When Craigslist erotic services ads were pages deep, the sarcastic quip was that hookers had left the streets and taken to the internet. Craigslist was eventually forced to take down their erotic services section after several murders of sex workers who had used Craigslist classified ads brought pressure by state attorney generals to delete the adult section asserting it was a cesspool for prostitution ads.

What the adult section of Craigslist and other adult websites (Eros.com as an example) allowed sex workers to do was to cut out the middle man, a/k/a the pimp or escort service, and work directly for themselves. Self-employment in the sex industry gave sex workers some element of safety as the pimp – ho relationship was always considered toxic and dangerous. In addition, if sex workers wanted to conduct their own business as safely as possible, using the internet to screen their clients before meeting with them offered another safety buffer, instead of walking the streets where they were potentially more accessible and vulnerable to violent predators. While Craigslist was targeted in the media frenzy which fed the public’s perception that the website was the cause of the crimes against the sex workers, Craigslist was the medium, not the madness that existed in the brains of psychopaths who targeted escorts as victims.

Fast forward to the present. What’s happening in the internet sex-worker-for-hire medium now that the Craigslist adult section isn’t a viable source for sex workers to advertise? A recent study of New York City sex workers found that they were using Facebook and social media to purvey clients discreetly and even not so discreetly as some were advertising direct contact information and rates right on their Facebook profiles. A noted Columbia University researcher collected data from nearly 300 New York City escorts and found that over 80% of them used Facebook profiles to promote their services. And that 25% of their business came from Facebook. He also found that some were still using Craigslist, but more discreetly. Only 3% of the sex workers surveyed were able to place cryptic ads which passed Craigslist censorship and were successfully “decoded” by potential clientele as being working girl ads. In any case, even without Craigslist as a high percentage source to hook from, social media offers a venue for sex workers to advertise and keep off the streets.