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Every place where people can communicate is a place where they can proposition. If you're thinking of changing this, give up now while you have your sanity. Li

Every place where people can communicate is a place where they can proposition. If you're thinking of changing this, give up now while you have your sanity. LinkedIn is a social network which prominently displays professional credentials. I have dated women I've met on LinkedIn and it's gone just fine (granted, nobody I was doing business with, that is unwise even if not illegal). The question of the case, in my estimation, is Is it unlawful to send a picture of your genitals to a person who works with your company over a channel you might also use for business communications. This gets into all sorts of complicated matters; for example, is it unlawful to MMS a picture of your genitals to somebody who does business with your company? Is there a precedent for a similar case but with a different medium? If the precedent did not penalize the defendant, is there something about LinkedIn or another detail of the case which distinguishes it?

jessaustin 9y ago
Did you start out the conversation with genital photos? Because I keep hearing about guys who do that, and it's just never made sense to me...
- microcolonel 9y ago
  I don't think that's effective, I don't do it. Ogi Ogas & Sai Gaddam did some analysis which would suggest that dick pics are not effective, given that imagery of penises (and visual stimulus in general) is not a major factor in female arousal. From a personal "moral" perspective I don't see myself doing that. Excellent question nonetheless. Nobody really seems to think much when they do things like this. I think the reason men* send dick pics is because they (the men) are naturally aroused by imagery of penises, and think that women will be similarly aroused by it. It's probably a lot like a women giving complimenting a man on social stature, confidence, or competence, and maybe not understanding that he probably won't understand what she's getting at. * Edit: referring to straight men in this case
  - watwut 9y ago
    Are you saying that gay men are trying to find female dates by sending them dick pics? I have to say, those gay men sound quite confused ...
    - microcolonel 9y ago
      Maybe I wasn't precise enough, but I'm not sure exactly how you're reading that. Gay and straight men would, following this research, be more aroused by imagery of penises than women. The dick pic sending instinct would probably be, if not absolutely successful, relatively more successful than it is for straight men. All men (gay and straight) appear to look to chests, penises, and butts for visual cues to sexual arousal.
      - watwut 9y ago
        Straight men are aroused by penises? And sending dick pic by linked is instinct?
  - jaredsohn 9y ago
    I think you could have avoided the downvotes (edit: and be more correct IMO) if you just said that the men who send dick pics to women are the type that would welcome women sending intimate pictures of themselves. Edit: I am not wondering about the motives of straight women sending nude pictures to men; I am just giving a more plausible reason than what I think you gave as to why some men might think the idea could be effective. (i.e. looking at how they might react to it). Besides, isn't the point that a person sends photos of themselves?
    - microcolonel 9y ago
      > I think you could have avoided the downvotes if you just said that the men who send dick pics to women are the type that would welcome women sending intimate pictures of themselves. But that would be nebulous, inaccurate, and entirely beside the point. I have no evidence of the statement you just suggested, and I would not suggest it. The fact is that no man, straight or gay, is currently litigating for the privilege not to see other sex nudity on LinkedIn InMail; thus it makes no sense to wonder about the motives of straight women who send nude pictures to men on LinkedIn for attention. Aside: I don't care about avoiding downvotes, I'm not an agreeable πerson (in the psychometric sense). I don't think life is worth living if you strive to only say things that people won't disagree with. For example, watwut on the other subthread is shocked, probably shocked enough to downvote and move on, that I would say that straight men are sexually aroused by imagery of penises. I don't care. If I look at my statements for the last month or so, there's a mix of positive and negative feedback, the balance happens to be roughly +100 karma, but I don't so much care as long as I have enough karma to upvote.
- irrational 9y ago
  Seriously, are there documented cases of a man sending a picture of his genitals to a woman he is not in a relationship with and the woman indicating she is now interested in him? I can't figure out if guys are just clueless, if they are bad at statistics, or if it really does turn into sex often enough to make it worth the attempt.
cestith 9y ago
It's one thing to ask about dinner plans after asking if it's alright to make personal conversation. It's another to go from recruiting a prospective employee straight to propositioning someone for casual sex and sending graphic images. There's no way to misread the situation that badly. He just assumed it was okay to send a photo of his genitals to someone with whom he'd been having a supposedly professional interchange. That's not okay.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  What kind of not okay, though? Is it a faux pas or an offence? If it's a faux pas, the professional outcome is distrust and failure. If it's an offence, the outcome is legal penalties. I'm not defending the actions of this man. In terms of his moral, ethical, or social outcomes, I'm sure it's not a good action. That said, I have a hard time agreeing with the legal argument: that the use of LinkedIn turns your personal communications into business communications. This has potential for broad legal implications which have nothing to do with workplace harassment. The use of LinkedIn does not, in my view, turn your personal communications into workplace communications.
  - cestith 9y ago
    I think the expectation is set that it's professional by being on LinkedIn. I think the bigger issue Doe's case addresses, though, is that he was using it to conduct business with her and shifted that contact to unwelcome sexual advances. It being on LinkedIn makes her argument that she expected it to be professional contact stronger I think, but is not in itself the issue. The issue with harassment is, as always, that it's unwelcome and inappropriate to the situation. LinkedIn is just part of the situation in this case.

jessaustin 9y ago

Did you start out the conversation with genital photos? Because I keep hearing about guys who do that, and it's just never made sense to me...

microcolonel 9y ago
I don't think that's effective, I don't do it. Ogi Ogas & Sai Gaddam did some analysis which would suggest that dick pics are not effective, given that imagery of penises (and visual stimulus in general) is not a major factor in female arousal. From a personal "moral" perspective I don't see myself doing that. Excellent question nonetheless. Nobody really seems to think much when they do things like this. I think the reason men* send dick pics is because they (the men) are naturally aroused by imagery of penises, and think that women will be similarly aroused by it. It's probably a lot like a women giving complimenting a man on social stature, confidence, or competence, and maybe not understanding that he probably won't understand what she's getting at. * Edit: referring to straight men in this case
- watwut 9y ago
  Are you saying that gay men are trying to find female dates by sending them dick pics? I have to say, those gay men sound quite confused ...
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    Maybe I wasn't precise enough, but I'm not sure exactly how you're reading that. Gay and straight men would, following this research, be more aroused by imagery of penises than women. The dick pic sending instinct would probably be, if not absolutely successful, relatively more successful than it is for straight men. All men (gay and straight) appear to look to chests, penises, and butts for visual cues to sexual arousal.
    - watwut 9y ago
      Straight men are aroused by penises? And sending dick pic by linked is instinct?
- jaredsohn 9y ago
  I think you could have avoided the downvotes (edit: and be more correct IMO) if you just said that the men who send dick pics to women are the type that would welcome women sending intimate pictures of themselves. Edit: I am not wondering about the motives of straight women sending nude pictures to men; I am just giving a more plausible reason than what I think you gave as to why some men might think the idea could be effective. (i.e. looking at how they might react to it). Besides, isn't the point that a person sends photos of themselves?
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    > I think you could have avoided the downvotes if you just said that the men who send dick pics to women are the type that would welcome women sending intimate pictures of themselves. But that would be nebulous, inaccurate, and entirely beside the point. I have no evidence of the statement you just suggested, and I would not suggest it. The fact is that no man, straight or gay, is currently litigating for the privilege not to see other sex nudity on LinkedIn InMail; thus it makes no sense to wonder about the motives of straight women who send nude pictures to men on LinkedIn for attention. Aside: I don't care about avoiding downvotes, I'm not an agreeable πerson (in the psychometric sense). I don't think life is worth living if you strive to only say things that people won't disagree with. For example, watwut on the other subthread is shocked, probably shocked enough to downvote and move on, that I would say that straight men are sexually aroused by imagery of penises. I don't care. If I look at my statements for the last month or so, there's a mix of positive and negative feedback, the balance happens to be roughly +100 karma, but I don't so much care as long as I have enough karma to upvote.
irrational 9y ago
Seriously, are there documented cases of a man sending a picture of his genitals to a woman he is not in a relationship with and the woman indicating she is now interested in him? I can't figure out if guys are just clueless, if they are bad at statistics, or if it really does turn into sex often enough to make it worth the attempt.

cestith 9y ago

It's one thing to ask about dinner plans after asking if it's alright to make personal conversation. It's another to go from recruiting a prospective employee straight to propositioning someone for casual sex and sending graphic images. There's no way to misread the situation that badly. He just assumed it was okay to send a photo of his genitals to someone with whom he'd been having a supposedly professional interchange. That's not okay.

microcolonel 9y ago
What kind of not okay, though? Is it a faux pas or an offence? If it's a faux pas, the professional outcome is distrust and failure. If it's an offence, the outcome is legal penalties. I'm not defending the actions of this man. In terms of his moral, ethical, or social outcomes, I'm sure it's not a good action. That said, I have a hard time agreeing with the legal argument: that the use of LinkedIn turns your personal communications into business communications. This has potential for broad legal implications which have nothing to do with workplace harassment. The use of LinkedIn does not, in my view, turn your personal communications into workplace communications.
- cestith 9y ago
  I think the expectation is set that it's professional by being on LinkedIn. I think the bigger issue Doe's case addresses, though, is that he was using it to conduct business with her and shifted that contact to unwelcome sexual advances. It being on LinkedIn makes her argument that she expected it to be professional contact stronger I think, but is not in itself the issue. The issue with harassment is, as always, that it's unwelcome and inappropriate to the situation. LinkedIn is just part of the situation in this case.