Oh in that case I don't think they realize how hollow it is, at least not at first. The top performers (on Twitch, anyway, I have never visited OnlyFans) work very hard to keep their top donors happy. They thank them profusely, grant them moderator status, single out their chat messages to read and respond to on stream, and likely even chat with them in private messages after the stream. Anything to maintain the illusion that this is a real relationship rather than a transactional one. This is why OnlyFans was created in the first place: a site outside of the rules of Twitch terms of service that lets performers take things "to the next level" with their top donors. It's like the VIP room in a strip club.
Edit to add more thoughts: I think strip clubs are the right analogy for how to evaluate these channels (the "just chatting" ones and any of the gaming ones that prominently feature very attractive performers). They are fundamentally about creating and maintaining an illusion with the (usually male viewers). Unfortunately, this can be very dangerous. It's pretty common knowledge that strippers are much more likely to suffer violence than the average woman. They may be safer than street-walking prostitutes, but nowhere near as safe as a woman in a white-collar job.
How safe are these streamers in the long run? The distance and pseudonymity provided by the internet may afford a level of safety, compared to the closeness of a strip club. On the other hand, streamers can have several orders of magnitude more viewers than even the largest of strip clubs. A large viewer count can magnify the risk that one disillusioned fan decides to "go rogue" and stalk the streamer, dox her, and attack her in person. I would not be surprised if we see a case of serious violence (or murder) against a top streamer within a few years.
Realistically, the streamers are safe. You can't really compare it to a girl working in meat space, who is potentially being threatened by not just her clients, but also the management of the club, potentially her own pimp, other pimps and maybe other girls in the business as well.
Streamers getting doxxed is not really a thing, and they have viewers from around the world. Anyhow, I think your concern is not warranted, otherwise we would already be hearing more about these kind of incidents.
I have heard of a few incidents like this happening to Kpop groups, but there you have 1) mega audience 2) crazy fans 3) physical interaction (concerts) so streamers at least at an advantage re: 3.
...what?! I mean, really? I have friends who have had this issue, I am baffled by this perspective. It's always been an issue, it will always be. What?
> I have heard of a few incidents [...] but there you have [...] crazy fans
Is there no "crazy fans" in the OnlyFans/Twitch community? I'd argue that the probability of crazy/mentally unstable fans would be a lot higher in this weird "parasocial relationship" environment compared to a typical music band fanbase.
Edit to add more thoughts: I think strip clubs are the right analogy for how to evaluate these channels (the "just chatting" ones and any of the gaming ones that prominently feature very attractive performers). They are fundamentally about creating and maintaining an illusion with the (usually male viewers). Unfortunately, this can be very dangerous. It's pretty common knowledge that strippers are much more likely to suffer violence than the average woman. They may be safer than street-walking prostitutes, but nowhere near as safe as a woman in a white-collar job.
How safe are these streamers in the long run? The distance and pseudonymity provided by the internet may afford a level of safety, compared to the closeness of a strip club. On the other hand, streamers can have several orders of magnitude more viewers than even the largest of strip clubs. A large viewer count can magnify the risk that one disillusioned fan decides to "go rogue" and stalk the streamer, dox her, and attack her in person. I would not be surprised if we see a case of serious violence (or murder) against a top streamer within a few years.