If you missed it, The Guardian has been having a good old look at Stella Barey’s new platform, Hidden. And it’s an interesting one.
The basic idea is that Gen-Z creators are getting pretty bloody fed up with the whole “post constantly or disappear” approach to social media and adult platforms.
Hidden is pitching itself as a bit of an antidote to that, with better discovery, a feed that actually helps people find creators, clip storefronts and, importantly, less pressure on creators to spend their entire lives churning out content, and do you know what? I can see the appeal. Because the real problem here isn’t OnlyFans or any particular platform. It’s burnout. Anyone who has spent hours making content, cutting teasers, writing captions, worrying about algorithms, checking whether something has been shadowbanned and then wondering why your own bloody followers haven’t seen it will know exactly what I mean.
There comes a point where creating content stops being fun and starts feeling like another unpaid job. When an entire generation of creators starts saying, “Actually, this is exhausting,” perhaps it’s time someone listened.
So What Does This Have to Do With Babestation?
Quite a lot, actually. Because one thing Babestation has always done differently is that we don’t rely entirely on an endless feed. We programme. There are shows. There are nights. There are particular nude cam girls people want to see. There’s a reason to come back on Thursday night rather than simply scrolling through hundreds of posts hoping something interesting turns up. I think that’s becoming increasingly relevant.
Maybe the future isn’t about trying to be everywhere, all of the time. Maybe it’s about creating something people actually want to come back for. Gen-Z might be getting sick of the content treadmill, and honestly, I don’t blame them.
1. Discovery Shouldn’t Be the Creator’s Problem
One of the things Hidden is trying to address is discovery. Their approach includes bringing older content back into circulation, which means creators aren’t constantly having to make something new just to stay visible. That makes sense.
If you had a brilliant night on Thursday, why should your content be forgotten by Saturday There’s no reason you can’t keep good stuff working for you.
Whether that’s bringing back highlights, featuring previous shows or giving older content another push, the principle is simple: you shouldn’t have to create something new every five minutes just to remind people you exist. Creators should be able to take a bloody day off.
2. Rules Should Be Easy to Understand
Another thing creators are increasingly fed up with is not knowing what they’re allowed to do. One minute something is fine. The next, it’s removed. Then you’re trying to work out which mysterious rule you’ve apparently broken. And let’s face it, nobody wants to spend their evening reading 47 pages of legal waffle to work out whether they’re allowed to post a picture.
Clear rules are better for everyone. Tell creators what they can do, tell them what they can’t do and give them some actual examples. It’s really not that complicated. And knowing where you stand is quite reassuring when your income depends on staying online.
3. Let Someone Else Do Some of the Bloody Admin
Creators are already doing enough. They’re filming, editing, answering messages, promoting themselves, managing subscriptions, keeping up with social media and trying to have an actual life somewhere in between. So if a platform can help with the boring stuff, why wouldn’t it?
Cut the trailers. Sort the thumbnails. Put together some replays. Give old content another push.
Help with the promotional side. Let the creator concentrate on actually being a creator. You don’t need to do absolutely everything yourself just to prove you’re hardworking.Sometimes you just need someone else to do the boring bits while you go and have a coffee.
4. Let’s Talk About Money Properly
Hidden is also making a big deal about its revenue split, and I think transparency around money is always a good thing. Creators shouldn’t have to work it out from vague percentages and complicated explanations.
- Tell people what they earn.
- Tell them what the platform takes.
- Explain how bonuses work.
- Explain how people qualify for bigger opportunities.
Then everyone knows where they stand. It’s much easier to make a decision about a platform when the numbers are actually sitting there in front of you. No smoke and mirrors.Just show us the bloody spreadsheet.
5. AI Doesn’t Need to Do Everything
I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-AI being used to make things weird. If it can help find the best bits of a long video, organise content, write a title or deal with some of the repetitive admin, brilliant. That’s exactly where it should be useful.
What I don’t want is synthetic versions of people, fake faces and creators waking up one morning to discover they’ve apparently been filmed doing something they’ve never actually done. Deepfakes are already a massive problem, particularly for people working in adult content. So if you’re going to use AI, be clear about how you’re using it and where you draw the line.
Personally, I’m quite happy for AI to organise my filing cabinet. It can keep its hands off my knickers.
6. Bring Back a Reason to Actually Turn Up
This might be the bit I like most. There is something to be said for having a particular night you actually look forward to. A named show. A themed night. A big event. Something that feels like it’s happening rather than another random piece of content disappearing into the feed five minutes after you’ve posted it.
We used to call this appointment viewing. You knew something was happening on Thursday night, so you turned up on Thursday night, and perhaps that isn’t such an old-fashioned idea after all. Maybe people are actually craving a bit of structure after years of being told to scroll endlessly. Less doom-scrolling. More, “See you Thursday.” I’m quite happy with that.
So, Is Hidden Onto Something?
I think it could be. The adult creator industry has spent years telling performers they need to constantly produce more, post more, promote more and be available more. Eventually, something has to give. You can’t expect people to be creative when they’re completely bloody exhausted. I think that’s where the conversation around platforms like Hidden gets interesting.
It isn’t necessarily about replacing what’s already out there. It’s about asking whether the way we’ve built these platforms actually works for the people creating the content in the first place.
At Babestation, we’ve always understood the value of programming. Give people something to look forward to, make it feel like an event and give performers a reason to be part of something bigger than just another post in a never-ending feed. Maybe the creator world is finally catching up.
One Last Thing From Auntie Reede Fox
Gen-Z hasn’t suddenly decided they don’t want adult content. They’re just getting rather fed up with bad platforms, confusing rules and being expected to work 24 hours a day. And honestly Fair enough.
Creators need time to switch off. They need platforms that actually help them rather than constantly demanding more from them, and they need to know that the work they’re putting in isn’t going to disappear down an algorithmic black hole tomorrow.
Hidden is an interesting response to that. Whether it actually delivers on the promise remains to be seen. But the conversation itself is a good one. Because perhaps the future of adult content isn’t about doing more. Perhaps it’s about doing things a little bit better. And if that means fewer posts, better shows, happier creators and audiences who actually have something worth coming back for, then I’m all for it.
We’ve been programming nights since before most people had decent broadband.
Maybe now it’s time we started programming a little less burnout too.
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