
Web Site Makes Millions by Connecting Cheaters - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88137694
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ryanwaggoner
I'm going to completely ignore the ethical and moral questions this services
raises, and instead focus on this:

 _Don, a 52-year-old IT specialist living in Southern California who, not
surprisingly, preferred not to give his real last name, is one of the site's
hundreds of users._

I'm hoping this guy didn't give his real first name, either. Southern CA has
millions of people, but I bet there are less than 10 who fit that description
exactly. Hell, there might only be one.

~~~
patio11
I am reminded of that "33 bits" blog that pops up here periodically. Every
living person is uniquely addressable with 33 bits of the right information.
"California" is worth 8 bits by itself. Male gets you another 1. Age within
one year is probably 6 or so...

Ah, here's that blog: <http://33bits.org/>

Its fundamentally changed the way I think about anonymity. (I used to think it
might be possible.)

~~~
tsally
I can't upvote you enough. What an elegantly simple way to think about
anonymous data. Thanks for the link.

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mattmaroon
This site has the exact same problem as AdultFriedFinder, which is that no
woman needs it. If one really wants some NSA relations, all she has to do is
go to a bar, rather than publicly post her picture on the net where anyone
(including her husband) can find it.

I suspect both of those sites are almost entirely men chasing fake accounts.

~~~
calambrac
I dunno, there's probably a large market of women who don't really want some
NSA relations, but still want to play around like they do. Or that aren't sure
if they do or not and just want to dip their toe in. Or that do, but don't
have the courage to throw themselves into the bar scene.

~~~
mattmaroon
I think the bar scene is FAR less courageous than AFF.

~~~
calambrac
Why? The bar scene, it's you unmediated. Even if you adopt a different persona
while you're out, you have to work to keep it going the whole time. Rejection
is immediate and in your face, oftentimes cold. If you're not in a huge city,
you always risk running into someone you know.

On the web, you can construct whatever reality you want, and you don't have to
throw your whole self into it while you do so. You can put up fake pictures,
you can flirt from the comfort of your bathrobe. You can keep your anonymity
until the actual moment of interaction, and you know the groundrules going in.

~~~
mattmaroon
It's a bunch of slimy, anonymous strangers on AFF. You think the average woman
wants anything to do with anyone who would be on AFF?

~~~
calambrac
1\. You're changing the subject, from 'courage' to 'desire'.

2\. We're talking about a woman who goes out and picks up random strangers,
either in a bar or online. Is that the 'average' woman?

3\. I wasn't talking about AFF in particular, just the idea of cheating via
the internet vs. cheating via the bar scene.

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tdavis
I pride myself on having nearly no ethical or moral constraints, but damn,
"Life is short, have an affair!" is a bit much even for me.

And considering it costs roughly $2.50 to send an email it might be cheaper in
the long run to just get a divorce. Okay, maybe not...

~~~
Eliezer
OT: Out of curiosity, why do you pride yourself on having nearly no ethical or
moral constraints?

~~~
potatolicious
Not intending to speak for the poster, I think he's referring to have no
ethical or moral constraints when it comes to a business.

There is certainly a lot of money to be made in areas where morals are gray or
downright black...

~~~
sachinag
Actually, Tom's a crazy psychopath.

(This will be downmodded by reasonable people; YC founders who actually know
Tom will upmod. :) )

~~~
quizbiz
can you cite examples? :P

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DanielBMarkham
Those guys really must enjoy sleeping soundly at night. At best they're taking
money from people for dreaming of better partners. At worse they're actually
helping people screw each other over.

Along these same lines, we can have sites for people who want to cheat on
exams, cheat on taxes. Maybe we could even have sites where people could plot
crimes together -- anonymously, of course.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
those sites already exist and are fairly well established.

