by Denise Joy Nicolas @nicolasden_TRL, Danica Marie Salvatierra @danica_TRL & Leigh Jenessen San Diego @sdgleigh_TRL
December 22, 2022
Ever thought of exploring your sexuality under the mask of anonymity online?
Introducing Alters, under the disguise of their usernames, they explore and transact in the world of sex, building connections and finding a safe space to unleash their hidden selves.
Unmasking Alters: Who are they?
Different factors from society and even inside one's home can impact the decision of someone. With the rise of different social applications online, anyone has the liberty to access and make their own accounts privately or publicly. It can be for personal, business, dummy, or an alter account.
Maybe when you hear the word "alter", you will think about the basic definition of the word — to bring a change in one's character. But when you are on the side of social media, specifically in Twitter, alter will surely bring a change on how you will show yourself online while doing your desires without any judgment from the community because you are with other people who share the same interest with you.
“A pseudonym or 2nd account used to express oneself in a more discreet way without risking one's true identity,” these are the exact words that Alter Pilipinas mentioned to define an alter account. To note, alter accounts aim to be free from the standards set by the society.
Moreover, users are using this platform to escape from the judgment of the society about their preference for sex, and also to hide their identity while doing the sex work because we are all aware how religious the Filipinos are and how they follow societal norms in every aspect of life.
With that being said, users are choosing to utilize alter accounts to feel the freedom and comfort in doing the things they really want to do but cannot show to the society due to several judgments (The Jakarta Post, 2021).
But, in contrast to the definition of alter account, here in the Philippines, the alter users themselves still have the capability to decide if they will face reveal or stay anonymous while doing their thing.
In addition, here in the Philippines, alter accounts seem to be like a business as they offer different rates on how much their contents are. But to note, they are their own boss as they have the capability to choose if they will do booking for hookups, do video calls or phone calls, or just about sending explicit videos and images to their clients only.
At some point, there are also users who will collaborate with other users to produce explicit content and then promote it to their accounts to reach buyers.
In a study made by Iwayama et al. (2020), the reasons why people create an alter account were all because of the following: libido, peers, and porn watching.
The researchers have mentioned that individuals are considering alter as “libog” accounts. This is where the users unleash their sexual fantasies and desires together with other people inside the community.
Another is that some people are learning about the alter community from their peers who are knowledgeable and experienced in it. People might be interested in learning more about what the community has to offer, thus it is reasonable to expect them to attempt creating an account.
Further, little did others know, there are some accounts who are consistently uploading and making accounts for explicit clips from different porn websites. With that, users who are following certain accounts can be more exposed to find mutuals in doing sexual stuff online.
Retweeting one content and replying to that specific content is very common in alter accounts as it is the way of everyone in the community to show support to their fellows
According to Iwayama et. al (2020), users are posting their sex video teaser on Twitter and let their followers retweet it. The amount of retweets will eventually serve as the user's cue to upload the entire film online or distribute it to customers who will be paying for it.
Moreover, if you observe the alter community, collaboration with other alter users is prevalent. The system is that the two users will meet-up and will produce content together.
To let their followers know about their content, the users will promote it using the posting replies and mentions function. They will post a picture together, sometimes a teaser of their video, and mention each other (Iwayama et al., 2020).
In connection with that, to increase the views the users are creating fun titles of their content including witty hashtags to reach more people in the community. In the findings of Iwayama et al. (2020), #SarapNgPinoy is one of the remarkable hashtags of the Filipino alters in boosting their content
Furthermore, there are various alter accounts in the community. Depending on their situations, they fall into several groups (Iwayama et al., 2020).
Some people publish R18-rated pictures and videos. While some exclusively use their accounts to watch explicit films posted by other users, including porn. There are also alters who are just tweeting and sharing their situation about sex.
Posers are also rampant in the community. There are some instances wherein a user is selling their own nudes using somebody else's face. These posers are claiming beautiful faces to attract buyers and acquire more sales.
In line with this poser thing, an article published by Gavilan (2020) tackled the experience shared by a certain person named Gary. He found out that the one who he was talking to online was only a dummy account.
Gary and the person behind the dummy account did a video call. As per the article, although the video call was brief, Gary still had minimal time to reveal his penis and be engaged in some masturbation.
With that, the dummy account got some clips of him doing the deed. Worse thing is that, this dummy sold Gary's videos on Twitter
And obviously, the most common people in the community, the For Pay Alter. They are the ones who offer different services — nudes, masturbation videos, sex videos with other users, and even meet-ups.
These users offer to meet with their clients and engage in sexual activity. However, some of them are choosing attractive clients only. With that being said, even if the customer offers a huge amount of money, the alter user will reject it if the customer will not pass on their physical standard, says Alter B, one of the respondents.
Twitter: Alter Universe
Discreet as they are, alter accounts are not entirely hidden from the internet. In one of the major social media platforms, Twitter, is where they are usually found. This online microblogging service is where you can encounter these countless alter accounts.
A simple search on hashtags such as #alterph #AlterPhilippines or search terms like alter pinay would already already produce various alter accounts. A word of caution though, not all accounts are true, some are used for baiting or for scamming people by using other pictures of people then charging money to someone over it.
In their individual accounts, alters use it to advertise their content. As this is a platform wherein they could connect with other alters, Twitter is the suitable social media to make their account known.
Besides the suggestive photos they post as teasers to attract clients or just simply to express themselves, alter users would also post the price list for their services as well as the mode in which the payment could be transferred.
An example of the pricelist and mode of payment based on various alter accounts found.
Also, along with the prices for their services, they also attach guidelines that a person should take into consideration before availing their services. Some of these include an HIV test, or their boundaries a client must adhere to during meetups. These reminders are necessary for their safety also.
Aside from these personal alter accounts, in an article from JakartaPost, it was said that there are alter communities wherein they have this certain "base," an anonymous but public account that the followers would use for communication.
Through sending direct messages to that account with use of some specific keywords, it would then be posted as tweets in that account's timeline. There are only a few of these "bases" on Twitter but their reach shouldn't be underestimated as most of it has thousands of followers that post 2-3 tweets every five minutes during peak activity.
Twitter is one of the most popular social media sites used by people worldwide. It has 396.5 million users globally as of November 2022. It has increased from the previous 290.5 million users that was recorded last 2019.
Source: Digital 2020
As reported by Digital 2020 (as cited in Hirose, 2022), Twitter ranked as 15th most-used social platform in the world However, it leads as the most utilized platform for the growing community of alter users.
In fact in 2022, cryptocurrencies and "not safe for work" (NSFW) contents which includes nudity and pornography, are the highest-growing topics of interest among English-speaking heavy users, the report of Reuters indicated. Belonging these NSFW contents is the growing community of people behind alter accounts to hide their identity in dealing with other people.
Based on the data of Statista, the social media of Twitter is visited 7.1 billion times per month this 2022, and they expect more visitors in years ahead. The average age demographics of the majority of twitter users are from age 25-34, and it is 38.5% of the total population worldwide.
This fact can be in line to the data that as per Reuters the users of alter accounts are from age ranging from 25-34 from year 2022.
The research also found that the majority of twitter users are English-speaking users and are from the United States. This is also the same with the resulting data that the majority of alter users are conversing online using the English language.
Twitter is one of the few major social media platforms that permits nudity on its service, and the company has estimated that adult content constitutes 13% of Twitter, according to a separate internal slide presentation seen by Reuters (Dang, 2022).
If we’re just looking at the UK alone, 19.05 million people had Twitter accounts as of October 2021. More than half of those Twitter accounts are owned by males, meaning they mostly dominate the platform gender-wise.
The country with the most Twitter users is the United States with a total of 77.75 million users. The other countries rounding out the top five are Japan, India, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.
In relation to the data of twitter, it can be judged why there are more men than women in the community. The same reason why the majority of alter users are from the United States, and are mostly using english language to communicate with other people on their alter accounts.
Likewise, there were a total of 176,386 total tweets among users with the word “Alter” within only a week on twitter.
Among these, it can be noticed that majority of the top hashtags that contains the word alter in twitter such as #alterpinay, #alterbagets, #alterph, #alterpinayvideos, #altermanila, #alterphilippines, #alterpinoy are hashtags from the Filipino twitter users and alters.
With these, it can be concluded that many of the individuals that are in the alter community are from the Philippines.
Check out? Telegram
When it comes to some alter accounts that offer deals to their followers, it can be noticed that transactions are done on Telegram. Attached to their bio on Twitter are their usernames on Telegram where their followers can connect to if someone wants to avail their offered deals.
Their full contents are usually available on the channels on their Telegram and the duration of the access on it depends on the package a client chose, it is on a subscription basis in short.
Telegram is a messaging tool that gives you an opportunity to send and receive messages to your contacts even without sharing your phone number. It is also known for end-to-end encryption, and some specialists even recommend it in times of discussing sensitive topics or private communication.
Perhaps this security feature that comes along with Telegram is what makes it useful and preferred by alter users. They could secure their anonymity or privacy by not sharing their personal number while being able to freely communicate with their followers without the worry of their uncensored videos or pictures being leaked somewhere else.
Alter users usually have their face not revealed on their accounts. After all, the purpose for creating an alter account is to hide their identity while showing their explicitly sexual side.
These accounts would usually have provocative or NSFW (Not Safe for Work) posts without revealing their face. So their photos would seem like a tease for some.
Even though accounts like these would typically never have a face reveal online, some accounts still offer bookings for their clients. They are willing to meet with their clients face-to-face, but they still make sure that their faces are not shown online.
Also, although not all of the time, users with this type of alter account are usually the ones that are really wary or very cautious when entertaining media such as in the case of asking them for an interview. Perhaps because they may be the ones who are really protective of their anonymity and don’t want to expose their face that reveals their whole identity.
Contrary to the typical image of an alter account wherein face is not seen for their anonymity, there are still accounts that have their face revealed on their accounts.
They may be alter accounts but they have their own face plastered on their Twitter icons. Accounts like these don’t shy their face away from the camera in their pictures and videos.
However, even with the fact that they are willing to show their face on their account that does not mean that anonymity is not on their list of priorities. Again, they are still alter accounts, they still employ a way wherein they can preserve their anonymity despite having their face shown such as using an alias in their display name.
There are other types of alters as some do not sell contents but these two are the general types of alter accounts that provide an overview how the alter community works as well as the degree of anonymity a certain user practices on their account. Both contrast each other, but the fact remains that both use their account to show their other side.
Caution! Journalists ahead. Sincerely, Alters
As the team searches for certain potential interviewees, we have run into disputes with some owners of alter accounts.
One of several users that we approached complained that the message was "sketchy" and tweeted a screenshot of our invitation, asking for their consent to be interviewed. The post has reached several people and gathered 10 quote tweets and 27 likes.
People who quoted the tweet reacted unanimously. One of them said that we should ask permission first as the topic is sensitive. Also, one has tweeted that they will ask us for a personal information sheet, informed consent form and others just to comply with the Data Privacy Act.
To note, if you will read the whole message, the team has ensured to protect the privacy of the interviewees twice.
Meanwhile, one user who quoted the tweet has shared her experience before about this type of interview. She mentioned that she accepted the offer because it was paid and the researchers have respected her conditions.
The person who shared the image, however, continued to insist that the message is bogus.
Additionally, an individual kept complaining that the whole situation was alarming and accused the team of being behind a well-known organization and show.
From the reactions of the alter community regarding the message of permission alone about the interview, it shows how wary they are from sharing their personal information and knowledge about the alter community.
Also, the fact that posting our message of permission to interview while cropping and disregarding the whole context of the message shows their distrust and fearful action.
Moreover, their action is noticeable on the way how they labeled the photo as sketchy even though we disclosed our full name and the university in the message.
Aside from the term sketchy, other users say it is a trap, and naming that we are from the big network (ABS-CBN) and show (KMJS), fishing for information as content about them.
The thread about this on twitter blew up and received irrelevant comments from the topic issue from alter accounts, judging the posted message just to criticize and avoid disclosing information about them.
The community’s apprehensiveness with outsiders especially towards media has its roots. Despite being like a “secret” on the internet, there are already some features of alters made by the media.
Aside from some articles or studies centered on them, the alter community actually made it into the mainstream media, particularly, in the famous magazine show, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. Having their story featured might seem positive as it can be a tool for society to understand them, however, the community says otherwise.
The feature on KMJS follows the story of “Jay,” who is an incoming college student but is struggling to buy a laptop for online classes. Due to financial constraints because of the pandemic, he was left with no choice but to be an alter, selling his nude pictures and doing video calls in exchange for load or money.
A last resort, a space where people would sacrifice their dignity to earn money, that is somehow the portrayal of the alter community in the episode. That is why it seemed that the sympathy-inducing storytelling of the show didn’t sit well with the community.
For them, the episode only focused on the negative side, that it has failed to show the positive aspect to balance the story. They say that the alter community is not just a space for sexual activities as it is also a safe space where anyone could show their side that most people would find hard to understand.
More than what was portrayed, the community is also an avenue for support for individuals belonging to the minority groups such as the LGBTQIA+ community or even those who are PLHIV (People Living with HIV).
While in the case of “Jay”, him being pushed to be an alter because of the pandemic to sustain his needs should not be judged, as sex work is still work they say, that is why he should not be blamed for his action nor needed a psychological intervention that was done in the show.
Having their covert community exposed and be portrayed in a bad light as a last resort when it is a safe space for alter users, has made them wary and distrustful of the media to cover their story. Like how leaders would protect their territory, it was the same for alters, after having their space where they can show their other side exposed and misunderstood by outsiders understandably grew their distrust and made them defensive in response.
This incident showed one of the reasons why alters were aggressive towards the media, even if the original tweet was misleading with a cropped message of our invitation, they readily put up their guards to prevent their hidden selves from being exposed and misconstructed by the media again.
Alters through the looking glass
In a community that leaves a person to take another identity to be hidden away from the judgmental eyes of society, the stories of alters provide a glimpse of the reason why they turn into the solace of the alter community.
Alter A, a 20 year old alter shared that he discovered the alter community around July of this year, 2022. Through his circle of friends, he was able to see the community. With the nature of alters it is no surprise that he heard it through word of mouth.
When asked for his reasons for being an alter he says, “I guess, to widen my circle of friends, experience and to have my own money too.”
With the common connotation of the Alter community that it only revolves around ‘sexual activities' it might be hard for some to imagine how one could create connections to others in a community like this, more so where everyone hides their identity?
However, in reality, creating networks in it is common and one of the usual reasons for people joining it. Even with the nature of alters, it is still a community, after all.
In a study done by Piamonte, Quintos and Iwayama in 2020, participants have shared how it benefits them because it is easier to build connections and talk with people who have the same “vibes” as them. The social engagements don't only stay online as some even manage to create a network within the university they are studying in.
Another reason for Alter A is the money. As discussed earlier, as they are their own boss, they could set up their own rates for their services making the community a source of income for some.
Even for the fact that this kind of work is frowned upon in a conservative country like ours, it cannot be denied that the hefty amount earned is something that is not easy to ignore considering the economic situation today where people are at the mercy of inflation in sustaining their needs.
For some, this could be a stable job, but for Alter A, this is only a job on the sidelines.
He affirmed that his account was not meant to last for a long time, it was not equal to something like a corporate job and instead it is a work where he could earn money temporarily while he is not working in a permanent job.
Next, Alter B, a 20-year-old who discovered the alter community through scrolling and following several profiles related to alter.
One of the reasons why she stayed in the community was due to her friends who are offering services in the community. She was influenced to try what they are doing and enjoyed the satisfaction that some customers have given to her.
Alter B emphasized that she is only offering self-gratification videos and some explicit images of her body. She said that she is not fond of doing video calls with her clients to protect her safety and identity. But, she sometimes agrees with clients who want to do voice calls.
In line with that, she mentioned that doing alter helped her in providing her needs and wants. There are instances where she receives huge tips from customers by simply engaging them in pleasant conversation.
There are some customers who asked her to do sexual activities personally but she declined it as she prioritized being anonymous online. Meanwhile, she also added that if ever she agrees to meet her clients personally, she will prioritize the physical appearance of the client over the rate of service.
Alter B revealed that she is contemplating about deleting her alter account soon since she already had fun in the community and has done things that she never thought she would be able to do at her age.
One respondent, Alter C, also a 20-year-old alter user revealed that her reason for creating an alter account is to make it a gateway and escape from the harsh reality.
She did mention that she experienced abuse, one of the main factors why she decided to enter the alter community.
It was also mentioned that the abuse she had been through enable to develop her “daddy issues”.
“Daddy issues” is generally a catchall phrase, often used disparagingly to refer to women who have complex, confusing, or dysfunctional relationships with men. It can describe people (most often women) who project subconscious impulses toward the male partners in their life (Anwar, 2022).
Anwar (2022) added and stated that people with daddy issues have at least one thing in common: their relationships with their fathers did not offer the love and support they needed to thrive.
Alter C mentioned that her father does not provide and support her education, the reason why she works hard in getting clients to earn money.
Just like the other respondents, her main role in the alter community is to support her and her family’s needs, doing her best to make ends meet.
Also, Alter C is still a student, so a part of her earnings she gets every bookings and transactions with clients is to support her education.
Take on Alters? Outsiders, speak into the mic
There are a range of opinions on the use of alter accounts on Twitter.
Some people consider them to be an advantageous tool for separating particular facets of their online persona or for checking out new features without endangering their main account.
Others have viewed them as a way to evade account restrictions or to engage in other undesirable activities.
All of the perceptions of the people we have asked about alters are positive. They believed that the behaviors they perform in the community are acceptable. They reckon that it is completely up to an individual whether they choose to accept making explicit content as a job.
In addition to this, they have mentioned that it is their call to do certain stuff online as they all have their own reasons to stay in the community.
One of the interviewees assumed that most of the people who are doing alter were due to financial difficulties. With that, he said that if it is the case why someone chose to make explicit content to gain money, then he could no longer debate about it.
Likewise, in order to understand the decisions made by everyone who uses an alter account, the phrase "My body, My choice" was also stressed. This is because some users may feel empowered and comfortable when sharing and producing explicit content.
To note, the people who shared their thoughts about the individuals who use alter accounts are Gen Z.
One way ticket to acceptance?
Overall, this revealed that aside from the role of the alter community as a safe space of expression for many individuals, it provided alter users a way to earn money and provide for their daily needs.
The income they receive every month varies, but based on what they said, it is enough to pay for their daily expenses, needs, and wants.
From their rates, it is based on the package that the customer wants to avail while some based their amount of rate per hour, just like a normal work would be.
Many alters admit that their rates are high, and it is reasonable since the service they provide is in exchange for their dignity as a human being.
On the other hand, as per tweet binder report, every single hashtag or account on Twitter has an economic market value that can be calculated. That’s a fact: everything on Twitter has a translation in money.
In a span of a week the word “Alter” has an economic value of 52,708.86 pesos, average user’s value of 337.88 pesos, and average tweet’s value of 263.54 pesos.
The economic value of the hashtag or term analyzed is calculated after analyzing each one of the contributors (followers, following, list, etc.) and their tweets. This shows how much the hashtag is worth.
Taking into account those users who have lots of followers on Twitter, their tweets and use of hashtags are worth more than the value of tweets made by an average account.
Being an alter is something that the current society wouldn’t instantly welcome with open arms. In a conservative country like ours, sex is a taboo topic despite being a top consumer of a pornography site.
With the judgments and constraints of hiding a part of themselves, why do they still continue on the alter community?
From making connections, healing themselves from trauma, to love their body again, express themselves freely and of course, to also make money. These are just some of the reasons why they have decided to join the community in the first place.
More than the money to be earned, these reasons necessary for someone’s emotional needs isn’t something to be scoffed at. The reason why they continue to be an alter was that it gives them something to keep on living amidst the condemnatory glances of society.
Iwayama et al. (2020) further explained that the sexual aspect is at the core of alter; however, on a deeper level, it also brought complex social benefits such as forming friendships, advocacies and a safe space for emotional support.
In a society where the “norm” equates to acceptance, finding the space to freely express oneself is truly valuable even if it means wearing a mask to hide from the eyes of society. And that is what makes them stay, apart from the monetary gain, it is the value of acceptance that society often “gatekeeps” to people, making joining in the Alter community more meaningful.
Alters may have to go under their own cloak of invisibility to be themselves, while the rest of society raise their eyebrows on their activities, still there is something they foster within the community that we may learn from; it is accepting our nude selves.
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