Eliot Spitzer's woes are shedding light on the new world of the oldest profession. Prostitutes and escort services use online social networking to find business, IMs to record the time spent with a client, and the web to make payment simpler and more private, reports the AP. New technology also widens the divide between "indoor and outdoor" prostitution, says a sex industry expert.
On online message boards, customers discuss and rate different prostitutes. "She is the real deal. She's bright, funny, enthusiastic, beautiful, flawless body, really loves what she does," a patron gushes about one woman on the site bigdoggie.com. Meanwhile, some authorities say that the web also allows escort services and prostitutes to avoid repercussions for their illegal actions. (More Eliot Spitzer stories.)