Ask Evie: My Boyfriend’s Instagram Feed Is Full Of OnlyFans Girls. Is This Normal?

READER’S QUESTION: “Hi Evie! I read somewhere that you can tell a lot about someone’s habits on Instagram by looking at their ‘Explore’ page, regardless of who they’re following. I know this isn’t great, but sometimes I look over at my boyfriend’s phone when he’s on there or I get a glance after he’s shown me something (a reel or funny meme, for example) and is exiting out, and I always see half-naked girls for a split-second. So, the other night he was busy in another room and left his phone on the charger, and I quickly opened up the app and went straight to his ‘Explore’ page to see if I could gather what he has been looking at/engaging with. It was literally ALL half-naked OnlyFans models. The next time he was on the app in front of me, I asked him why there’s always OnlyFans models popping up. He said that he has no idea because he doesn’t follow them and doesn’t like or comment on the photos. From what I can tell, this seems to be true, but I brought up the thing I read about how Instagram only shows you content that you have demonstrated you’re interested in and how my feed is never full of half-naked women (or men, for that matter). He brushed it off and said that Instagram just pushes that type of content to men, not women, regardless of their habits on the app and that he’s actually annoyed by it. Could this be true? Is every guy’s Instagram ‘Explore’ page full of OnlyFans models, or is my boyfriend actually engaging with these girls or looking at their photos in a porn kind of way?”

EVIE’S ADVICE: This is tough because, yes, Instagram and Facebook are designed to give you more of what you like/watch/interact with – even if it was just once. That being said, there have been several experiments and studies done that show that Meta's algorithm disproportionately promotes "sexy" content – even to teens.

A 2023 undercover investigation set up fake accounts of fictional teens and preteens, using AI-generated photographs, and Meta's algorithms recommended sexual content to those accounts. A 2020 study found that photos of women in undergarments or a bikini were 54% more likely to be seen on the participants’ newsfeed. And a 2019 study found that Instagram’s algorithm boosted the reach and exposure of female influencers’ bikini or lingerie photos more than four times over their fully clothed images, even when posted on the same day. 

Unfortunately, if you're registered as a man on Instagram, you're bound to get targeted with more "sexy" content, even before you've "trained" the algorithm with your habits. Countless women pay Instagram to have their images and videos displayed on the 'Explore' page so they can gain followers and monetize their OnlyFans accounts. And, of course, who is primarily falling for the bait? Men. It makes sense then why Instagram pushes these ads straight to them.

So your boyfriend could very well be telling the truth. Or he could have engaged a few times with that kind of content at some point in the past. Or he could be actively engaging with it now. You will have to consider how honest and trustworthy your boyfriend is – beyond just snooping on his Explore page. Is this the first time you’ve felt insecure in your relationship, or are there other instances where you’ve felt that he has a wandering eye or isn’t totally committed to you? We wouldn’t recommend continuing to snoop through his phone, but rather to have some honest conversations with him about his level of commitment, where your relationship is headed, how much trust and respect mean to you, etc. 

A truly masculine, respectful man who loves and cares for you would want you to feel comfortable and secure and do anything in his power to do so. 

Moving forward, there is a practical way to change Instagram’s algorithm that is within your boyfriend’s control and is very simple, if he is truly bothered by it and/or understands your frustration. When shown a photo of a half-naked woman, or any content he doesn’t want to see, he has the option to click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of the photo and click “Not interested.” From there, he can even take it a step further and click “Don’t suggest posts with certain words” (which might be “OnlyFans” or “link in bio”), “This post made me uncomfortable,” or customize his feed further by clicking “Content preferences” and adjusting from there. If he continues to do this every time a photo pops up like that, eventually, it should become less and less of an issue. 

If you bring this solution to him and he makes no effort to change his algorithm, says that’s too much work for him to do regardless of your feelings, or that it’s not a big deal because every guy’s feed looks like that, that’s a whole separate conversation and one that might mean you should reevaluate your relationship as a whole. A truly masculine, respectful man who loves and cares for you would want you to feel comfortable and secure and do anything in his power to do so. 

Have a question you want our advice on? Email it to us at ask@eviemagazine.com.