

Does LinkedIn have a prostitution problem? - lone-star
http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201305152206-0022761

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ezl
so the real reason why prostitutes use linked in isn't to FIND new clients or
to create networks of whores on linked in -- it's to verify that their clients
aren't cops.

in a lot of places, prostitution is illegal, and clients and "service
providers" alike are worried about the repercussions of getting caught. some
are regular people who are trying to make money, or like their side alter ego,
but don't particularly want their friends or family to find out.

getting busted is scary for both parties. in order to protect themselves, they
resort to ID verifications of sorts and a variety of other practices to help
them increase the odds that the person they're spending their time with is not
an officer of the law.

a busy linked in profile, business cards, and a drivers license that all point
to the same person is a pretty good sign that that person ACTUALLY has the job
they claim and they're not a cop.

source: i love hookers.

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adamors
> whores

Can we at least call them prostitues if sex worker is too PC for HN?

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loup-vaillant
Funny, I didn't notice the negative connotation here. But maybe that's because
of sentences I heard lately:

"Hey, what's the problem with being a fucking whore?" (Street whore¹ in Dexter
–forgot which episode.)

"I have a lot of respect for whores." (witness in a radio documentary —quite
moving, by the way.)

[1] I swear I mean no disrespect.

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carlob
Call me old fashioned, but I still don't get these articles that consist of 10
copy-pasted tweets. Where's the content? Other than the press release and some
comments from random people, this has 0 information content.

~~~
patmcguire
It's a lazy version of Man on the Street, which news used to do a lot. The
difference being 1) laziness and 2) the ability to cherry pick to a much
greater extent.

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fnordfnordfnord
I had never thought of it before, but LinkedIn is a brilliant place for a
escort to market their services. Lots of business travellers, who are often a
middle-aged man travelling alone. The marks should have money, are likely to
be disease and drug free, and probably these exchanges occur in a low risk
environment such as a business traveler's hotel.

~~~
mellotron
The escorts definitely didn't miss the opportunity.

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coldcode
Technically they are professionals connecting to customers.

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k__
They're preventing them from getting a normal reputation, which is kinda sad
:\

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virtualritz
The problem seems to me that sex work is stigmatized and, as a direct result
of that, still not legalized and regulated in too many 1st world countries.

The 1st world global cultural gap (between e.g. the US and Europe, or even
northern and souther Europe) may seem small when you stroll through your
average mall to shop for apparel.

But it is often huge when it comes to views about morale and what is
considered ok or not ok.

To someone from northern Europe who is living in a country where sex work is
'ok' in most people's view, legalized anyway and regulated in recent years,
this LinkedIn stuff is one of these stories that sound like they're from
another, previous century.

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pshin45
Fiction becomes reality:

[http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-still-searching-
fo...](http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-still-searching-for-hookup-
subculture-on,29003/)

~~~
hkmurakami
As they say, "reality is stranger than fiction"

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kleiba
Aljazeera.com article a case for Betteridge's law of headlines?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines)

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CurtMonash
No, just with social media marketing. But the two areas are easy to confuse.

~~~
jfb
Only one of them provides services for cash in an honest exchange.

~~~
CurtMonash
In both cases the essence is the exchange of money in return for feigned
affection.

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kailuowang
I deem this as an indication to the fact that LinkedIn is the de facto online
social network for business.

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oneandoneis2
The reason this got talked about in my workplace was that another article
covering it claimed that people were even endorsing prostitutes for various
skills on LinkedIn.. the mind boggles :)

~~~
androidb
:) just as the social bookmarking buttons on porn sites, no one thinks they
would be clicked yet some do it.

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skreech
The title of the article raises a good question, though: what is the rationale
for clamping down on this?

Have they had a real problem, or is it merely moralistic?

~~~
jarman
Potential PR problems

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anxx
ok, in which countries do sex workers identify themselves with their name and
actual profession and it is completely ok? likewho would even create a profile
like this?

don't other families don't trash her as a bad mother, doesn't it affect their
employment prospects, are their kids or parents not harassed etc?

if there is a country like that i want to live there.

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Gmo
Germany also has legal prostitution. And I think Belgium as well.

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speeder
I am speculating that the reason LinkedIn did it, is to get distanced from
legal problems, not only in relation to prostitution laws (for example, Brazil
says prostitution is allowed, but facilitating prostitution is not... LinkedIn
was a facilitator? Also, several other countries have equally, or even more
confusing laws on the subject), but also to law enforcement efforts against
sex slavery and human trafficking.

I guess LinkedIn don't want the ball thrown on their court and be responsible
for checking who is a real prostitute and who is a slave or a scammer.

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chrisvineup
No.

