ESA have been around for more than 15 years. If you involved in the industry before ESA.

How has ESA, the internet and social media changed the industry?

My first "punt"...... Cellphones was in its infancy (don't think sms was around...or I was just to stupid to send an sms). The internet wasn't born yet (my pc had a black and yellow screen). Got the ladie's number from the paper...phone from my landline. Had no idea who she was, what she looked like, but for my first booking ever....it was great!! The internet made everything "TOO EASY".

I Think they should drag and drop the internet in the Recycle Bin.

Te veel dames begin nou vir my OOM noem.

Ek is nie met jou foken tannie getroud nie....

I used to advertise in the newspaper, before sites like Esa appeared.

The pro's of the newspaper was:
1. No photos plastered all over the place - less risk in getting exposed in terms of being recognized;
2. Less risk of business or self esteem being undermined/destroyed - no written and searchable comments/reviews;
3. Less risk of exposure after the fact (once you left the industry) - almost zero;
4. Private life remained private - nobody could plaster your personal details for the world to read;

The negative of the newspaper was:
1. Crank calls and no shows - many threatening calls too;
2. Had to use a landline number, which could have compromised real identity;
3. Personal safety - difficult to track a person down, if things go wrong and also no way to block a stalker from contacting you;
3. Very expensive form of advertising;

The pro's of advanced technology and internet based advertising:
1. Wider audience, thus more possible clients;
2. Easier to make appointments and also turn down appointments, as you can save a number of a bad client/no show etc on your phone;
3. Personal Safety - Recourse if something goes wrong in terms of tracking the person and/or safety precautions - caller ID, cctv etc;
4. Less expensive than newspaper advertising;

The negative of advanced technology and internet based advertising:
1. Increased crank calls and no shows - possibly because wankers now have pictures to look at and also because it is a wider audience;
2. Increased risk of being recognized and exposed - due to photos;
3. Greater risk of business, self esteem and personal life being undermined/destroyed -comments/reviews which create expectations which in itself is subjective and can also be posted with malicious intent;

On 2017-07-13 10:54:37 Sibyl said:
I used to advertise in the newspaper, before sites like Esa appeared.

The pro's of the newspaper was:
1. No photos plastered all over the place - less risk in getting exposed in terms of being recognized;
2. Less risk of business or self esteem being undermined/destroyed - no written and searchable comments/reviews;
3. Less risk of exposure after the fact (once you left the industry) almost zero;
4. Private life remained private - nobody could plaster your personal details for the world to read;

The negative of the newspaper was:
1. Crank calls and no shows - many threatening calls too;
2. Had to use a landline number, which could have compromised real identity;
3. Personal safety - difficult to track a person down, if things go wrong and also no way to block a stalker from contacting you;
3. Very expensive form of advertising;

The pro's of advanced technology and internet based advertising:
1. Wider audience, thus more possible clients;
2. Easier to make appointments and also turn down appointments, as you can save a number of a bad client/no show etc on your phone;
3. Recourse if something goes wrong - in terms of tracking the person and/or safety - caller ID, cctv etc;
4. Less expensive than newspaper advertising;

The negative of advanced technology and internet based advertising:
1. Increased crank calls and no shows - possibly because wankers now have pictures to look at and also because it is a wider audience;
2. Increased risk of being recognized and exposed - due to photos;
3. Greater risk of business, self esteem and personal life being undermined/destroyed -comments/reviews which create expectations which in itself is subjective and can also be posted with malicious intent;

Great post and spot on Sibyl. I was only around from 10 years ago, but even during that time I've witnessed the escalation of what you mentioned at the end of your post!

True story sybil

On 2017-07-13 11:11:04 Veronica Franco said:

Great post and spot on Sibyl. I was only around from 10 years ago, but even during that time I've witnessed the escalation of what you mentioned at the end of your post!

Yip the internet is great, but it is a double edged sword. It is a fantastic marketing tool, but it is also the perfect playground for those people who get joy out of and feed off the misery and pain of others.

What I find interesting to note though, is that the escalation over the past few years, is in direct correlation to the economic decline.

I remember those days before the internet.
When you arrived at the place you never knew what the lady would actually look like.
In the advert in the newspaper it would say "stunning sexy blonde lady" etc etc but sometimes this was not the case!

Very correct Sybyl.

On the punter side, the modern way is better as sites like ESA you can view pics, read reviews etc, but it is also more dangerous as you can leave a trail such as an internet history, call history etc.

Logging into ESA to get a number when in a public place you sort of find yourself looking around like a skelm... lol. Old days was easy, keep the classified section in the paper and pretend you are reading the paper while perving the classifieds.

Sybil thank you for your post. Very informative