “You will not buy, sell, rent, or lease access to your Snapchat account, Snaps, a Snapchat username, or a friend link without our written permission.” As I’ve said - Premium Snapchat accounts really do violate the terms and conditions of the company - but really, with such a large mass of people doing so, I think the next point really sums things up pretty well...
5. “...it's hard to anticipate every situation that might come up. The key is the spirit of these rules: we want Snapchat to be a safe and positive experience for everyone. We reserve the right to decide, in our sole discretion, what content violates that spirit and will not be permitted on the platform.” I personally take this as Snapchat’s way of saying “alright, we know our app is great for sharing nudes, just don’t make it a problem, okay?” Clean (ish), discrete, positive, and consensual vibes for everyone ensures we can all keep enjoying NSFW content on Snapchat.

A guide to NSFW OnlyFans

At last...we’ve reached OnlyFans: the pinnacle of NSFW social media. According to PocketLint, OnlyFans averages around 30 million users and 450,000 creators. Since its creation in 2016, OnlyFans has come onto the scene in a big way, making headlines for being an innovative way for content creators of all kinds to connect with their fans.

What is OnlyFans? 

OnlyFans is a content-sharing platform that works similarly to Netflix. Creators can monetize their content by selling directly to their fans for the cost of a monthly subscription. From models to fitness experts, and yes, sex workers/porn start, influencers of all kinds can use OnlyFans to connect with their fans and monetize their content. 

What are the OnlyFans guidelines for NSFW content? 

OnlyFans accepts all kinds of content, but they have been widely publicized as the platform that is most accepting of NSFW content. 

1. “You own, have a valid licence to, or otherwise control all rights in and to your User Content” Of course, the basics. You have to own the content you post, you can’t be posting other people’s content as your own. 
2. “You will not post any content depicting any person under 18-years old.” Again, standard - no minors. Then they add: “...you have inspected and are maintaining written documentation sufficient to confirm that all subjects of your submission are in fact 18-years old or older.”  Your content, your responsibility to ensure all parties are of legal age. 
3. “Your User Content is non-confidential and will be made available to your Fans on OnlyFans.com.” In case anyone had any doubts - when you upload something to OnlyFans (or any social media) it stops being private. Even if you take it down, people could still find ways to save it.
4. “You grant FIL and Our licensees, successors, and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute, and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material.” This may have you a bit curious and concerned, but they go on to add “...for clarification: The clause exists so that we may use your content by adding stickers, text, and watermarks, and to make your content available to Users, as well as for other normal operations of our website. We will never sell your content to other platforms.”

If you’re interested in joining OnlyFans, check out my in-depth start-up guide here.

What about Facebook and Instagram?

Instagram (and its parent company, Facebook) are two that are often a little left out of the NSFW socials game. Why? Because of how they operate. 

The limitations of Facebook…

When it comes to the limitations of Facebook, I want to focus on two key points in their community guidelines (available here). 

1. “We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content.”
2. “We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause, or for educational or medical reasons. Where such intent is clear, we make allowances for the content. For example, while we restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, women actively engaged in breast-feeding, and photos of post-mastectomy scarring.” 

It’s that last one that I want to focus on. While their terms and conditions/community guidelines say they allow certain things to be shared for educational purposes, I myself have experienced quite the opposite of this. 

This viral article I wrote for Big Think (about the health benefits of masturbation) had a featured image of a man with his hands down his pants. You could not see any nudity, it was the mere suggestion of it. This post was heavily restricted on Facebook and even resulted in some readers of mine having their accounts temporarily suspended for sharing it. 

From what I’ve experienced and what others have told me, Facebook just isn’t the place to go if you’re sharing sexually explicit content. 

Is Instagram any different?

According to Instagram’s Terms of Use

1. “You must be 13 years or older to use this site.”
2. “You may not post nude, partially nude, or sexually suggestive photos.”

While this may be annoying for influencers and models who do want to be more provocative on their page, it makes sense. OnlyFans has an 18+ user rule for a reason. Twitter makes you verify your age and has the option for parents to safeguard their children’s accounts, blurring out NSFW posts. Given Instagram and Facebook’s huge underage user base, I don’t blame them for wanting to keep things relatively PG13. 

However, many models and influencers use these two socials to promote the socials where they can show everything. For example, they will post a cropped or censored photo to Instagram with the caption “OnlyFans link in bio!” or something similar. 

What other NSFW platforms exist?

When we’re talking about places you can really exist in a truly NSFW world without repercussions or fear of your account being banned/suspended, the list is relatively small. We live in a world that’s slowly becoming more accepting of sex work and nudity, but we still have a long way to go. 

Here are a few more NSFW-friendly platforms...

Reddit 
I love Reddit. Reddit is a network of communities based on people’s interests (even NSFW ones). Scrolling through Reddit, you can find whole communities of people who are looking for the same things as you are, from recipes to workout plans, and yes, even pornography. As someone who regularly scrolls for new audioporn artists and tries to get to know more people in the BDSM community for article research, I’ve come to rely heavily on Reddit for NSFW content. 

Literotica (and other erotica-posting sites)
Literotica is a free erotic fiction website. While not specifically marketed as a social media platform, many people who are interested in creating NSFW content get their start by promoting their work on Literotica. While the name of the platform may suggest they only support erotic writers, audio performers and voice actors also upload their NSFW content here. 

Buttrcup 
Prior to researching for this article, I had no idea Buttrcup existed. They market themselves as “a place to support NSFW photography and image makers.” The concept seems fairly simple: set up a profile and start sharing artsy, beautiful nude photo and video content. You can also monetize your content here by making your videos “on demand” for your fanbase to buy. If you’re interested in learning more about this platform, check out this article featuring interviews with the founders.

Tips for running a (successful) NSFW social media account 

When it comes to NSFW social media, there are quite a few things that could go wrong and it’s quite a lengthy process to get yourself set up on these various platforms - but once you do, you can make great money and connect with your audience by sharing content you’re happy with and believe in. 

Read the terms and conditions (no skipping!)

As you can see, there are a lot of little hidden rules when it comes to erotic or NSFW content on various social media platforms. Always read through the terms and conditions (and content guidelines) during your account activation. It’s tedious, I know - but better safe than sorry. 

Post regularly

While I cover this a lot in the Snapchat and OnlyFans articles - consistency really is key to how successful your brand is when it comes to content creation. Posting on a regular schedule and building a kind of “brand” (a signature look or key style that is unique to you) is a great way to ensure your NSFW socials are grabbing the attention of viewers. 

Engage with your audience 

Don’t just post and be done with it - engage with your audience, let them know you’re available for custom work if that’s something you do. At the very least, let them know where else they can find your content (link to other social media pages) and how they can support you (on places like Ko-fi or using an Amazon Wish List.) 

Don’t forget to enjoy what you do.

 I am one of the more low-key NSFW creators, where most of my content is words. However, people who share video and photo content that is NSFW often get discouraged when their accounts are suspended or when their content is put under some strange shadow ban so no one can see it. I’ve been there, and it’s pretty difficult to find the motivation to keep creating and posting. Don’t forget why you started in the first place and keep trying - soon you will find a social media strategy that suits your content and brand. 

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