Just today I received this email, I hope (presume?) it is a general email that has gone to all Bongcam models, not just me, as I must admit I’m not broadcasting there that often these days.

The subject is “Important! Don’t forget to perform services from the Tip Menu ☝️ Otherwise, the chatbot may be disabled” and in the email it goes on to say:

You have activated the “Tip Menu” chatbot, and we want to remind you of the importance of performing ordered services.

Try to perform paid actions as accurately and promptly as possible. If you fail to perform services, Tokens will be returned to the member. In case of repeated violations, the chatbot may be disabled forever.

There is quite a bit to unpack there, and at first I was thinking like oh yes well they have to remind models about the tip menu as customers get pissed when a model doesn’t do what they paid for, right? But then I started thinking about it more deeply.

In a way, it is a bit more like the way Stripchat wants to verify that you can do whatever special “activity” you have promised by being, for example, in a BDSM category. If you don’t have the gear or don’t have the skills to do it, then you shouldn’t claim that you have, because it just leads to disappointed customers.

Fair enough.

But, and here is where I started to think about it more, for a long time, “tips” have meant something a bit different.

I mean, the whole idea of tipping is that it was something a bit extra. Something a happy viewer provides to the model because they enjoyed the show. It wasn’t something they were obligated to do, and it wasn’t something the model was obligated to perform in return.

Then came “tip menus” and that’s changed the perspective on things hasn’t it? Once you have a menu, then you really implying – not just implying but outright saying – that certain things are available for a set price.

That isn’t “tips” in the original meaning of the word.

So for me, and those other models who started with tipping in the earliest days, there is a bit of a disconnect between the old way of thinking about tips and this new, more transactional approach. It’s like we’re shifting from a world where tips were spontaneous and heartfelt to one where they’re more like a service fee.

Now personally I’m keen to make sure my viewers are happy with their time in my room, so I do aim to do whatever was promised on my tip menu. And I set prices appropriately so that I find it reasonable to do whatever for the specified amount.

But does everybody agree?

It makes me wonder, how do you, as a fellow camgirl, feel about this change? Have you noticed a difference in how viewers interact with the tip menu compared to traditional tips?

Or am I really being a boomer here and the rest of the world accepts that tip menus are a menu and that’s that?