[cerrelio]

The only stigma I experienced was self generated. I wouldn't tell people where I worked for a while. However, after that period of shame, whenever I told someone I worked in porn, they had a positive attitude and dozens of questions. After moving to the Bay Area and going to several parties were Google/Facebook/Yahoo engineers were present, they would actually be very interested in what I did.

Devs rarely hung out with the production staff. I almost never saw the talent. The production was done in warehouses several miles from where the back office work was done. However, the owners occasionally threw parties where the talent would show up. If you wanted to fuck a porn star you met at these parties, you could, if you were mostly discreet about it. Devs would also go to tech conferences (flying first class no less), but we never shared the nature of our business with people we met (at least I never did).

Compensation was comparable/above average, perks were good (free membership at high-end gyms, fully paid health insurance), but bonuses were meager and there were essentially no equity possibilities. However, after 1.5 years working in the area of the country where I was, I had enough saved to put a down payment on a nice condo. I didn't, and I used that money to move to the Bay Area, where I had to start that process all over. And the Bay Area is definitely not a place where a developer can buy a condo after saving for ~2 years.

[yarou]

Sounds like a wild ride (no pun intended).

[01Michael10]

Fuck a porn star? There are few things less appealing than fucking a porn star. Not without a ten foot pole anyway...

[pyvpx]

drug use is highly, highly frowned upon and performers are tested very, very regularly. porn stars are a safer bet than Tinder.

[01Michael10]

Drugs are not prevalent in the porn industry? Are you kidding? I have never read a piece on a porn star where their drug use wasn't mentioned. How do you think most of them cope with their "career" and the "fame"?

Yes, porn stars do get tested for STDs regularly which I believe is generally twice a month. What about the period in between tests? You don't know who they just fucked yesterday or earlier that day.

You must realize for every porn star who has had a long career there are 50 who lasted a minute. There are reasons for that... Yes, many just can't hack it but drug use and STDs are high on the list.

Porn stars are nasty... Period.

[kahrkunne]

Depending on where in the country they are, porn stars are frequently tested twice a week, and able to provide a detailed history of who they had sex with, when.

[chris_wot]

Not nasty - damaged.