Be Smart

The Oldest Profession may also be the oldest form of social networking, but it has been updated, transformed, and enhanced by communications gadgetry, says The Associated Press.

The article uses the prostitution scandal involving (now former) New York governor Eliot Spitzer, shown here with chin-up wife Silda Wall Spitzer, a lawyer, to explore how text messaging, electronic funds transfer, web sites, forums, webcams, and other digital technologies embedded in our daily lives are embedded in the commercial sex industry too.

To demonstrate the point, the New York Times came up with information about the woman that Spitzer was, um, seeing--including her MySpace page. To him she was known professionally as Kirsten, but on MySpace, under a different name, she is an aspiring singer whose friends include Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Amy Winehouse.....and Celine Dion? (She also has a blog, but hasn't updated it since last summer.)

I tried to think up a pun involving friend requests, but nothing came to me. Perhaps I don't think this is so funny. Feel free to suggest one in the Comments.

Photo Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters