Sexual Deviants Need Not Surf The Internet

If you’re trying to find a dating site to look for an age gap relationship older woman-younger man style don’t search on Google. According to an article in the New York Times, Google has pulled ads that are not family friendly from the search results. While ads for “sugar daddy” dating sites have not been affected. Obviously choices like Google’s confirm stereotypes about women choosing to follow their desire is dangerous. I’m not sure what the real impetus is behind refusing $100,000 a month from CougarLife.com. Is it a larger stakeholder is putting on pressure like when the small time sexy iPhone applications were pulled earlier this year?

Services provided by Google, Apple and Facebook are seriously affecting how we use the internet. When so many of us use the internet to connect, market, learn and create dealing with terms of services can really make you start to wonder if this is the way the internet should work.

-I often read my kinky friends get photos taken down or profiles deleted. Facebook also has many rules that say sex violates their terms of service that are not applied in a consistent or predictable manner. Despite the fact that Facebook users “like” sex.
-Apple took down iPhone and iPod applications that had sexual content if they weren’t a big time player like playboy.

Last month I tried to get my podcast for Audio Smut on to iTunes. It’s the place you have to be listed if you want people to find your podcast and subscribe to it. The problem is the terms of services repeatedly mentioned nothing obscene, erotica or a prevalent theme of sexual content.  But there are many podcasts like that already listed so again how and when Apple chooses to enforce their TOS is a big issue. Our podcast was refused and I will never be sure if it was for problems with the feed or due to our explicit content. I will try again but then if we do get listed it might only be until they notice our deviant ways. The thing that is so frustrating about this iTunes adventure is that I know that the program is an added layer between people, creators, the internet and the files. One we could do without if we had more interest in learning internet user literacy. At least then there might be other choices.

For all the talk of vast possibility and growth on the internet I am a little dissapointed about how I have to play in a box of corporate American puritanism.

*photo by coffin jane