What is Switter?
Switter.at is an exciting new backpage alternative that was created by sex workers, for sex workers (and their clientele). It is completely non-profit and it has no costs or ads at the time of this writing.
The name Switter is a mix between 'Twitter' and 'Sex worker'. After Twitter started banning sex workers accounts, they decided to make their own site. The design and concept is pretty similar to twitter. You can follow your favorite sex workers and see their pictures, posts, and rates. Instead of tweeting people "Toot", i'm still not sure why they chose this verb for posting.
So far, the website has 200,000 registered users and gets 50,000 new visitors every month. A big plus of switter is that it has much less spam than other backpage alternatives (Bedpage, ahem!). It's also easier to tell if people are real or fake because you can read all the Toots on their profile to see what their personality is like and how active they've been on Switter.
The website is hosted in Melbourne Australia too, where prostitution is legal. Because of this the website is much less likely to be taken down anytime soon.
While it's good for finding escorts, it is not the best for finding hookups or casual encounters. For personals alternatives try viewing the list of craigslist replacements on the home page.
Switter manifesto on their home page
How to Use Switter.at
Switter can be a bit confusing at first, just follow these steps to start browsing providers/escorts/sex workers near you.
1) Create an account
Start by going to https://www.switter.at/ and signing up for a new account. You'll receive an email that you have to verify, the usual sign up process. By the way, you'll notice the word "mastodon" popping up a lot on the Switter website, this is the name of the software used to make Switter. It's like wordpress.com, but for making your own social networks.
2) Navigating the Home Page
After you make your account you'll be signed into the page below. This is where it can be a bit confusing if you are new to Switter. The home page just lets you manage your account settings and see notifications of the providers you follow, to start following new providers you'll need to go to the next step.
3) Finding Sex Workers To Follow
Once your account is created, you'll have access to the listings page: https://listings.switter.at/. From here you can search for escorts and sex workers to follow in your area.
Searching for users in Minneapolis on the https://listings.switter.at/ page
To follow someone, just click the "Follow" button on their profile.
Once you've followed people you'll see their "Toots" on your homepage in Switter. It's a good way to keep track of all the people you're interested in, in one place.
Posting Your Ads on Switter
If you are a sex worker, then Switter is the first place you should go to post your ads. You'll get a lot more views and it's completely free. In many ways it works better than backpage ever did, now it just needs to reach the same critical mass that backpage had, we'll get there soon!
To post an ad you have to follow a few rules:
- You must be a provider (someone offering your services)
- Maximum of 3 posts in 24 hours
- You must have pictures uploaded
- No racist or discriminatory language
- No explicit language
- No ads for underage services
- No ads for bareback/BBFS services
Bottom Line
Switter is a good place to find providers of sexual services near you. It may still be a young site, but it shows a lot of promise to be the future of sex work online.
Please leave a comment if you have any other sites you like to use, or if you have anything to share about your switter experience.