No doubt Facebook has changed the way in which people stay in touch with their friends and folks that matter. Recently, marketing professionals have discovered how powerful a tool it is when it comes to Internet marketing and online as well as offline businesses have started using Facebook to sell just about anything – from used cars to colorful guppies
There is yet another profession that has caught on to the amazing potential Facebook has to offer – a profession that is as old as civilization itself – prostitution. According to a survey conducted in New York City, an overwhelming number of sex workers – about 83% – have a Facebook page. And, this page isn’t only used to stay in touch with their girl friends. Many sex workers revealed that this social media platform accounted for more than a fourth of their regular clientele.
Back in 1999 when Mayor Rudy Giuliani spearheaded his “quality of life” campaign, prostitutes found themselves being ousted out of their regular hotspots such as the Bowery and Time Square. Pushed off the streets, these tough ladies turned to other means of reaching out to their clientele.
In the beginning they veered towards Craislist and started using it to advertise their services. Unlike the results they get from Facebook these days, Craigslist only amounted to 9% of their regular customers. After Craigslist pulled down the shutter on the adult-services section in 2010, many sex workers turned to Facebook. Around the same time prostitutes began to rely less on escort agencies, strip clubs, hotels, and bars to solicit business, finding that social media offered a much better platform to err…showcase their services.
However, most of these prostitutes are a notch higher than those women that walk the street. Most of them earned well – around $30,000 a year, and they have become a sort of a professional class in themselves.
In sharp contrast to streetwalkers that cater to men looking for instant gratification and surreptitious trysts, these prostitutes are sought after by men who are looking for a no-strings attached girlfriend experience for which they don’t mind paying good money.
On their end, the prostitutes are probably glad to be off the streets and conducting business from the other end of the computer. Not only has their business become better organized and transactions more professionalized, they have the freedom to create their own businesses without having to worry about pimps bullying them. In addition, they also get to pocket 100% of their profit. Sounds like getting thrown off the streets panned out really well for them.
