I have been broadcasting on Chaturbate since October 2015. It has been a wonderful experience for me to be able to create a fanbase with people who appreciate me and what I have to offer. Before camming, I did professional photography and video. I didn’t go forward with that career because I didn’t have the money I needed to buy the equipment, which is expensive! Also, I have narcolepsy, and camming is a job that I am able to do and feel safe. It was actually a woman in a narcolepsy support group who suggested it and gave me really good resources to research.
While much has changed about camming since I started, the need to feel safe is still an issue for me, and should be for anyone else considering camming. I went to school for multimedia, and that’s where I became privy to how copyright laws work. I also was concerned about anyone online being able to find out who I really am or people from my personal life finding out about my camming. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to make it harder for people to find your real identity.
Success can make it increasingly difficult to keep your professional and personal worlds separate, and while this might be a "good problem to have," this tricky reality may also confront you with hard choices down the line.
CONSIDER DELETING PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA
As most of you know, apps can be sneaky. If you sign up for something like Instagram on your phone to promote your work and you do not opt out of contact sharing, it could search your contacts and end up suggesting your camming profile to personal contacts. Not something you want if you’re trying to keep your professional and personal lives separate. And, sadly, as we have learned, even if you opt out, it doesn’t mean it won’t do just that. Even disabling an app doesn’t necessarily mean it’s completely disabled. Unfortunately, most people can’t afford the luxury of a new or separate phone to use for their camming work, but if you are one of the lucky ones who can, definitely consider it.
Also, you might want to only post original content for your camming. If you post old photos from social media, they might be geotagged with information that could lead to you. In the long term, understand that the more popular you become, the more chances there are for someone to find your true identity. Success can make it increasingly difficult to keep your professional and personal worlds separate, and while this might be a "good problem to have," this tricky reality may also confront you with hard choices down the line. Do you want to play it low-key or spend more time online and keep building your fan base?
MAKE SURE YOU FEEL SAFE AND COMFORTABLE
You should always make sure you feel safe and comfortable before you start camming for the first time. Take some time to be honest with yourself, and make a list of your hard “nos,” your “maybes” and your “OKs.” I say this as someone with a photography background who has worked with models. Before you go into something like camming, you want to make sure you are making a good and educated decision.
Know that if you try something on cam and don’t really enjoy it, there’s no need to continue or to do it again. But always keep that list handy, so you can easily see your hard “noes” if needed. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, when you are in front of that camera, someone might offer you a lot of money to do something that is on your “no” list. Just remember, no amount of money is worth doing something you truly don’t want to do. If you change your mind later and think you might want to move something from your “no” list to the “maybe” or “OK” list, that’s up to you.
You can also decide who you want to be online. I think one of the biggest compliments I’ve gotten from other people in the industry — after them seeing my show and then meeting me in real life — is that I am the same person in both settings. I am just me. Now, there is nothing wrong with developing a different persona or having an act. It’s just that I want my fans to see me as a real person they can relate to: transparent, and also sexy and smart. There is a lot of conversation in my room. We talk about social issues, sexual issues, fetishes, kinks … topics my fans don’t always feel comfortable discussing with their partners. They know it’s safe in my room to talk about those things. There is no pressure, no judgment and they can talk about practically anything. This is a different kind of "safety" but it's important too.
YOU MIGHT FIND SAFETY IN NUMBERS
Once you build a loyal fan base, chances are they will help keep you safe too. We all know to never feed the trolls, but sometimes when they enter your room, it’s your fans who will say something and defend you.
Know that you will make mistakes. Everyone does. One of the first times I was camming, I didn’t realize I had a medicine bottle on the desk in my camming room. And the camera was facing the medicine bottle. This is something that had my real name on it! Luckily, there were only a few random people in the room, and one of them pointed it out and said I might want to move it. It was just a little fluke, but it reminded me to look over my room before I go on cam and remove anything personal that might be in plain sight.
Another thing to remember is that if you have any type of wish list, and you enter your debit or credit card information, some apps will automatically put the name on your card on that wish list. I learned that one the hard way!
I’m not a mom, but the mother in me is always concerned about safety for me and for other people. Taking steps to keep yourself safe when camming is a practice everyone should take seriously.
Scarlett Fox is a cam model who has been streaming with Chaturbate since October 2015. With a brand that blends authenticity, cosplay and kink, Fox strives to offer a “girl-next-door” vibe and virtual girlfriend experience by sharing a lot about her real life through webcam shows and personalized messaging. At night, she is a soft dominatrix who enjoys providing a range of fetish content and femdom services that she touts as both mentally stimulating and beyond traditional vanilla stereotypes. Follow her on Instagram @scarlettdarkplay and @scarlettfoxslay, as well as Twitter @scarlettfoxplay and Chaturbate.com/ scarlettfoxplay.
