January 27, 2006
Interview with an ex-sex text worker
Interesting insight from Libcom News on the work of a "sex texter" through an interview of Jack, a socialist, who worked for a sex-texting company in 2005 impersonating a female.
Excerpts:
"The company I worked for went by the ever so pleasant and subtle name of 'box-69'. The company did 'sex texting' - basically people would text sexual messages in to you (which you recieved on a computer, in a chat room type interface), and you would respond - the messages going directly to their mobiles.
... The way the job worked was you had a number (usually around 4-6) of clients on the go at once. You could send them up to 3 texts for each one they sent you. I got paid around 10 pence for each text I sent - the customer got charged 1.50 for each one (the mobile network took around a third of this, the rest went to the employer).
... While at first it was a novelty, and I laughed off the concept that it was ever going to 'get to me', or that I'd ever see it as more than sad old blokes wasting their money, it actually very quickly became really dehumanising.
... Almost all of my co-workers were single mums, needing something they could do at home, while looking after kids. Although I only ever spoke to them over MSN or on the messageboards, so perhaps in reality half of them were really pervy old blokes! As much as I'd like to believe this to be the case though, I don't really think so..."
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