Having a sugar daddy is quickly becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the advancement of technology. There’s a new money maker in town and they’re called premium social media accounts.
College-aged individuals are quickly turning to things like Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram to make some extra money. They’re called premium accounts.
These special or exclusive accounts usually offer subscribers extra perks or content in exchange for money. The majority of these accounts offer semi or totally nude images and videos for purchase.
“Premium accounts are more commonly known as a way for someone to earn money. I personally deem this as unsafe and dangerous,” said Emma Corona, a freshman undeclared major.
The most popular platform for this content is Snapchat. A premium Snapchat account is not an actual Snapchat account but a separate account.
In this account a user sells either individual pictures or videos or a subscription service for a recurring payment.
Victoria Villacorta, a freshman art major, hadn’t heard about premium accounts until recently but said she understands why some college students would turn to them as an added income.
“I think people are doing this just to have a little extra money because really, who couldn’t do with a little bit of extra money,” Villacorta said.
The rising popularity in the selling of explicit content among college students can be attributed to two things in particular.
One is the accessibility of content and money sharing through smartphones. Cash App, Venmo and Zelle are some of the top money payment apps used by students today.
A report released by LendEDU, an online financial marketplace, found that 65 percent of millennials use payment apps. Over one third said they use Venmo most often, and about 22 percent said they use “My bank’s mobile payment app” most often.
The other reason is the safety aspect behind it. Since there is no physical contact involved and the service can be rendered remotely having a premium social media account, it is considered safer than having a sugar daddy.
Plus, it’s less time consuming and you can have more than one source of income.
“I’d imagine it’s safer than a sugar daddy because sugar daddies typically want to meet up with the person they’re engaging with, whereas I’d imagine the person with the account has more control,” said Helena Kemp, a junior psychology major.
“I don’t own one or know anyone but I’ve seen people post about it a lot.”
According to Kemp, she doesn’t have a problem with people having premium accounts, if the person running the account is comfortable with what they are doing for the extra cash.
Logan Harris, a freshman psychology major, agreed with Kemp and said she’s not bothered by people having or making money off of things like premium social media accounts.
“Whatever a girl does with her body is her choice, no matter what it is as long as it isn’t hurting or damaging others,” Harris said.