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With the seizure of Backpage (and arrest of owner...) and Craigslist 'voluntarily' shutting down, where do the boys go? I bet there's going to be a lot of late rent next month. Of course there's Rentmen.eu and Rentboy.pro and of course they've hosted overseas after what happened to rentboy.com but.. the owners of rentboy.com and Backpage being arrested makes me wonder if that's enough, at least if you wanted to live and spend money in America. If the sites attract the attention of the US's puritanical brigade I doubt they'd be able to withstand it. There's also always a handful of other escort sites in various stages of growth or disrepair. Been seeing Mint around more lately. Plus, that's generally a different market than what we had on CL and BP. Pro escorts charging $300+ in most major areas. It also requires a different mindset for the guys--they have to pay for and/or manage escorting as a business. A big change from guys simply posting an add when they needed some cash (like the rest of us would go to an ATM), and also a different and far less spur of the moment feel for the clients. Still, there'll obviously be many new ads, especially on the sites that don't charge the escorts an arm and leg... but again, those sites' ability to make money on that model and to not run afoul of the US law will be continuous questions. Which one is most promising? I like the search, location, and online-now features of rentmen.eu at least... Forum and hookup sites could be a better fit, but they were actively avoiding the business in the US even before these laws pass. Seen people complaining about PlanetRomeo hiding or worse its sections that were used for escorting. Gaydar's has played hide and seek too, if I recall, and never had much traction in the US. They're primed to be targeted by the new laws if they did try to serve this demand. Are any? Obviously Grinder has a lot of potential in this market but may also eventually become a juicy target for Law Enforcement, especially if it becomes the go-to replacement for Backpage/etc. They clearly don't want that business, forcing things to be rather vague plus the possibility of bans/etc. Then there's the geographic aspect of Grinder, in some ways good, but not so much for a fetishist living in the middle of nowhere. I wonder, is there going to be a "virtual Santa Monica BLVD" where people drive to in order to get ads for guys available for $$$? Is WeHo already that? There's also at least a half dozen other apps that could become the go-to for this, but they could be wiped out even easier if targeted. Are any currently ascendant? Maybe back to certain bars? The ones known for that are long gone in Hollywood and many others are feeling the loss of hookup/cruising customers to the apps. Any in LA seem like prospects? Maybe at the few stripper bars there'll be a couple more strippers open to talk about outside meetings. Maybe others will show up too...? Of course there's also the real Santa Monica BLVD and others. And thinking about that you can really see the impact of these laws. As much as I'd liked cruising the wares it was pretty horrible for the guys in every way. Constant exposure to the elements, drugs, crime, and police persecution. Spending all day watching traffic, not able to do anything else productive or to elevate themselves out of needing to do it while they are doing it. Much less choice--on both sides, clients settling for what's available but worse, guys forced to do what that client wants because they need the cash. Businesses that don't want them there, and have greatly gentrified in the areas guys used to 'stroll'. Pretty sure these laws are going to cause a lot of people to be a lot more desperate and if they end up living on the street, well they're right there to work it... On the bright side, unemployment is at an all time low, but this all happened so abruptly it may be a hard transition to make, especially for those who ended up without documentation to work. Or work experience. Or education... What does everybody think?
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