IT’S 1 A.M., AND MY FANFIX INBOX HAS LIT up with a notification from one of the influencers I follow. “hey babe, are you busy? do you have time for me? we can chit chat:).” The sender, @kaylavoid—a 19-year-old TikTok influencer and YouTuber who specializes in lipsync videos and beach lifestyle (read: bikini) content, and who was suggested among the platform’s “on the rise” creators when I made my account—is clearly eager for my attention. What’s not clear from her message, and is only laid out via a pop-up alert once I try to hit send on my reply, is that she’s set the price of chitchatting at $5 per message (plus a 78-cent processing fee).
Over at Passes, a similar platform that allows content creators to sell tiered subscriptions to exclusive photos and videos they post of themselves, it’s at least clear that engaging with the influencers I follow will cost me. When reading a “you there
