I have a theory:  that hobbying in the US is far more widespread, and that the variety of hobbying is much greater, than it was before the Internet.

Hobbyists:  would you hobby if you didn't have the Internet?  Or, if you've been around that long, did you hobby before the Internet?

Providers:  Would you provide if you couldnt' have a website?  If the Internet didn't exist?  Was the Internet a primary reason you got into providing?

Nope. The Internet has made the hobby better than it was before.

The internet has made it MUCH easier. Unfortunately, it has also made it much more dangerous, mainly LE stings and provider scams.

My wife bought the computer in 1999 against my wishes. We didn't really need it and I knew my my kids would get into trouble on it. My daughter would stay up until 3am on chat rooms and almost flunked school because of it. My son went crazy ordering things over the internet, and my wife to this day still hasn't learned how to really use it.

Some of the arguments that ensued over the computer were really nasty, and I offered to pay my wife her cost for the computer just to throw it out, but she wouldn't go for it.

Finally in 2003 I gave in and decided to see what it was all about. My daughter actually taught me how to use it, and then one day I accidently came across a site that led me to another site and so on and so on, until here I am now.

I love this computer and the wicked ways of the internet now, as it has given me more fun and pleasure than I have ever dreamed I could have. I am a total addict, and now use it more than anyone else in the family. And so I thank my wife for indirectly introducing me to all the wonderful ladies I've met. Ain't life strange??

I don't think any of us would be nearly as involved in this as we are today if it weren't for the internet.

Prior to the internet, it wasn't even "the hobby", it was simply the worlds oldest profession for Sailors docking at ports, street walkers, LV brothels, crack wh*res, etc..The internet changed everything (btw - this is a well know and documented many times over fact, not a theory you just came up with!) by making it so accessible for everyone. This accessibility, formal advertising mediums, review sites, etc.. brought floods of women that would never have been an old fashioned hooker, and tons of guy that would never set foot into a brothel, into  the business we industry we now call a hobby.

So I guess da answer is yowsah! Only ding da net done is make connectin' easier and increase da ho drama!

Oh yeah and da pimps are now da boyfriend!

Without the deep research capabilities and store of information online, we would not be nearly as involved. Resources such as TER enhance safety, provide a wider and higher quality selection, and better service. Personally, without the internet I would never attempt to hobby on my own. I never spend more than $100 without research.

provided for a short time in the early 80's...there are many pros and cons...

The Internet most definitely made it easier for me to learn about escorting and become an escort.  It also makes it easier for me to screen clients, advertise and network.  I don't think I would have considered escorting if it weren't for the Internet.  I wouldn't feel as secure and I am quite good at analyzing people by their writing (for nothing more than compatibility and character).

Recently those of us in Seattle were without power for a few days.  I felt like my world stopped and my friend and I claimed we felt as though we were on "Colonial House".  I caught up on my reading (during the day, anyway) and went to bed early.

Best,

Kate

I had accidently found the Eros site and then found TER by 'checking out reviews'.  Well, here I landed and here I have been.  
Being a typical newbie, I was scared about disease, LE, rip offs, getting beaten up by a pimp...who knows?!  I knew nothing.  So internet allowed me to peruse the situation for a good year before acting on it.


However, years ago, while walking on hotel row in NYC, I got propositioned by some seemingly great escorts.  They disappeared about the time I decided to seek them out.  Then marriage and kids and then...started looking again--what had changed in the interim was the internet and TER now existed.

The thing is, even before the internet became as pervasive as it is now, I still hobbied. This was when I was in Detroit, back then, agencies were relatively reliable and I had a cadre of agencies/providers that I would request.
 I must say the internet haqs made this hobby much more available but I agree that it has opened    many cans of worms, i.e. fake reviews, and I think  it has made it easier for us to get ripped off by agencies.

But probably it would not have been much more than that.

Been hobbying since 1971 in one form of another as a client... if the Internet died today, would definitely find some way to wet my whistle as this is far too enjoyable.
Far too many fish out there not to have fun.

A ways back, I read an excellent article by Beverly Fisher on this subject in an adult magazine. It can be found on her website. Scroll down to Slut Rants for many of her writings, but the one on the internet revolution.

I thought this was an excellent piece of work and certainly a new perspective on the subject.

Maybe Mr. Fisher can shed more light on it. lmao

For me, I would still be finding a way if there was no internet. I did before, so I could do it again.

Before the Internet, the scene was more like John Updike's story *Transaction* (1973) - one of the few short stories of his The New Yorker refused to publish. A scene like his story evokes - unless you were in some privileged group - such as a brood of valued customers or vendors of a high flying corporation which kept a Rolodex of important customers and the customers' call girl preferences.

The Internet was the great leveler, equalizer in a sense, if you had enough savvy to use it. It has changed human networks - for example, networks of terrorists.

Kate Bishop makes excellent observations - good point about analyzing people by their writing. I was attracted to Kate by her writing as much as by her photos. The writing includes her email responses as well as website text or her blog.

Before the Internet, how would I have kept in touch with someone like Kate who moved from the East Coast (where I am) to the West Coast? Sigh!

-Codpeace

-- Modified on 1/3/2007 3:56:23 AM

I've been hobbying about 25 years, but never in my home state until after my wife died.

As a result, I was always in a strange city, trying to find a reputable massage parlor, or a stripper who would escort, or asking the clerk at the adult store "if he knew anyone." It was always pretty hit and miss. Some great times, but many below average experiences, often in some scary sections of town.

The internet has definitely improved the safety and quality of my hobbying.

but I sure am glad Al Gore inventied it. It's a lot less stressful now. I think this is what he had in mind.

There were the weekly alternative papers.

In their personal columns, you could find scores of ads from some very nice providers, but it was all hit and miss.  Considering that, I have to say that I did pretty well.  Not all the escorts were that professional and an hour was often more like 30 minuits, but what the heck, it was new and exciting.

On top of that were the massage parlors, from whence I've met a few providers; some that I still see to this day.

With boards like TER, it is a lot more effiecient and safer; but I think that the biggest difference is the sense of community that I now feel.  No more feeling like an outcast.

and sporadically dabbled ever since. However; my trysts were predominantly of the low cost "SW" variety. Only with the advent of the internet, TER, and its reviews giving a level of accountability would I risk $$ or more at a throw.

I led a pretty sheltered life and would never have known this world existed if I hadn't stumbled across it on the net.  I'm sure glad I did, though! It's been the best thing that's happened to me and my absulute favorite 'job' (though it's not work.)

Community: none of us would have the overview of the hobby that we have now.  Before you would normally just have a small sample of people in the "underworld" and would know very little about their real motivations.  This would cause us to believe it when society said it was criminal.  Not only that, it lowered expectations among providers and clients.  There was no dignity.    

It was much more difficult for women to be independents.  They did not have to tools to protect themselves nor do the tasks of screening.  So, they were consigned to being workers.  

Second is community.  In the hobby everyone was isolated.  The people in the life were also outcast from general society.

I guess there is a third and that's education.  You could learn what you need to in order to protect yourself.

Seriously, it is a bit safer - I know that several ladies have complained to me that guys now demand more, reviews (here and elsewhere) drive up what has to be offered... but truth be told, I think that providing is a lot more sane now than in the 80's -

What I want, I can select ladies who can and are willing to provide (and in a couple of rare instances, the ladies selected me - and those were the best)- I leave the rest alone - period... although I know that there are types for all...  It cuts down on disappointment.  

What would make it better?  A web site - that would be secure that you could provide a provider with the hobbiests profile - and then she could decide - would she wish to see the dude.... course that would cut way down on who would see me! lol!!

I started my hobby career in 1968 in Saigon.

WHAT INTERNET? Not until Al Gore invented it! Hahahaahaa.

Tra

Let me think about it: "NO"!