The numbers come first. Streamer Adin Ross earns between $30,000 and $50,000 per hour on the platform Kick, where he also holds an equity stake. Other top streamers pull between $1 million and $10 million in annual revenue through online courses, sponsorships, and speaker fees. Behind those figures sits what researchers are now calling a multibillion-dollar industry built on the insecurities of young men.
A report titled The Grift Economy: How Young Men Are Being Sold Fake Belonging and Fake Wealth Online, published by digital safety organization Reset Tech and nonprofit Equimundo, argues that the so-called 'manosphere' — a term that dates to 2009 and originally described blogs promoting men's rights — has evolved far beyond ideology into a functioning commercial ecosystem.
'We should be deeply concerned about the opportunists,' the report states. 'In the very real moment of confusion — politicians peddling fear, uncertain job prospects, battles over the meaning of manhood — there is an industry of platforms, influencers and advertisers who are making billions off of young men's insecurities.'
The market exists because the underlying demand is real. For only the third time in history, women outnumber men in the U.S. workforce. More adult men are living with their parents and entering NEET status — not in employment, education, or training. A study published in the Journal of Political Economy found that roughly 70% of the hours young men spent not working were filled with video games and recreational computer use, deepening social isolation.
Into that vacuum, the report says, content creators have stepped with promises of self-sufficiency, dominance, and emotional suppression. Gen Z men are also chasing 'looksmaxxing' trends, progressing from 'softmaxxing' to higher-risk 'hardmaxxing' practices including hormone injections, supplements, peptides, and surgery.
Kristina Wilfore, director of Global Projects and Innovation at Reset Tech and co-author of the study, told Fortune that algorithmic systems — not any single influencer — are the primary engine of the masculinity industry's growth. 'What we see behind it is massive infrastructure,' she said. Wilfore has called for greater consumer protection and platform accountability, pointing to the European Union's 2024 application of the Digital Services Act as a model for content moderation and transparency requirements.
David Sasaki, director of the Boys & Men Online program at the American Institute for Boys and Men, acknowledged the value of addressing algorithmic systems but pushed back on the diagnostic-heavy framing. 'It's great to diagnose the problem, but boy, has there been a lot of diagnosing of problems of boys and men,' he told Fortune. 'What is missing is the affirmative message of what can we do about it.'
Sasaki's point is the one worth holding. The economic dislocation driving young men toward online grifters is genuine — fewer jobs, weaker community ties, a culture that has spent a decade telling young men their instincts are suspect. Regulators reaching for content moderation levers will not rebuild a manufacturing base, restore a local church, or put a coach on a practice field. The market for fake belonging expands precisely where real institutions have retreated. That is the structural problem no Digital Services Act will solve.
