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This definitely happens elsewhere, like live cam sites. This isn't a new practice, but the stakes are higher. It used to be that you could write to "celebriti

This definitely happens elsewhere, like live cam sites. This isn't a new practice, but the stakes are higher. It used to be that you could write to "celebrities" for an autograph. You hoped it was the celebrity who signed your thing and mailed it back, but in reality you knew it was probably their spouse or secretary. It wasn't honest, but it's not like they charged you money, and the emotional stakes were lower. They weren't pretending they were your buddy or your lover. They were just signing a thing for you. With online adult media, there's that whole parasocial dynamic. The whole thing is made to make you feel like you have something like a personal connection with the model. I wonder if there's a way to do it ethically, while also keeping it fun for the subscriber. Like honestly the answer might just be transparency. ex: "Sometimes my assistant XYZ helps me answer the huge volume of messages I get. We'll always sign our replies with the name of the person who actually wrote the reply." etc.

willcipriano 4y ago
Another way to be sort of honest is use letterhead that says "From the desk of Tom Cruise", that doesn't mean Tom Cruise wrote it just that it came from a desk he owns. The stamped signature is his approval of the message, sort of like when political ads say "I'm Bob Dole and I approved this message".
cortesoft 4y ago
Even if it was actually the model doing all of the responding, it is still not a real personal connection with them. It is still just for the money. It is pretend no matter who types the words.
lordgrenville 4y ago
Agreed. To me, if you are extracting money from someone while pretending to be someone else, that is fraud - at least morally, the legal side seems complicated. The question is if the average consumer would still be willing to pay if they knew that the posts were ghostwritten. My guess is that most of the "whales" are lonely people who would only want to pay for a real interaction with the performer.
timeon 4y ago
This reminds me that there are several housing estates around the world 'designed by Zaha Hadid' while she was probably hardly involved.
- samhw 4y ago
  Not to mention Damien Hirst (and I suppose Warhol's 'factory' was the real pioneer). I don't understand it. My friend has a bunch of 'his' paintings - high six figures a pop at the very least - which look like things you could buy at IKEA (e.g. this one: https://imgur.com/a/TfPci2c https://imgur.com/a/TfPci2c).

willcipriano 4y ago

Another way to be sort of honest is use letterhead that says "From the desk of Tom Cruise", that doesn't mean Tom Cruise wrote it just that it came from a desk he owns. The stamped signature is his approval of the message, sort of like when political ads say "I'm Bob Dole and I approved this message".

cortesoft 4y ago

Even if it was actually the model doing all of the responding, it is still not a real personal connection with them. It is still just for the money. It is pretend no matter who types the words.

lordgrenville 4y ago

Agreed. To me, if you are extracting money from someone while pretending to be someone else, that is fraud - at least morally, the legal side seems complicated. The question is if the average consumer would still be willing to pay if they knew that the posts were ghostwritten. My guess is that most of the "whales" are lonely people who would only want to pay for a real interaction with the performer.

timeon 4y ago

This reminds me that there are several housing estates around the world 'designed by Zaha Hadid' while she was probably hardly involved.

samhw 4y ago
Not to mention Damien Hirst (and I suppose Warhol's 'factory' was the real pioneer). I don't understand it. My friend has a bunch of 'his' paintings - high six figures a pop at the very least - which look like things you could buy at IKEA (e.g. this one: https://imgur.com/a/TfPci2c https://imgur.com/a/TfPci2c).