Open Letter to all of the MFC Viewers

[mynameisbob84]

Judging by mah Twitter feed, most of you have probably already read this, but I was interested in what other folk - models and members - thought of it. For anyone who hasn't read it yet, it's an open letter to all of the members of MFC written by the model Spexy Ashleigh (who, if I'm not mistaken, posts here on occasion) and was posted to her tumblr. It reads...

I’m fully aware that I am going to get some form of backlash or hate from this letter. And thats ok. Any time a woman asserts herself and voices her opinion, especially one that is undesirable to the ears, she gets perceived as a bitch. But this is something that needs to be said and many camgirls are frankly too nice to speak up. So I’m doing it because, well, I’m a bitch.

You guys need to do better. And I’m saying this in the most respectful way possible. Over the last several weeks I’ve been taking the time to watch the tweets of my fellow camgirls and the overwhelming majority of them have been negative when it comes to the viewers on MFC. Complaints about the silent chatrooms, the lack of tipping or support…and you know what? That shit needs to STOP.

I understand that it is our responsibility to make our own living, and to provide super sexy entertainment, but at some point a bit of the responsibility has to fall on your shoulders as well. We, as entertainers, thrive on a bustling and active viewership and if you come to our chatrooms and exert the enthusiasm of an acorn, then its pretty hard for us ladies to feel like the sexy goddesses that we are.

Imagine this: you’re a rockstar. You’re like fucking BONO…and you eagerly run on stage and rock that shit out, only to realize the audience is just sitting there and staring at you. No fist pumps, no dancing, no singing along or chanting, no lighters in the air…just empty, soul-less faces barely blinking back at you. You’d find it pretty hard to continue being fucking awesome, no? Well, its the same thing for us ladies. As we slip on our sexy lingerie, expertly apply our lipstick, prepare our dildos and set up any games or contests we may have going on, we pump ourselves up for a rockstar performance. We get excited at the thought of logging on cam, and having our audience converse, react and masturbate with such FURY that it makes us feel like we can rule the world….and when tokens are flying at us, it makes us feel so appreciated that I can’t even put it into words. It makes us do better, perform better, BE better camgirls…but when we get zero love from you guys, well frankly…it makes us want to hang up our g-string and go cry into some Ben n Jerrys. Not sexy.

So you have to understand that if you are a cam viewer, you need to do your part. If you’re enjoying the show, or the conversation - TELL HER. TIP HER. Don’t throw out excuses about being unemployed, being short on cash, etc. If you have the time to spend hours per day in your favorite models chatroom, then you have the time to earn a bit of extra money somehow to show her how much you appreciate her. Its NOT ok to spend 10-40 hours a week with your camgirl and not tip one token. It only costs $1.49 to buy a few tokens to show your appreciation. If you can’t afford a buck fiddy, then you need to re-evaluate your employment situation. PERIOD. And if you absolutely can’t add tokens, then show appreciation in other ways - talk to her. Ask how her day is going. Tell her she looks pretty. Engage in conversation instead of adding to the silence that has been plaguing so many models lately. If you cannot tip or talk, you have zero place being in her room. Thats what PornHub is for. Camsites are supposed to be interactive, so INTERACT gentlemen!

If things continue the way they are going, you’re going to find yourself surrounded by miserable women. And thats what your wives are for, no? Again, you can say that the responsibility for our inability to hit goals lies with us, but the numbers don’t lie - there are easily 10x the viewers as there are models (and thats just a modest guess), and if even HALF of MFC viewers (I’m talking guests, basics and premiums) contributed to the website just once a week, we’d all be hitting our goals (or at least more of us would be) Guests and basics - time to pull up your pants and add tokens. If you’re under 18, then you need to just not be on the website at all. But for everyone else, you have zero excuse. And I mean ZERO. Don’t have a job? Well, stop spending your whole day on MFC and look for one, or do side jobs/chores for your parents to earn a bit of side money. Don’t have a credit card? Buy a pre-paid one from Walmart. Have a wife looking over your credit card bills? BUY A PRE-PAID ONE FROM WALMART. Don’t feel that us “camwhores” are worth any monetary contribution? GO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE PORN DOESN’T EXIST AND YOU’LL SEE JUST HOW SHITTY YOUR FAP SESSIONS WILL BE.

To wrap this all up - gentlemen, us camgirls are passionate, emotional and magical creatures. We love our fans so much that it hurts sometimes. And a lot of us HAVE been hurting lately and it seems that no one cares to see it. We need you guys to change how things are on MFC. We can only do so much, but it takes an energetic and appreciative audience to bring out the best in ourselves. Please, consider making a camgirls day brighter the next time you see her online, or see someone tweeting about how shitty they feel. It will make her day and will undoubtedly be reciprocated. So do better, be better - for us and for your peens.

Sincerely,

Spexy.

Agree? Disagree? Additional thoughts?

Note - Not that anyone here would, but should you disagree with the above sentiments, please voice your disagreement respectfully and without resorting to misogyny or childish name-calling, cos that would just be embarrassing, yeah? And Ambah, I appreciate that this kind of topic could potentially get heated, so completely understand if you decide to edit/delete this thread before it gets to that point :thumbleft:

 

[Remykins]

I personally don't see how this topic could get heated...call me silly but I like to think that every member on here would agree that silent lurkers and chronic freeloaders are a bad thing, no?

I've gotten a bit of backlash from it, people saying I sound entitled, but you know what? Again, call me ridiculous, but I believe I DO deserve to have more people tipping for the many hours per week they sit in my chat room being entertained and I DEFINITELY deserve to be conversed with during my cam shifts instead of being ignored.

*shrugs*

 

[CharlotteLace]

I think a lot of the flack she's gotten for that post is from people who assume we're asking them to drain their wallets on every occasion. Which isn't the case, and I really appreciate the Bono reference. It's really unsettling to sit in a chatroom and have a large number of viewers, without anybody talking at all. We need interaction from our viewers, just as much as they sought out interaction from us. I mean, isn't that the point of an interactive camsite? You could just go to pornhub if all you wanted was a quick wank. But to talk to and interact with a live girl, that's the whole point, right?

Personally, my worst nights on cam aren't the ones where I don't make a lot of money, it's the ones where I have a room full of people and nobody interested in saying hello. It's creepy and unnerving. I've done early morning shows in the past where nobody would speak to me, but I could still do successful Gold Shows. I always end up signing off, just because I need that feedback from viewers. So yeah, the least you could do is say hello to the girl. :handgestures-salute:

 

[Gen]

I agree with Charlotte. Nights where you dance around and try to engage a silent room aren't fun in the slightest, even if you make your token goals. It's unnerving and uncomfortable and honestly I find it creepy how many people will sit there for ages without even saying hi when you're desperately trying to get the room going.

I really don't understand the poit of watching cams if you don't want to interact at all. Sometimes when I'm perving, I feel a bit more shy/quiet, but I don't hang out in dead rooms just adding to the list of silent premiums. I dunno, it sucks when you get all excited to go on cam and people are obviously interested enough to stay but not enough to interact. I liked the rockstar reference.

I also agree with most of the tipping stuff but for me the issue lately has been chatters. I know not everyone can tip every day (and some guys will never tip again after upgrading), but damn - conversation is free & the biggest difference between videos and camgirls.

 

[Deleted member 8603]

I read the responses that one tumblr guy had and it might've made me go on a rant on twitter.

Its incredibly insulting to hear the word "entitled" put to cam models asking to get paid for their work.

I devote my LIFE to my work. There hasn't been a day in the last four years where I didnt do something cam related.
I used to pull 50-60 hours of just live camming. I still try for at least 35 of JUST live. Not to mention the hours upon hours I've spent talking for free to people, advertising, taking free pictures, taking paid pictures, making videos, etc.
I've put thousands of dollars into creating a quality camview. I have a room in my house, a bathroom, and a closet devoted to my work. I've dealt with coming out and blackmail due to the sexual nature of my work.
I've hurt myself camming, I've gotten on when I had the flu, when I've been so sick I couldn't stand, when I had bronchitis for two months I got on every single day.

But yeah, camgirls like us are incredibly entitled for wanting to be paid for all of that and its the easiest job in the world.

I love my job, but its a JOB.

 

[Remykins]

Thank you ladies!

And yes, my post wasn't insinuating that every guy needs to dump thousands of tokens. Not in the slightest. Tipping 50tk once a week would suffice! Its just about showing regular appreciation within your budget! Even tipping one token a day shows that you are taking the time and effort to thank a model for her entertainment. My point was was that its just NOT ok for guys to hang out, night after night, wailing about being broke and not contributing. If you can't afford to contribute, you shouldn't be there. The freeloader mentality on MFC has gotten so carried away in the last few years...

And the silent chatrooms just need to stop. Everyone watching has a keyboard, and hopefully two hands. (having one on your dick doesn't count lol) Type. Say hi. Tell a joke. Say thank you. ITS NOT FUCKING HARD GENTLEMEN! lol

But yeah, any backlash I've received has been either from obvious chronic freeloaders who are angry that I've called them out, or from a guy who hates me. But he hates a lot of camgirls, and is just an angry person in general so its ok. (I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about if you follow me on twitter) The amount of support I've gotten from camgirls and members alike has been outstanding and makes me feel like I've done something good. I was just so sad reading so many girls tweets/blogs/posts on forums about how quiet their time on cam has been lately and I think guys just need a wake up call. Us girls don't just need your contributions, we need your conversation, your friendship, your personality...we enjoy the interaction as much as you do!

*gets off soapbox*

 

[AmberCutie]

The only line that kinda got me was the line that said "surrounded by miserable women. And thats what your wives are for, no?"

It made me cringe a tad.

But the sentiment of the line preceding that definitely hit home. If it's constantly slow and girls aren't hitting their goals 90% of the time, the whole vibe in their rooms and on MFC could get pretty miserable.

 

[mynameisbob84]

I personally don't see how this topic could get heated...call me silly but I like to think that every member on here would agree that silent lurkers and chronic freeloaders are a bad thing, no?

I've gotten a bit of backlash from it, people saying I sound entitled, but you know what? Again, call me ridiculous, but I believe I DO deserve to have more people tipping for the many hours per week they sit in my chat room being entertained and I DEFINITELY deserve to be conversed with during my cam shifts instead of being ignored.

*shrugs*

Well, I could see why members (and even some models) might disagree with a lot of what you wrote, and potentially even take offence to it; and similarly, I can see models (and a lot of members) agreeing with everything you said and feeling much the same way - wherever there's two opposing schools of thought, there's potential for heated debate, innit.

For what it's worth, there are parts of your post that I agree with, and parts that I disagree with. I think a lot of backlash you're receiving (however much backlash that may be, I have no idea what's been said to you) is owing to the way you chose to communicate your message, as opposed to the message itself. Passion is great, but being combative can be counter-productive. In your post you implicate all members, and make no distinction between freeloaders, silent lurkers and trolls; and the members who reside at the other end of the spectrum, who financially cripple themselves to make sure their favourite models are happy, or even your own fans who you profess to love but lump in with all the other members who, in your estimation, take so much and give so little. You also imply that married members who frequent MFC are lumbered with miserable wives. I'm not married, but if I was, probably wouldn't be overjoyed with that sentiment, ya know? You also suggest that anyone who might disagree with you, is only doing so because you're a woman speaking her mind. I like to think that the majority of us are capable of critical thinking and can disagree with what a woman says without being wildly sexist and still support a woman's right to speak her mind, whether or not we agree with her.

As to your actual argument, I completely agree that if you're spending time in a model's room and enjoying her company (and I see no other reason why you'd be spending time in a model's room) you should be tipping her something. But it's also worth pointing out that those freeloaders are there for a reason. MFC is marketed in a way that attracts a lot of them. That very same marketing also attracts a lot of members who do wind up spending money on the site. The freeloaders are a consequence of the members in that second bracket - the tippers - being attracted to the site in the first place, and as annoying as they may be, they're kind of a necessary evil. And as far as MFC is concerned, they're doing nothing wrong, and they're 100% entitled to use the site without ever tipping a single token.

As to your U2 comparison, I'd have to disagree. It's a false equivalency. People at a U2 gig have paid for their ticket and travelled to the gig to see U2 specifically. They've gone to that effort because they're a fan of the band and probably have been for years. They're looking forward to hearing "With Or Without You" and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" long before the moment they actually get to see and hear the band play them, and by the time that moment finally comes, that crowd is ready. They're pumped. There's electricity in the air. Just like everyone knew there would be. That's why they paid for their ticket and made the journey in the first place. The members in your room - outside of your regulars - they likely have no idea who you are. They didn't buy tokens and log onto MFC specifically to come spend them in your room. The majority of them are probably seeing you for the first time and, as harsh as it may sound, it's not their responsibility to make it easy for you to entertain them (even though they are more likely to enjoy themselves if they contribute to conversation and make the model feel loved). Ultimately, as a model, it's your job (literally) to convince them that they want to watch you, that they want to talk to you, and crucially, that they want to spend their hard-earned money on you. It's not an easy job, and I have a lot of respect for any model who is able to do it with enough frequency to make a living, but that essentially is the job :twocents-02cents:

 

[Remykins]

The only line that kinda got me was the line that said "surrounded by miserable women. And thats what your wives are for, no?"

It made me cringe a tad.

But the sentiment of the line preceding that definitely hit home. If it's constantly slow and girls aren't hitting their goals 90% of the time, the whole vibe in their rooms and on MFC could get pretty miserable.

Yeah I can see how that line would offend some, it was more meant as a joke. I have a pretty harsh sense of humor sometimes :/ lol

 

[BarbieLuv]

I read the responses that one tumblr guy had and it might've made me go on a rant on twitter.

Its incredibly insulting to hear the word "entitled" put to cam models asking to get paid for their work.

I devote my LIFE to my work. There hasn't been a day in the last four years where I didnt do something cam related.
I used to pull 50-60 hours of just live camming. I still try for at least 35 of JUST live. Not to mention the hours upon hours I've spent talking for free to people, advertising, taking free pictures, taking paid pictures, making videos, etc.
I've put thousands of dollars into creating a quality camview. I have a room in my house, a bathroom, and a closet devoted to my work. I've dealt with coming out and blackmail due to the sexual nature of my work.
I've hurt myself camming, I've gotten on when I had the flu, when I've been so sick I couldn't stand, when I had bronchitis for two months I got on every single day.

But yeah, camgirls like us are incredibly entitled for wanting to be paid for all of that and its the easiest job in the world.

I love my job, but its a JOB.

I agree with all of this so much. Since I started a year ago, I've averaged 20-30 hours a week of being on cam, all dressed up, entertaining, etc. But off-cam work brings my total 'work time' to more like 70-80 hours per week, working on graphics/content/website/games/raffles/show plans/etc. I have a dedicated room for camming, tons of equipment (toys, lingerie, etc.), keep up with fans, post a lot on Twitter, maintain my own website... All this while also balancing a relationship, household, taking care of all of the behind-the-scenes financial aspects of camming, and somehow finding time to actually spend time with family and friends. Some days I feel stretched really, really thin, but it's worth it to have such a rewarding career.

Camming is NOT easy money. Only ladies who are brand-new think that they can just show up and get paid, camgirls who are actually successful put soooo much time and effort into this industry that is invisible to the guys, since another aspect of the job is making it seem effortless. We work our asses off to make sure that our viewers are happy and entertained, so logging on and having nobody even take the time to type 'hi' for hours on end is a huge slap in the face.

 

[RainyDayGuy]

Imagine this: you’re a rockstar. You’re like fucking BONO…and you eagerly run on stage and rock that shit out, only to realize the audience is just sitting there and staring at you. No fist pumps, no dancing, no singing along or chanting, no lighters in the air…just empty, soul-less faces barely blinking back at you. You’d find it pretty hard to continue being fucking awesome, no?

First thing. If Bono or any other rockstar posted a blog complaining about the fans not meeting his or her expectations, I'd expected they would get a lot of negative feedback. The words entitled rockstar douchebag would probably get thrown around. At least they would if I were commenting on it.

Second thing. Do cam models think that complaining about freeloaders will actually make them stop being freeloaders? I'd say that is pretty unlikely. The only thing that it might accomplish is to annoy people who might actually tip. I certainly enjoyed the generalizations about the type of person that frequents MFC. I would actually agree with the overall sentiment that was presented. I just have a hard time with the tone that it was presented in.

Just my :twocents-02cents:. Feel free to declare me butthurt. That will also serve as a good motivation to go buy some tokens and tip more.

Edit: What Bob said while I was typing is a better response than mine, so read that.

 

[Remykins]

I personally don't see how this topic could get heated...call me silly but I like to think that every member on here would agree that silent lurkers and chronic freeloaders are a bad thing, no?

I've gotten a bit of backlash from it, people saying I sound entitled, but you know what? Again, call me ridiculous, but I believe I DO deserve to have more people tipping for the many hours per week they sit in my chat room being entertained and I DEFINITELY deserve to be conversed with during my cam shifts instead of being ignored.

*shrugs*

Well, I could see why members (and even some models) might disagree with a lot of what you wrote, and potentially even take offence to it; and similarly, I can see models (and a lot of members) agreeing with everything you said and feeling much the same way - wherever there's two opposing schools of thought, there's potential for heated debate, innit.

For what it's worth, there are parts of your post that I agree with, and parts that I disagree with. I think a lot of backlash you're receiving (however much backlash that may be, I have no idea what's been said to you) is owing to the way you chose to communicate your message, as opposed to the message itself. Passion is great, but being combative can be counter-productive. In your post you implicate all members, and make no distinction between freeloaders, silent lurkers and trolls; and the members who reside at the other end of the spectrum, who financially cripple themselves to make sure their favourite models are happy, or even your own fans who you profess to love but lump in with all the other members who, in your estimation, take so much and give so little. You also imply that married members who frequent MFC are lumbered with miserable wives. I'm not married, but if I was, probably wouldn't be overjoyed with that sentiment, ya know? You also suggest that anyone who might disagree with you, is only doing so because you're a woman speaking her mind. I like to think that the majority of us are capable of critical thinking and can disagree with what a woman says without being wildly sexist and still support a woman's right to speak her mind, whether or not we agree with her.

As to your actual argument, I completely agree that if you're spending time in a model's room and enjoying her company (and I see no other reason why you'd be spending time in a model's room) you should be tipping her something. But it's also worth pointing out that those freeloaders are there for a reason. MFC is marketed in a way that attracts a lot of them. That very same marketing also attracts a lot of members who do wind up spending money on the site. The freeloaders are a consequence of the members in that second bracket - the tippers - being attracted to the site in the first place, and as annoying as they may be, they're kind of a necessary evil. And as far as MFC is concerned, they're doing nothing wrong, and they're 100% entitled to use the site without ever tipping a single token.

As to your U2 comparison, I'd have to disagree. It's a false equivalency. People at a U2 gig have paid for their ticket and travelled to the gig to see U2 specifically. They've gone to that effort because they're a fan of the band and probably have been for years. They're looking forward to hearing "With Or Without You" and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" long before the moment they actually get to see and hear the band play them, and by the time that moment finally comes, that crowd is ready. They're pumped. There's electricity in the air. Just like everyone knew there would be. That's why they paid for their ticket and made the journey in the first place. The members in your room - outside of your regulars - they likely have no idea who you are. They didn't buy tokens and log onto MFC specifically to come spend them in your room. The majority of them are probably seeing you for the first time and, as harsh as it may sound, it's not their responsibility to make it easy for you to entertain them (even though they are more likely to enjoy themselves if they contribute to conversation and make the model feel loved). Ultimately, as a model, it's your job (literally) to convince them that they want to watch you, that they want to talk to you, and crucially, that they want to spend their hard-earned money on you. It's not an easy job, and I have a lot of respect for any model who is able to do it with enough frequency to make a living, but that essentially is the job :twocents-02cents:

I wouldn't say I implicated ALL members. I think I made it pretty clear that my post was directed at those who do not contribute. I would hope that anyone who DOES tip their favorite models would see my post and not feel like it was directed at them.

Secondly, as stated before, my comment about married men was a joke. I have a twisted and blunt sense of humor that is off-putting to some but yeah...its common knowledge to most camgirls that some of their fans view cams because they're not getting it at home. Its just a reality and I was trying to make a humorous hint that many of us are not happy.

As for your U2 bit, you're looking WAY too much into my analogy. And it doesn't matter that U2 has excited fans showing up to their shows - WE DO TOO and we STILL get silent chatrooms. I could have a room full of regulars and it will still be dead silent, and I know so many other girls who have the same issue. And I'll have to disagree with your belief that its not a members job to make it easy for us to entertain. It absolutely IS. Theres a reason why we're camgirls and not just shooting solo porn. We LOVE the interaction. Its one of the draws for us. We have a fun time when things are lively and interactive. How do you honestly expect us to put on a good show if no one will even acknowledge our existence? Comedians do better when the audience is laughing. If we don't get feedback, don't get interaction, then that negates the reason why we're there. We are camgirls and part of our job description is to interact with those watching us...which implies that you, the cam viewer, has a part to play as well. Interaction is key to our chatrooms being enjoyable for everyone.

 

[Remykins]

Imagine this: you’re a rockstar. You’re like fucking BONO…and you eagerly run on stage and rock that shit out, only to realize the audience is just sitting there and staring at you. No fist pumps, no dancing, no singing along or chanting, no lighters in the air…just empty, soul-less faces barely blinking back at you. You’d find it pretty hard to continue being fucking awesome, no?

First thing. If Bono or any other rockstar posted a blog complaining about the fans not meeting his or her expectations, I'd expected they would get a lot of negative feedback. The words entitled rockstar douchebag would probably get thrown around. At least they would if I were commenting on it.

Second thing. Do cam models think that complaining about freeloaders will actually make them stop being freeloaders? I'd say that is pretty unlikely. The only thing that it might accomplish is to annoy people who might actually tip. I certainly enjoyed the generalizations about the type of person that frequents MFC. I would actually agree with the overall sentiment that was presented. I just have a hard time with the tone that it was presented in.

Just my :twocents-02cents:. Feel free to declare me butthurt. That will also serve as a good motivation to go buy some tokens and tip more.

I have no problem with people thinking my tone was harsh, aggressive or anything. I'm a pretty assertive person and my personality turns a lot of people off, and thats ok. Disagree with my presentation all you want, but the message is universal to every camgirl - silent lurkers and entitled freeloading sucks. If my blog post encourages even just one guy to speak up and say hi to the next camgirl he encounters instead of shying away silently, then my job is done. Like I said in my post, too many girls are too nice to speak up, for fear of retribution or criticism. I'll take the criticism. I've been a camgirl for nearly a decade, lord knows I've had more than my share of judgement :lol:

 

[theRileyDaniels]

I do agree with most of this, its hard to sit in a silent chat room, I dance and talk and plan and produce content, and when I cant even get topless, or hell get guys to say a simple hello, it makes me want to cry. I completely understand that members are NOT loaded, but talking is free.

 

[JickyJuly]

I'm not going to lie, I really hate the whole thing. I get the sentiment and frustration behind it. We've all logged out frustrated, worried about bills, concerned that maybe the viability of the job is shifting etc. But, if you're going to call yourself a performer, when you're on the outside of the curtain, keep your game face on. No one is forced to take a commission job. Commission jobs aren't for the faint of heart. It's stressful. The audience isn't supposed to know that. I think it also validates that girls who whine on a daily basis via the Twitter. I'll take a handful of quiet freeloaders over a consistently whining model any day.

Yes. Freeloaders should probably stop freeloading. They know that. Everybody knows that. But, any model who lets them get to her badly enough to become unlikeable should probably just try selling vacuums or something. And, if a vacuum salesman taped this note to my door, I'd laugh my face clean off. EVERYONE'S mental health at the end of the day is their own responsibility.

Also, Bono we ain't. Some of us might look better naked than Bono. A few of us might even do more charity work than Bono, but if Bono climbed up on stage and pointed out that his audience wasn't stroking his ego hard enough, I hope someone would throw something heavy at him.

 

[Rose]

I'd say over 90% of my viewers (no matter what site I'm camming on at the moment) are silent and it sucks. I probably wouldn't have said it the same way, but I definitely agree with what was said because it royally sucks to entertain crickets. It's why I don't feel bad at all when I take long stretches of time off from live camming to take care of my family. At least with clips I don't have to worry about constant deafening silence.

 

[AllisonWilder]

I'm not on a tip-based site anymore, so most of this doesn't actually apply to me, but I do agree with what has been said about chatters. I value talkative people just as much as the people who take me private. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to stick out my shifts and I've noticed more quiet people as of late. I get that maybe I'm not the girl you want to take private or maybe my rates are too expensive for you or whatever, but if you're hanging out in my room, it's obviously for a reason and a sentence couple of words every now and again to let me know that you're still there would just make my day.

 

[Kunra9]

I agree that if you regularly visit a room, you should contribute. Absolutely, 100%.

However, heaping all of the blame on the members is complete wrong.

The market on MFC is saturated. There are sooooooooooo many models now. It's ridiculous. The competition is the biggest reason for your downswing in income.

Guys are easily distracted creatures, we look at new shiny shit. Maybe it's time to throw a coat of wax on the car and shine it up a bit. Or buy a new car altogether and see if people pay attention. Here, the car is a metaphor for performances.

I went to a concert one time. The Offspring. Their opening act was a band called Neon Trees. Talented guys, some good tunes. During the opening act, the crowd was not responding that much. The lead singer literally began to complain. "I understand that we are not The Offspring, but we would like you guys to at least bob your heads to the music or show some enthusiasm for our show, don't just stand there". I was blown away. It's his job as an entertainer to win over that crowd. His plea had a negative effect, people were responding less. Again he urged the crowd to act excited and he added phrases like "otherwise we are wasting our time here". Audience members left the standing area to go to the bar or find some place to sit. At the end of his set, the lead singer threw down his mic in the middle of the song, flipped off the crowd and left the stage.

I liked Neon Trees prior to that.

 

[VeronicaChaos]

I agree that if you regularly visit a room, you should contribute. Absolutely, 100%.

However, heaping all of the blame on the members is complete wrong.

The market on MFC is saturated. There are sooooooooooo many models now. It's ridiculous. The competition is the biggest reason for your downswing in income.

Guys are easily distracted creatures, we look at new shiny shit. Maybe it's time to throw a coat of wax on the car and shine it up a bit. Or buy a new car altogether and see if people pay attention. Here, the car is a metaphor for performances.

I went to a concert one time. The Offspring. Their opening act was a band called Neon Trees. Talented guys, some good tunes. During the opening act, the crowd was not responding that much. The lead singer literally began to complain. "I understand that we are not The Offspring, but we would like you guys to at least bob your heads to the music or show some enthusiasm for our show, don't just stand there". I was blown away. It's his job as an entertainer to win over that crowd. His plea had a negative effect, people were responding less. Again he urged the crowd to act excited and he added phrases like "otherwise we are wasting our time here". Audience members left the standing area to go to the bar or find some place to sit. At the end of his set, the lead singer threw down his mic in the middle of the song, flipped off the crowd and left the stage.

I liked Neon Trees prior to that.

I agree that the market is saturated. It's an unpopular view, but I actually like the fact that sex work is taboo. It's what keeps too many girls from getting into it, and it's part of what makes it profitable. Also, this whole concert comparison reminds me...

I went to a punk show once and the audience is pretty dead. The lead singer is doing EVERYTHING he can to get people into it. Doing the "circle pit" hand gestures, jumping up and down, etc. Their music was awful but I was so impressed with his ethic in trying to get people to participate that I ended up moshing my ass off with 3 other people.

 

[NoelleBright]

I agree that if you regularly visit a room, you should contribute. Absolutely, 100%.

However, heaping all of the blame on the members is complete wrong.

The market on MFC is saturated. There are sooooooooooo many models now. It's ridiculous. The competition is the biggest reason for your downswing in income.

Guys are easily distracted creatures, we look at new shiny shit. Maybe it's time to throw a coat of wax on the car and shine it up a bit. Or buy a new car altogether and see if people pay attention. Here, the car is a metaphor for performances.

I went to a concert one time. The Offspring. Their opening act was a band called Neon Trees. Talented guys, some good tunes. During the opening act, the crowd was not responding that much. The lead singer literally began to complain. "I understand that we are not The Offspring, but we would like you guys to at least bob your heads to the music or show some enthusiasm for our show, don't just stand there". I was blown away. It's his job as an entertainer to win over that crowd. His plea had a negative effect, people were responding less. Again he urged the crowd to act excited and he added phrases like "otherwise we are wasting our time here". Audience members left the standing area to go to the bar or find some place to sit. At the end of his set, the lead singer threw down his mic in the middle of the song, flipped off the crowd and left the stage.

I liked Neon Trees prior to that.

I agree that the market is saturated. It's an unpopular view, but I actually like the fact that sex work is taboo. It's what keeps too many girls from getting into it, and it's part of what makes it profitable. Also, this whole concert comparison reminds me...

I went to a punk show once and the audience is pretty dead. The lead singer is doing EVERYTHING he can to get people into it. Doing the "circle pit" hand gestures, jumping up and down, etc. Their music was awful but I was so impressed with his ethic in trying to get people to participate that I ended up moshing my ass off with 3 other people.

It sure is.
When I first started 3 years ago I picked my time slot based on the amount of models online. I would sign on late nights because thats when the model count was in 3 digits. Back then when I would sign online there were only about 700ish girls online. You never see that number anymore. Now when I sign on in that very same time slot there will be 1600 girls online.

It's crazy to think about how quickly things changed, because even when I first started camming it had already been around for a LONG time. What has changed within the past few years that suddenly caused those numbers to sky rocket?
Social media, probably.
Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, have all also risen in popularity and that's where camgirls market. I didn't even know camming was a thing until my friend who did it told me about it. Now you have tons of pretty girls on all these social media sites stumbling upon camming because our pics, advertisements, gifs, video clips and all that other good stuff are getting spread around on these sites. I think it's just becoming way easier to "discover" than it used to be.
That's my theory, at least. :confusion-shrug:

 

[mynameisbob84]

I wouldn't say I implicated ALL members. I think I made it pretty clear that my post was directed at those who do not contribute. I would hope that anyone who DOES tip their favorite models would see my post and not feel like it was directed at them.

Secondly, as stated before, my comment about married men was a joke. I have a twisted and blunt sense of humor that is off-putting to some but yeah...its common knowledge to most camgirls that some of their fans view cams because they're not getting it at home. Its just a reality and I was trying to make a humorous hint that many of us are not happy.

As for your U2 bit, you're looking WAY too much into my analogy. And it doesn't matter that U2 has excited fans showing up to their shows - WE DO TOO and we STILL get silent chatrooms. I could have a room full of regulars and it will still be dead silent, and I know so many other girls who have the same issue. And I'll have to disagree with your belief that its not a members job to make it easy for us to entertain. It absolutely IS. Theres a reason why we're camgirls and not just shooting solo porn. We LOVE the interaction. Its one of the draws for us. We have a fun time when things are lively and interactive. How do you honestly expect us to put on a good show if no one will even acknowledge our existence? Comedians do better when the audience is laughing. If we don't get feedback, don't get interaction, then that negates the reason why we're there. We are camgirls and part of our job description is to interact with those watching us...which implies that you, the cam viewer, has a part to play as well. Interaction is key to our chatrooms being enjoyable for everyone.

I'm going mainly by you naming your post "An open letter to all of the MFC viewers" and not once mentioning the members who do tip and talk. But if you were addressing only the members who don't tip or talk, that's cool.

I'm beginning to think maybe there's one key word that kinda lies at the heart of our disagreement here, and that's the word "responsibility".

Would it be nice for models if their members were more keen to tip and take part in conversation? I'm sure it would be. Would it make rooms more enjoyable to be a part of if everyone was tipping for countdowns and keeping conversation flowing? Absolutely. Is it ever a member's responsibility to make that happen? Not so much.

As a performer, it's your responsibility to engage your audience and keep them entertained, not the other way around :twocents-02cents:

 

[Gen]

I think Bob is right that the rock concert analogy doesn't work. Since we're talking about opening acts, I would say that when I go to a show, I've paid for a ticket. I'm probably going to stick it out through a crappy opening band because I'm so excited to see the main act. But camming doesn't have tickets or opening acts (though wouldn't that be fun...), so if you don't like the entertainment, you have literally no reason to stick around. Maybe the camgirl isn't boring but she's not your type or you don't like the type of show, whatever, you can just leave. But if you choose to stay, sitting there like a bump on a log seems silly (to me). You're obviously being entertained in some way or another so why not join in?

I like seeing the points on both sides, though, it's interesting.

 

[Deleted member 8603]

I realized in my first post that I didn't actually talk about the topic of the note, but just a dude being a dick and saying our job is easy blahblah.

---------------------
I'll start by saying its super tacky when models who don't work hard bitch about money.
Or when people constantly berate members for not spending instead of putting in more effort on their side.
-BUT-
Amy works HARD.
She has had success for her shows before, people talk about how much they love her.
She's incredibly thankful for the people who DO tip her and shows that often on social media and her blog.
She's got 33.3 THOUSAND twitter followers who are "fans" of her, her own site, etc.
She's also having trouble with money though she puts in all of this work to the point where she's considering leaving altogether.

So I think at that point, its totally reasonable to say "hey, you aren't my fan if you don't support my work by even speaking".

I guess my thoughts on this are, if everyone OBVIOUSLY loves your shows and you put your whole heart and soul into it, you deserve at the very least for people to say hello.

 

[ComicOzzie]

As a member, I get tired of frequently being the ONLY person talking and tipping in the model's room. At some point, its nice to have someone else step up and at least contribute to the conversation. :twocents-02cents:

 

[AmberCutie]

Sort of adding my own sentiment into the pot here...

I think one of the most annoying things is that I feel I'll get called "entitled" if I was to complain about lack of tips in between "shows". We constantly hear members (all sorts of members, from freeloaders to actual tipping members) calling a model entitled, or a greedy token whore who expects to get money just for sitting there. Now, I get that there ARE models who really DO JUST SIT THERE and do nothing. And by nothing I mean sit there and stare at their screen and blink.

But a girl like me, or **Sophia Locke, SweetDee, JoleneBrody, GinnyPotter, Brina_, GoddessZoey, MoniLove**... we have a very chatty personality and will "sit there" and chat about all sorts of things for some periods of time. There is teasing and nudity involved in the chatting a good portion of the time as well.

I believe that this is STILL a form of entertainment. We may not be shoving dildos in ourselves at the moment, or busting a major sweat dancing to an awesome song (we can be caught doing these things, too! But I digress...) but we are providing you with entertainment. If you're sitting there, choosing to listen to our conversation instead of going to another room or another site or even something away from your computer, then we are holding your attention.

I think that's worth something.

So it drives me nuts when there aren't necessarily any countdowns or action-packed shows going on and no tips are coming in. Because at that moment I'd bet that at least 50% of the people watching are entertained, but don't feel the need to share a few tokens because there's no action. And that's quite shitty. And that's one of the things that gets me down sometimes.






**(just tossing examples of girls whom I have seen on cam and believe they have a social cam style)

 

[Always_Tim]

As a member, I get tired of frequently being the ONLY person talking and tipping in the model's room. At some point, its nice to have someone else step up and at least contribute to the conversation. :twocents-02cents:

No kidding. That starts to feel pretty strange after a while. The pressure to keep conversation going can be tough. (OK, so models feel that all the time, obviously, but it's their job at least.) It can cause all sorts of weirdness and stress on the model-member relationship if it happens too often. But that's a whole different topic, which probably belongs elsewhere.

 

[mynameisbob84]

Sort of adding my own sentiment into the pot here...

I think one of the most annoying things is that I feel I'll get called "entitled" if I was to complain about lack of tips in between "shows". We constantly hear members (all sorts of members, from freeloaders to actual tipping members) calling a model entitled, or a greedy token whore who expects to get money just for sitting there. Now, I get that there ARE models who really DO JUST SIT THERE and do nothing. And by nothing I mean sit there and stare at their screen and blink.

But a girl like me, or **Sophia Locke, SweetDee, JoleneBrody, GinnyPotter, Brina_, GoddessZoey, MoniLove**... we have a very chatty personality and will "sit there" and chat about all sorts of things for some periods of time. There is teasing and nudity involved in the chatting a good portion of the time as well.

I believe that this is STILL a form of entertainment. We may not be shoving dildos in ourselves at the moment, or busting a major sweat dancing to an awesome song (we can be caught doing these things, too! But I digress...) but we are providing you with entertainment. If you're sitting there, choosing to listen to our conversation instead of going to another room or another site or even something away from your computer, then we are holding your attention.

I think that's worth something.

So it drives me nuts when there aren't necessarily any countdowns or action-packed shows going on and no tips are coming in. Because at that moment I'd bet that at least 50% of the people watching are entertained, but don't feel the need to share a few tokens because there's no action. And that's quite shitty. And that's one of the things that gets me down sometimes.






**(just tossing examples of girls whom I have seen on cam and believe they have a social cam style)

I could be way off, but I reckon there are two main types of tipper - the "just because" tippers and the "countdown/content" tippers. And I reckon (and could well be talking out mah bum bum) something that all (well, most) tippers do, regardless of type, is budget for the evening. If I'm camped out in a particular room and know I'm gonna be there for a while, I'll mentally earmark x amount of tokens for that model. Being a "just because" tipper, I'll just tip sporadically until I've tipped that amount, and it won't matter if there's a countdown or not. So I'm just as likely to tip seemingly for conversation as I am seemingly for a countdown. If I were a "countdown" tipper though, I'd wait until the countdown started. I could make a conscience effort to spread it out a bit, but either way I'd end up spending the same and the model would end up with the same number of tokens from me, and by waiting for the countdown to start, I know that all my tokens will be going towards that countdown and it'll get cleared that much quicker.

All this is to say, that receiving less tips when "just chatting" isn't necessarily a sign that that members don't appreciate those in-between countdown/show moments, and also that being tipped more for those moments might not necessarily mean more tokens, but it might mean struggling to clear a countdown later on :twocents-02cents:

 

[HiGirlsRHot]

Second thing. Do cam models think that complaining about freeloaders will actually make them stop being freeloaders? I'd say that is pretty unlikely. The only thing that it might accomplish is to annoy people who might actually tip. I certainly enjoyed the generalizations about the type of person that frequents MFC. I would actually agree with the overall sentiment that was presented. I just have a hard time with the tone that it was presented in.

I liked Ashleigh tumblr post, so what if some of her comments weren't models of diplomatic language, the passion came through.

Personally, I am delighted when cam models and members complain about chronic freeloaders. I wish there was fucking freeloaders Friday, when they were called out and banned all day. Not because I think it would change most of their behavior. But because I have this slim (perhaps delusional) hope that if enough people bitched MFC might create better incentive for freeloader to upgrade, either by enhancing the premium experience or by making the basics/$20 premium experience worse. So if camgirl complaining about freeloaders pisses some of them off, I count that as a win.

However as Bob said the main culprit is MFC, they market the site as a place to watch beautiful woman do super sexy shit, FOR FREE, FOREVER. I can easily understand why for many guys, paying money just so you can tell a camgirl how beautiful and desirable she is, while giving her some of your money, isn't a particularly enticing value proposition. Nor is the MFC experience a 100 or even 10 times better for the guy who spends $2,000 than the guy who spends $20. Freeloaders are behaving rationally to the incentive they are presented, the behavior won't change unless the incentives do.

The not talking complaint I find interesting. I completely sympathize with how hard it must be to try to entertain a room of 100 or 200 (although generally guest and basic are muted so only a few dozen could talk) and nobody is saying word.. I'm sure that just sucks. I don't see it cause if I am in a room for more than 5 minutes I talk and if nobody else is I won't shut up :lol: However when a top model told me recently how she wanted to cry when the tips were slow and the room was pretty quiet, I realized that is a universal problem. So kudos for all you girls who push through the tough days :handgestures-salute:

But in some ways models and members are on opposites sides here. While I've enjoyed conversations on MFC, on subjects from current events, movies, music and philosophy, to porn, pot and pizza fucking those conversations are uncommon. In many rooms silencing 75+% of the talkers would make my experience more enjoyable. To a model, getting a steady stream of compliments, "hottest ass on MFC" and similar emotes, "I'd love to pound that pussy into the basement", along with normal litany of tipless request "show ass,pussy, feet bb..", are feedback that somebody is watching and appreciating what they are doing. The comments are much better when accompanied by tips but better than silence. But from my prospective if I never saw another one of those comments in a chat room, I'd be happy camper. Dirty talk in public chat I find particularly irritating , so out of respect for my fellow members, "wow I just cam so hard on those perfect tits" is something I only say in a private tip note. Also if I am not planning on tipping, I am much less inclined to talk,for a variety reasons including not want to upstage the big tipper who is responsible for the show, and hoping that if just lurk in the corner the model won't notice me and realize I didn't tip her... I notice that most of my favorite models, have a regular who is very chatty, but seldom if ever tips the girl. While most of the time I like these guys, at times I feel like Ashleigh.

If you have the time to spend hours per day in your favorite models chatroom, then you have the time to earn a bit of extra money somehow to show her how much you appreciate her.

. I am sure there basics and silent premium who are there just as much but they are invisible to me so I never get annoyed at them. Since, I don't want to be one of those chatty non-tippers, I'll talk less if I'm not tipping them that day.

 

[mickerd]

I guess the open letter didn't really move me all that much. I'm 100% certain that absolutely every single member of any workforce participating in any form of occupation would like to increase their earnings & generally speaking feel more appreciated. Dynamic highs/lows should be expected when working on a commission based payscale. I see things similar as to how it would be for any actor/musician/artist etc. Some will succeed some won't. The salesperson blaming the customer for not wanting to buy into or engaging in what they are putting out there doesn't seem like a very rational approach.

MFC encourages proliferation of guests/basics as anything that increases their overall traffic is good, they go specifically out of their way to inform potential members via advertising that they are under no obligation to spend anything whatsoever at anytime. The larger the number of guests the better, if even a very small percentage of this pool of guests happen to eventually purchase tokens, that's great. Which particular models these tokens are actually spent on is irrelevant, as long as it continues to increase overall profitability for the site. The amount of active models is constantly rising as is the number of models with *new* status at any point in time. While individual models may possibly experience a marked reduction in their income, the website as a whole is increasing their overall profits, which is the ultimate goal of the site owners whom all of you models work for. Basics & guests will be around increasingly forever as long as MFC exists, they play an important part in this particular business model.

 

[MintyFlowers]

I am sure there basics and silent premium who are there just as much but they are invisible to me so I never get annoyed at them. Since, I don't want to be one of those chatty non-tippers, I'll talk less if I'm not tipping them that day.

Just tip like 5 tokens once in a while and talk! If anything though, I'm sure they would just be happy in general if you talk; especially if it's not just "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bbbbbb!"