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02-06-19  01:49pm - 2052 days #460
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by jook:


The frustration is understood. Many of us spend hours over several days writing a review. I know I have. It upsets me to see reviews that were apparently written in 60 seconds get posted, let alone win a raffle. Not only does it detract from the well-written reviews, but it makes the site look amateurish.

But please, time out. Cooler heads need to prevail if this community is going to move forward and be successful. Freddie apologized profusely and said the mistake won't be repeated. I've done a lot worse things in my life.

Just my 2 cents.


There is a Ying and Yang here.
PU and TBP make allot of money based on referrals and Reviews. And I am 100% cool with that.

" BUT" There is a contract here, this is not a personal game room, and why I like the personal touch of things. That does not excuse the agreement reviewers have with these two websites. The forum is great for fun ans games.

But when PU/TBP ask us to review and in exchange there are rewards, the standard of care should be very high on weighing the results. I get your point, sadly it has nothing to do with cooler heads. There is a contract here, we must obey to qualify for winning and for getting a reviews qualified. The standard of care was not met.

I fail to understand why all one has to do is say umm sorry and all of a sudden their contract obligation is ignored?
I do the same to Amazon, they promise 2 day shipping, don't care it took three. I pay for prime access, and there is contract, I pay they provide XYZ. Here I do reviews based on strict guidelines, in return we are put on a list that may possible win.

I find it very funny however no comments by these two users, which we all know was one person. They took the money and ran. Leaving everyone else with their mouths hanging going what? In closing, I am not mad at all about this. I am disgusted at the lack of care given when many of us have dedicated years here as member's. Sorry doesn't cut it for this member. I am glad your sorry, but maybe they should have trained the staff on the rules before shoving them out not knowing what to do.

Ya I have some thinking to do, maybe time to just cuts ties here for good. Obviously no one cared enough to even train these new people. And then they have to take the slack for poor training. And I for one do not think I can trust and untrained person saying it wont happen again 2 months in ? Since 2007

02-06-19  05:51pm - 2052 days #461
rearadmiral (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,453
Registered: Jul 16, '07
Location: NB/Canada
I've been mulling over weighing in on this because I think both 'sides' have good points. It is really frustrating for regulars who put a lot of time, effort and money into joining and reviewing sites to see a potentially biased review win the raffle. But... I visit here regularly and I didn't pick up on this as a possibility until it was raised in this thread. I get why PU staff want to encourage new members. I can't say for sure (though I could easily check) but my first reviews were probably short and crappy. But I remember very distinctly that a senior member here (I forget who, this dates back 12 years) had posted a thread in the forum about how to write a good review. I'm a lawyer by profession so I can generally write but this was an eye opener and changed how I wrote my reviews. Believe it or not, writing legal opinions and porn reviews don't have much in common.

After some time of following a recommended formula two things happened. The first is that I developed my own style and the second was that I really started to enjoy writing the reviews and posting them here. I like contributing to this community.

So the bottom line is that while there could be some work to do in weeding out potentially biased reviews I'm okay with the PU staff erring on the side of caution to try to grow the site.

But trust me, I do understand everyone's frustration. Maybe we all got duped here.

02-06-19  05:55pm - 2052 days #462
rearadmiral (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,453
Registered: Jul 16, '07
Location: NB/Canada
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:



Ya I have some thinking to do, maybe time to just cuts ties here for good. Obviously no one cared enough to even train these new people. And then they have to take the slack for poor training. And I for one do not think I can trust and untrained person saying it wont happen again 2 months in ?


Cyber, I know that I can't say anything to solve this, but please don't leave us. You are one of the longest 'serving' members here (we both joined in 2007!) and while TBP/PU has seen some ups and downs the site is one of the best communities for people who share our less-than-appreciated hobby. I know I'm not alone when I say that the community here would miss your contributions.

RA

02-06-19  08:22pm - 2052 days #463
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by FreddieAdmin:


Hey guys!

We have the winners for this weeks raffle! Exciting stuff!

1. Cybertoad
2. Rearadmiral
3. mbaya
Congratulations!

Cybertoad proved he was a real Shakespeare with his Met Art review - thank you very much!

Rearadmiral coming in strong with his fantastis B Skow review

Shout out to mbaya for his poetry on the Pretty Dirty Review

Thank you all once again and see you next week!

Edit: Sorry, we had to move dracken out of the raffle due to rule 2 . Apologies for the inconveniences and hope to see you back here next week


On your first drawing you established a precedent for withdrawing a raffle winning because you made a mistake by not following the rules.

02-07-19  02:48am - 2052 days #464
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
Great news for fans of brief, concise reviews.
There is a new review by a newbie, RayHacker, who reviewed the Tuk Tuk Patrol site.
His review consists of 3 words, covering the PROS, CONS, and BOTTOM LINE:

PROS: 50
CONS: 50
BOTTOM LINE: 50

I think this is the shortest review I've ever read.
Are we starting a trend here, where reviews will be easy to read, and easy to understand?

I was thinking of writing a short review myself, but this guy has me beat before I start.
Edited on Feb 07, 2019, 02:51am

02-07-19  03:21am - 2052 days #465
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Exactly what happens when management sends the wrong signals.

02-07-19  07:22am - 2051 days #466
MikeC
PornUsers Staff




Posts: 102
Registered: Jul 03, '15
Hi Guys,

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves wherever they are are reading this. I see there has been some discussion about this past week's raffle and some potential changes to the raffle rules and, indeed, to PornUsers in general.

I don't want to wade into the specifics of the discussion, but I do want to say that we have been erring on the side of inclusivity when it comes to the reviews and raffle. We are operating in good faith and if a mistake was made we can correct it. We're not looking to ruin people's enjoyment of the forum. Far from it.

Freddie was brought on to the team specifically for community management (i.e PornUsers forum moderation). She has been with us not even three months and is still learning about the Adult industry so she can better create conversations, address your concerns and advocate on your behalf during planning meetings.

In fact, Freddie has been personally emailing former active members of PU from the last few years to find out why they moved away. We have been hearing many similar responses from the former members:
1. The same sites were being reviewed constantly
2. The community was becoming too insular.

If one looks at the review and raffle history over the last six months and it's very easy to see those comments/criticisms as having some validity. Here are some profile names that have won at least one (sometimes more) raffle every month over the last three months
- Dracken
- Skippy
- exotics4me
- mbaya
- marcdc1

We're excited when people contribute to PU and are rewarded for their efforts by winning the raffles. We also know that the general dynamics of forums means that 85% simply lurk and don't comment, 10% occasionally comment and 5% are the hard drivers, the true lifeblood of the community. We appreciate all of the time and effort given by the names above, along with lk2fireone, to keep the community alive. However, if we are to take the criticisms from former members (people who did contribute reviews and forum threads) to heart and we are to get this forum more active again (which, btw, is showing signs of. A lot of names have returned and there's been an marked uptick in new reviews) it means we need to recognize that some changes need to be made, to open things up.


We are not trying to destroy the credibility of PU or anything like that. We wouldn't hire someone specifically for PU if that was our intention. We have some ideas as to how to open things up, but we absolutely want to hear your thoughts on the topic.

02-07-19  08:17am - 2051 days #467
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by rearadmiral:


Cyber, I know that I can't say anything to solve this, but please don't leave us. You are one of the longest 'serving' members here (we both joined in 2007!) and while TBP/PU has seen some ups and downs the site is one of the best communities for people who share our less-than-appreciated hobby. I know I'm not alone when I say that the community here would miss your contributions.

RA



I there Rearadmiral, I'm not going to leave. Yep I remember way back then when I was 12 years younger .
I'm not going anywhere, not sure why I said that. I hate change especially when something works. Its my fault for chiming in, my background in law and business consulting, made me see the flaws and probably just got under my skin.
The old PU, we Had Khan and Amanda both who added class and a professionalism to a industry that some look at sideways. I never felt bad here, or like scum, which can happen when you tell others you engage in adult activities.
Being able to engage in the site and actually enjoy the company of all you guys. Its cool that so many of us are here over a decade later and still here sharing in the forum and doing review.

I am actually writing another book on running a business, my second one. And what I saw here must have triggered my common sense views on the site. So the combination of being ignored to help here, and having huge experience in the business world bugged me I guess. I will just have to learn to live with what PU is today , not what it once was. But ya wasn't going anywhere, just frustrated seeing this site slide off the rails. Since 2007

02-07-19  08:33am - 2051 days #468
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by MikeC:


Hi Guys,

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves wherever they are are reading this. I see there has been some discussion about this past week's raffle and some potential changes to the raffle rules and, indeed, to PornUsers in general.

I don't want to wade into the specifics of the discussion, but I do want to say that we have been erring on the side of inclusivity when it comes to the reviews and raffle. We are operating in good faith and if a mistake was made we can correct it. We're not looking to ruin people's enjoyment of the forum. Far from it.

Freddie was brought on to the team specifically for community management (i.e PornUsers forum moderation). She has been with us not even three months and is still learning about the Adult industry so she can better create conversations, address your concerns and advocate on your behalf during planning meetings.

In fact, Freddie has been personally emailing former active members of PU from the last few years to find out why they moved away. We have been hearing many similar responses from the former members:
1. The same sites were being reviewed constantly
2. The community was becoming too insular.

If one looks at the review and raffle history over the last six months and it's very easy to see those comments/criticisms as having some validity. Here are some profile names that have won at least one (sometimes more) raffle every month over the last three months
- Dracken
- Skippy
- exotics4me
- mbaya
- marcdc1

We're excited when people contribute to PU and are rewarded for their efforts by winning the raffles. We also know that the general dynamics of forums means that 85% simply lurk and don't comment, 10% occasionally comment and 5% are the hard drivers, the true lifeblood of the community. We appreciate all of the time and effort given by the names above, along with lk2fireone, to keep the community alive. However, if we are to take the criticisms from former members (people who did contribute reviews and forum threads) to heart and we are to get this forum more active again (which, btw, is showing signs of. A lot of names have returned and there's been an marked uptick in new reviews) it means we need to recognize that some changes need to be made, to open things up.


We are not trying to destroy the credibility of PU or anything like that. We wouldn't hire someone specifically for PU if that was our intention. We have some ideas as to how to open things up, but we absolutely want to hear your thoughts on the topic.


I appreciate your responses here in addressing the concerns.
If I may make a few suggestions, which one can take or leave, but they are freebies. My Top 5 ideas. I have more but here are 5.


1. New staff, should be required to be a member here six months before their promotion. Let them learn the ropes first. Not knowing some very basic rules here is really unacceptable. Hard to trust staff if the members know more then staff does.

2. Have a simple easy report system this troll/or what ever reviews were caught by members not staff, so how long would they sit there? A better reporting system needs to be in place.

3. Contests are hard to come up with ways that are fair and accurate, I get that. Maybe make the prizes larger and every two weeks. Instead of every week. That would give staff more time to view the qualifying reviews. And maybe do the Top 5 Reviews.

4. Set Set Minimum words in a review. This last snafu showed how easily a review can be posted and qualify, that needs fixing.

5. Pick 5 random sites each months and ask members to join them an review. Preferred ones with a discount that month. Why members can review any site asking for some random each month will keep less known sites from sliding into obscurity.

6.( Bonus tip) If you change the Contest to twice a month( as noted above), you could then make it to only once a month a member could win. Solving the problem of sameness of members.

Questions let me know.

CT Since 2007

02-07-19  08:36am - 2051 days #469
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by MikeC:


Hi Guys,

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves wherever they are are reading this. I see there has been some discussion about this past week's raffle and some potential changes to the raffle rules and, indeed, to PornUsers in general.

I don't want to wade into the specifics of the discussion, but I do want to say that we have been erring on the side of inclusivity when it comes to the reviews and raffle. We are operating in good faith and if a mistake was made we can correct it. We're not looking to ruin people's enjoyment of the forum. Far from it.

Freddie was brought on to the team specifically for community management (i.e PornUsers forum moderation). She has been with us not even three months and is still learning about the Adult industry so she can better create conversations, address your concerns and advocate on your behalf during planning meetings.

In fact, Freddie has been personally emailing former active members of PU from the last few years to find out why they moved away. We have been hearing many similar responses from the former members:
1. The same sites were being reviewed constantly
2. The community was becoming too insular.

If one looks at the review and raffle history over the last six months and it's very easy to see those comments/criticisms as having some validity. Here are some profile names that have won at least one (sometimes more) raffle every month over the last three months
- Dracken
- Skippy
- exotics4me
- mbaya
- marcdc1

We're excited when people contribute to PU and are rewarded for their efforts by winning the raffles. We also know that the general dynamics of forums means that 85% simply lurk and don't comment, 10% occasionally comment and 5% are the hard drivers, the true lifeblood of the community. We appreciate all of the time and effort given by the names above, along with lk2fireone, to keep the community alive. However, if we are to take the criticisms from former members (people who did contribute reviews and forum threads) to heart and we are to get this forum more active again (which, btw, is showing signs of. A lot of names have returned and there's been an marked uptick in new reviews) it means we need to recognize that some changes need to be made, to open things up.


We are not trying to destroy the credibility of PU or anything like that. We wouldn't hire someone specifically for PU if that was our intention. We have some ideas as to how to open things up, but we absolutely want to hear your thoughts on the topic.



I tried to type some ideas, but the site has always been buggy about losing threads and posts for years even wrote Khan about it way back when. I just lost a whole post. See shorter re-post below. Since 2007 Edited on Feb 07, 2019, 08:48am

02-07-19  08:47am - 2051 days #470
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:


I tried to type some ideas, but the site has always been buggy about losing threads and posts for years even wrote Khan about it way back when. I just lost a whole post. Maybe if I find time later I will re-post it here.


Thoughts I try typing it shorter.

1. New Staff should be a member no less then six months to learn the ropes.

2. Make raffles 2x a month, with a higher prizes, have 5 winners. Make it easier to have time to review the qualifying reviews.

3. Members can only win once a month, changing the above will help rotate members reviews and encourage reviews.

4. Put a word minimum that make sit hard to have trolls like we just did.

5. Pick 5 sites you would like to see reviewed each month, this will encourage members to review less popular sites. Removing the sameness.

6. There needs to be a better reporting system, members caught all these mistakes, not staff and a better reporting system could have avoided this and if you take my ideas on every two weeks it will allow more time to investigate potential fraud/troll.

7. Cut off for reviews in the week prior the Tuesday that had no raffle, that give staff a full week to evaluate the reviews.


My other post had longer explanation, have any questions let me know. Since 2007

02-07-19  09:04am - 2051 days #471
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:


Thoughts I try typing it shorter.

1. New Staff should be a member no less then six months to learn the ropes.

2. Make raffles 2x a month, with a higher prizes, have 5 winners. Make it easier to have time to review the qualifying reviews.

3. Members can only win once a month, changing the above will help rotate members reviews and encourage reviews.

4. Put a word minimum that make sit hard to have trolls like we just did.

5. Pick 5 sites you would like to see reviewed each month, this will encourage members to review less popular sites. Removing the sameness.

6. There needs to be a better reporting system, members caught all these mistakes, not staff and a better reporting system could have avoided this and if you take my ideas on every two weeks it will allow more time to investigate potential fraud/troll.

7. Cut off for reviews in the week prior the Tuesday that had no raffle, that give staff a full week to evaluate the reviews.


My other post had longer explanation, have any questions let me know.


Point one-I agree.
Points two and three-twice a month drawing with winner only once a month is fine with me. Hell, I contributed even after the raffle was suspended a few years back.
Point four-We already have a rule about the minimum words needed for a qualifying review.
Point five- I think this is a good idea. You could even give a free membership provided the winner writes a review. Let me also suggest three points awarded for a review of a site that has none.
Point six-Part of a reporting system should include a way to give negative feedback. Staff should look into any examples where negative feedback is on file.
Point seven- Your choice as I have no opinion. Edited on Feb 07, 2019, 09:49am

02-07-19  09:23am - 2051 days #472
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I am glad to hear from you. When I first joined Rick owned the site and was fairly active. He occasionally started threads and reacted to problems/comments/concerns from members. Hint, be like Rick. Yes we are not going back to the past, but that doesn't mean there are no lessons to be learned from it.

One lesson we all learned from is that trolls or shills can ruin PU and make it die. Not only that, but some really unpleasant things were said here by some of those unwelcome destructive guests. I remember one webmistress who called several of us degenerates and worse. I was singled out by name on her website. Sometimes these shills or trolls work for a site and sometimes they have been known to reward their members if they open a PU account and talk up their site. I was afraid this would be the end of PU and it most definitely hurt our membership.

This same webmistress had her members go on RabbitsReviews and vote her site the site of the year. At that time PU and Rabbits were separate.

Some crap reviews are written by well intentioned, but lazy people. Both Khan and Amanda sent them advice and there used to be a forum thread specifically on what to do. RA remembers it-it was pinned to the forum to provide easy access.

Bottom line though, rarely or never do crap reviewers ever come back for a second review. I speak from 10 and a half years of watching.

You want more participation and I could not agree more. I wrote a forum thread called "help wanted" and it was renewed several times. We used to have an unofficial policy of welcoming new reviewers who earned at least a single point. We gave positive trust ratings and sent a reply of welcome to their reviews. I was once a newbie and got a lot of encouragement from those already here.

The raffle though, has to remain based on minimum merit. Without standards, the reviews are not going to be useful or respected. Edited on Feb 07, 2019, 09:59am

02-07-19  09:57am - 2051 days #473
merc77 (0)
Disabled User

Posts: 291
Registered: Apr 17, '16
I would contribute more reviews but many of the sites I want to review aren't listed here. They have tried to contact said sites but to no avail.

I also know this site is tilted more toward straight porn as 95% of the sites out there are geared for them so I understand it. I do wish the sites I want to review would at least reply with their reasons for not wanting to be posted here.

As for the raffle and the controversy, I understand the frustration of those who have been members for much longer than me.

I enjoy this site as it is also fun to communicate with other porn enthusiasts such as myself. "Dogs think people are Gods. Cats don't as they know better." - Kedi (2016)

Dogs have masters; Cats have staff.

02-07-19  10:02am - 2051 days #474
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by merc77:


I would contribute more reviews but many of the sites I want to review aren't listed here. They have tried to contact said sites but to no avail.

I also know this site is tilted more toward straight porn as 95% of the sites out there are geared for them so I understand it. I do wish the sites I want to review would at least reply with their reasons for not wanting to be posted here.

As for the raffle and the controversy, I understand the frustration of those who have been members for much longer than me.

I enjoy this site as it is also fun to communicate with other porn enthusiasts such as myself.



Requests for new site listings have often gone unnoticed.
Management should update us on what is going on. Otherwise, it looks like no one is minding the store.

02-07-19  10:12am - 2051 days #475
marcdc1 (0)
Active User



Posts: 139
Registered: Jan 10, '07
Location: New York
I have to say I always appreciate this community because the members do a pretty good job of being both frank and courteous. Ideas are kept constructive and the focus of criticism is on ideas and not individuals.

I enjoy the raffle and worry about making too many changes too fast. There are always unintended consequences.

For whatever my is worth - I'd rather keep the Amazon payout instead of moving to a free month membership. The Amazon gift card has always been a nice surprise. I think doing a membership would just add in too much complexity.

Anyway, I'm enjoying seeing all these ideas develop and thank you all for keeping your flamethrowers in the off position.


02-07-19  10:12am - 2051 days #476
marcdc1 (0)
Active User



Posts: 139
Registered: Jan 10, '07
Location: New York

02-07-19  10:15am - 2051 days #477
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
I understand why PU wants more new sites to be reviewed, and that some PU members feel the same.

But as I wrote a while back, a lot of new or unknown or un-reviewed sites can have problems, which a PU member can overlook or complain about:

The simple reason that many sites have multiple reviews is that the sites have content that is worth paying for.

Let's take the biggies, the sites that have been reviewed many times:
MetArt, MPL Studios, Diesel network, Teen Mega World, 21 network sites, etc.
They have quality content, large content, and most members feel the sites are worth the money.
That's why the sites are successful: because PU members and others join the sites and had a good exerience, so they got their money's worth.

The problems with new sites, unreviewed sites, are:
new sites usually have less content;
you could be paying a high price for a small amount of content;
you could be paying a high price for content that is poor quality;
you could be paying for a site that has technical issues: download limits, no downloading privileges, slow downloading speeds, navigation issues, etc.

And that, in brief, is why so many of the PU reviews are of sites that have been reviewed before.
You're playing it safe: it's your money, and you don't want to spend it on a site that is ripping you off or gives poor value.

As far as the PU site being insular:
Most PU members are polite and welcoming to old and new members.
It's very rare that serious arguments break out.
The PU site is one of the most polite, friendliest group community sites I know of.

Yes, management wants to increase membership and participation by members.
That's always been the case.
But to label the PU community as insular seems strange.
As I said, the PU community has been a polite and friendly place, that normally welcomes existing and new members with open arms.
Compared to other communities and blogs where flame wars can break out suddenly, PU is like heaven on earth. I'm not saying PU is perfect, that all members are perfect (except I got my angel's wings on my 13th birthday, when I discovered my brother's stash of Playboy magazines and read them in secret, skipping over the nasty pictures so that I could spend more time on the articles: so maybe I am a perfect member of the PU community[joke]).

My suggestion: bring back Amanda, if only on a part time basis.
Freddie and Amanda would make a great team.
And they would increase the female presence at PU.
PU has always seemed light on the female presence.

Since a PU staff member doesn not appear to have to be physically present at some physical location, but can contribute to the site through the internet, I don't see why both Amanda and Freddie can't be staff members.

Let them work out, with the PU business, the hours they can put in.

And let Freddie choose an avatar that she likes, that we can get a better picture of what she looks like. Edited on Feb 07, 2019, 10:20am

02-07-19  10:52am - 2051 days #478
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
What is also true is that many many sites that are listed will never get a review. They have been listed from before the days of HD.

The reason for the appearance of insularity is that we do not have enough active members, not that we are no welcoming and tolerant.

02-07-19  10:55am - 2051 days #479
jook (0)
Active User



Posts: 325
Registered: Dec 22, '13
Location: jersey city
Perhaps this is a radical idea and seems to run counter-intuitive to the business model... allow reviews for sites not listed as well as other online services, i.e., usenet. In the end, it will bring more traffic to the site and theoretically more reviews for those sites that are sponsored by TBP.

The world is changing and we seem to be moving away from the old business model of subscription pay for sites that seem to be the same. My personal feeling is that TBP will be history in time if it doesn't change. There are numerous other business models for TBP.

Personally, I've almost completely moved away from the old model. The only sites I pay for are amateur sites that have fresh material and not married to the ways that the big guys do business.

02-07-19  02:24pm - 2051 days #480
rearadmiral (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,453
Registered: Jul 16, '07
Location: NB/Canada
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:


I there Rearadmiral, I'm not going to leave.

But ya wasn't going anywhere, just frustrated seeing this site slide off the rails.


Phew! That's a relief! I'm glad to hear you say that.

02-08-19  12:38pm - 2050 days #481
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
It's become very clear, the staff is waiting for this site to simply fade away.. They're allowing fraudulent reviews to be posted and not dealing with it. There then giving away prizes to trolls that login twice and do reviews on the same item

.I think the founders of this site would be disgusted by the conduct of the current staff You can ban me if you want to but the truth is if you cared you'd be addressing these issues immediately instead you're more interested in gathering new members then dealing with the problems that exist. makes me wonder if you cannot deal with this with few members that are here still how are you ever going to deal with anything when the site becomes popular which I doubt it will. You're missing every opportunity to correct things and make this a site worth visiting. Your chastising and ignoring the current members been here for over a decade Instead you're doing your own thing ignoring the problems.

PU, is going to go under, you are not adjusting to the current problems that plague most reviewing sites.most sites like this have a high degree of accountability in the items that they review. Here the conduct is deplorable, using the word staff is not even close. The people watching the store here are basically hanging out doing whatever they please and ignoring every rule did in written. If I happened on this website I would fire everybody on my staff right now summon the work trying to train people to donate care. We have been here over 10 years many others because we do give a crap about what happens on this website. It's clear looking at the current staff you have not even 1% of the dedication that we all have put in. I for one am completely disgusted what the site has become it's a laughing stock in a joke if you try to get people to come in here and join to be impossible if you have the same people their writing it right now continuing to do so without any accountability.

It's quite shameful to take such hard work that people took ended designing this website,it took years to make it to what we see today. And the carelessness I see by the current staff and administrators so that they do not care about the direction's website at all. If they had they would've corrected immediately mistakes that are obvious to anybody visiting here. Since 2007

02-08-19  01:40pm - 2050 days #482
MikeC
PornUsers Staff




Posts: 102
Registered: Jul 03, '15
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:


It's become very clear, the staff is waiting for this site to simply fade away.. They're allowing fraudulent reviews to be posted and not dealing with it. There then giving away prizes to trolls that login twice and do reviews on the same item

.I think the founders of this site would be disgusted by the conduct of the current staff You can ban me if you want to but the truth is if you cared you'd be addressing these issues immediately instead you're more interested in gathering new members then dealing with the problems that exist. makes me wonder if you cannot deal with this with few members that are here still how are you ever going to deal with anything when the site becomes popular which I doubt it will. You're missing every opportunity to correct things and make this a site worth visiting. Your chastising and ignoring the current members been here for over a decade Instead you're doing your own thing ignoring the problems.

PU, is going to go under, you are not adjusting to the current problems that plague most reviewing sites.most sites like this have a high degree of accountability in the items that they review. Here the conduct is deplorable, using the word staff is not even close. The people watching the store here are basically hanging out doing whatever they please and ignoring every rule did in written. If I happened on this website I would fire everybody on my staff right now summon the work trying to train people to donate care. We have been here over 10 years many others because we do give a crap about what happens on this website. It's clear looking at the current staff you have not even 1% of the dedication that we all have put in. I for one am completely disgusted what the site has become it's a laughing stock in a joke if you try to get people to come in here and join to be impossible if you have the same people their writing it right now continuing to do so without any accountability.

It's quite shameful to take such hard work that people took ended designing this website,it took years to make it to what we see today. And the carelessness I see by the current staff and administrators so that they do not care about the direction's website at all. If they had they would've corrected immediately mistakes that are obvious to anybody visiting here.


Hi, Cybertoad.
I'm sorry to hear you feel about this way about the site. You have been around for a long time, and your support and contributions are appreciated. Deeply so.

TheBestPorn/PornUsers was sold to us almost four years ago, and not to sound like the new stepfather, but we are not the original team. The original team BUILT and CURATED the site to a lot of success and engagement. It was pretty much the exact same team from gestation to the day they sold it. It was their baby and long time members like yourself connected with the vision and made it your baby, too. So you are right, we don't have the same kind of dedication in the way you are describing it. Khan (RIP) practically lived through the forum, including creating and fostering relationships with members. He was on here practically 24/7 and when we worked with him during the knowledge transfer it came across that he truly cared about the forum and its members.

I mention this to say that they sold the site for a number of reasons, but one thing that I can note is that they were saying then, in 2015, that traffic/reviews/engagement on PU had been on a steady decline and they weren't sure how to correct it. I have heard similar things from the webmaster at Freeones, a site with also a once very-large, very-active online community. And until very recently, I can tell you the same trend had been occurring throughout our tenure at PU. Do we hold some responsibility for it? Absolutely, because we own PU now and it's our responsibility to make it thrive.

You mention direction and purpose, but I have an open question for you (and for anyone else reading this - we truly welcome your thoughts on this), one we have been discussing internally for some time: In a world of Reddit, a global forum/message board where you can talk about porn, politics and whatever else you want with just one login, what role does PU play? In an online world where very, very low memberships are commonplace (for Black Friday this year, Evil Angel, one of the biggest companies in the industry, were offering $5/30 day memberships), and the risk of being swindled has mostly (but not entirely, to be sure) gone away because it's the big brands and big companies that rule over all, what value does PU bring to not just the members of the site but also those who stumble on it, where there are few (bad) surprises and less risk than ever? I think it is very easy to just dismiss us and the team as "not minding the store," but it's another to think about the online adult industry and where a forum like PU fits into the larger scheme. It's not what it was just 5 years ago, let alone 10 or 12, when you joined.

For what it's worth, my opinion on these questions is that (as a webmaster mentioned to me recently) we live in a Yelp world. There absolutely is a place for user-generated reviews of adult sites, a place where people can honestly and earnestly talk about a hobby they can't typically share out in the open. The old way of doing things simply won't work anymore.

We have been collecting all of the feedback on to how to make this a better site. We are hearing you and we want and will make changes.

I know there is an element of us both talking past each other, but you feel as if we are not doing due diligence and that is why the site has been on the decline and I am trying to express that we have tried to make adjustments and changes precisely because it is declining. Edited on Feb 08, 2019, 01:44pm

02-08-19  01:52pm - 2050 days #483
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I am not sure I get your drift.

Yelp has very biased, relatively incomplete and unbalanced reviews. So? Bad for them and I don't trust what they have as reviews.

Many times PU has the only basic information you can find let alone is not conflicted by the fact that porn review sites live on referral fees. That has been true from day one and is still true.

Never say the risk is low nowadays. There are big sites that are honest to be sure, but anyone can start a website.
I find it hard to feel that an unknown website is worth my money.

02-08-19  04:24pm - 2050 days #484
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
Site participation has been declining.
You state that the previous management team told you the site participation was declining in the months (or longer) before your team took over.
And the original team (with Khan) wasn't sure how to stop that decline and make the site grow.

I assume that the decline has gone on until recently.
I don't have any strong suggestions on how to reverse that decline.

One point I've noticed: a number of members accounts were suspended or disabled or whatever term you want to use.
I assume some software program was used to find and disable those member accounts.

I suspect that at least some of the suspensions were in error.
SelenaMetArt, who works for the MetArt network of porn sites, was suspended.
And then her account was reactivated.

I don't know how many other PU members had their account suspended.

Was there a reason why those accounts were suspended?

You are trying to increase PU membership.
Suspending members, without a good reason, seems to be counterproductive to increasing membership.

Did the software program you used to suspend members give a reasonable reason for suspension?

Or was it a flawed software program?

Are you kicking out members who might not deserve to be kicked out?

I posted a while back when I noticed that SelenaMetArt was suspended.
I wrote that she was a valuable contributor to the PU site, because she was friendly, courteous, and offered help and knowledge to to other PU members when they had a problem with one of the MetArt sites.

My post was apparently ignored, or passed over, but then SelenaMetArt's account was enabled, and she is now able to post again at PU.

But my point is: if a friendly, courteous, helpful PU member like SelenaMetArt was suspended, why did you suspend her?

Is your software to suspend PU members useful? Does it find PU members who contribute to the site, and suspend them?

PU has the right to suspend anyone, without giving a reason.
I believe that's written somewhere in the rules.
And the suspension is definite, as long as PU says it is.

I believe shills and people who post false reviews and spam should be suspended.

But I also believe that your software has probably suspended some members for no reason that I can think of.

02-08-19  04:33pm - 2050 days #485
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I would also want more webmaster participation. That was always a plus here.

02-08-19  04:43pm - 2050 days #486
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
I think that saying we live in a Yelp world is poor.

PU is better than Yelp. It's members should have more trust or faith in the site (reviews, comments, posts) than the short reviews that Yelp publishes.

The PU staff is supposed be running the site, and, to the extent possible, checking that the user-submitted reviews, comments, posts etc. make sense, and serve some purpose.

Not all comments and posts have to deal with porn.
The staff allows off-topic comments and posts.

(I would have been suspended long ago for my off-topic posts if the PU staff required everything to deal with porn.)

But I feel that the PU site has more integrity than the Yelp site:
Yelp doesn't check on the accuracy of the user-submitted reviews.

It doesn't require the reviews to meet any standards, that I know of, unlike PU, which does require the reviews to meet certain standards (the pros, cons, bottom line sections are supposed to be filled with meaningful facts or opinions).

The PU reviews, in my opinion, are among the best reviews on the internet:
they are not all puff pieces that some review sites seem to be.

I'm certainly not saying that all PU reviews are masterpieces.
But most of them seem be an honest reflection of what the reviewer thinks or feels.

And a lot of the reviews give some indication, to me, at least, on whether a site fits my interests, or is worth joining.

Which is the point of what the review should be doing.


So, does PU serve a purpose, in a world where Yelp exists?

PU serves a purpose, where people interested in paying for porn, can find reviews that are not puff-pieces, that try to give an honest opinion of porn sites that charge for memberships.

And the comment and threads can hit on porn-related and non-porn related issues.

02-08-19  04:52pm - 2050 days #487
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I can't think of even one reason to trust a yelp review.

You have no idea who wrote the comments, often are just venting, and usually focus vary narrowly on only one aspect. "My soup was cold and I had to return it to be warmed up. The waiter looked at me funny." You have quantity to such an extent that the reviews can't ever be useful. If you have 1500 two sentence reviews of a restaurant, would you read more than a small handful?

Yelp has almost zero requirements to post a review true. PU is easy to post on if you meet a few simple requirements. PU does not even charge-PU will pay you for your opinions.

By the way reviews on Amazon are a joke. There have been numerous cases where people have been paid to post fake reviews.

02-08-19  05:15pm - 2050 days #488
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
Originally Posted by mbaya:


I would also want more webmaster participation. That was always a plus here.


I second that. More participation by the webmaster and other PU staff members would be positive.

Also, the Sites Not Listed thread seems to be ignored by current management. Or maybe it was just forgotten.

Listing new sites on PU seems like a no-brainer. You want as many sites you can get, if they will bring in revenues to the PU site through referrals.
I assume that's what the PU site is based on.

It might be hard work, reaching out to all the new sites, but when a PU member adds a new site to that thread, or a new thread on the same subject, someone in the PU staff should make an effort to get the new site listed.
(I realize that some sites make it a problem to have a PU listing, but it would be nice if the PU staff let us members know that an attempt has been made, and that our requests for a new listing is not just being ignored.)

02-08-19  06:29pm - 2050 days #489
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Originally Posted by mbaya:




By the way reviews on Amazon are a joke. There have been numerous cases where people have been paid to post fake reviews.

I am in the top 5K of reviewers at Amazon, been a member since the beginning. I have been given gifts, and offered all sorts of stuff to do a review. I will admit I did do a couple, but I told them I wouldn't lie about the review though.

I used to Trust the PU site, I do not trust the reviews at all since being under new management. And is why I stopped giving stats and gave a more personal touch.
Which didn't matter, if staff is allowing trolls to openly abuse the site.

Its going to take allot to gain my trust back, gees dare I say I trust Rabbit more? I I think they are hacks.

Perhaps PU is not meant to be, guess we will see but not spending my hard earned cash here until I see results. I have a couple reviews coming from sites I am a member at now, but after that I may stop until things improve. Since 2007

02-08-19  07:21pm - 2050 days #490
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:


I am in the top 5K of reviewers at Amazon, been a member since the beginning. I have been given gifts, and offered all sorts of stuff to do a review. I will admit I did do a couple, but I told them I wouldn't lie about the review though.

I used to Trust the PU site, I do not trust the reviews at all since being under new management. And is why I stopped giving stats and gave a more personal touch.
Which didn't matter, if staff is allowing trolls to openly abuse the site.

Its going to take allot to gain my trust back, gees dare I say I trust Rabbit more? I I think they are hacks.

Perhaps PU is not meant to be, guess we will see but not spending my hard earned cash here until I see results. I have a couple reviews coming from sites I am a member at now, but after that I may stop until things improve.

I hope you still trust the long time reviewers. I know that my reviews are always my own opinions and that is true for at a minimum the reviewers with the most posts.

02-09-19  01:22am - 2050 days #491
Toadsith (0)
Active User



Posts: 936
Registered: Dec 07, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by MikeC:


In a world of Reddit, a global forum/message board where you can talk about porn, politics and whatever else you want with just one login, what role does PU play?


Reddit should be seen as both an ally and a reason for existing for Porn Users. Is Reddit a wonderful open forum full of appreciation of every possible pornographic niche that is legally available? Yes. Is it also one of the largest hubs for sharing pirated pornographic materials which puts small content producers out of business because nobody wants to hand them $20 for something they can just stream on Reddit? Yup, it's also that.

The fact of the matter is that Porn Users needs to have a Reddit and Twitter footprint to survive and thrive. It needs to lean in and hold fast to the principles that Khan layed down during its formative years. This is a site dedicated to the appreciation, respect, and continued employment of the stars and producers of the world's best pornography. It is supposed to be a welcoming environment that embraces all (legal) fetishes and provides knowledgeable reviews that not only dive into the specific but also into the ephemeral. Users should leave a review not only knowing how big the videos are on a site, but also the artistic vision of that site as well.

Pornography, like any other form of visual entertainment, is highly subjective, so we all need to find reviewers that share our tastes. This was one of the things that set Porn Users apart from the professional review sites. A popular site usually got 5 or more relatively recent reviews within the past 6 months from different people. If you weren't familiar with a specific reviewer, you could then look at their history and find a review from them on a site you'd been a member with before, and then you could judge if their tastes ran true to yours, or were significantly different, and add that judgement to the score they gave to the new (to you) site.

It is a testament to the corrupting nature of human greed that the need for an organization like Consumer Reports is perhaps greater than ever. They turned 83 years old this January, and while there have been many technological innovations in those passing decades, there have also been a horde of new scams, drops in quality, and general disregard for human safety that I shudder to think what we'd be living with if they had closed shop. Planned obsolescence is a plague that has been ravaging our consumer goods for easily 50 years, but at least Consumer Reports is able to nudge companies to make products safer when the technology is relatively economical. They were crucial in getting manufacturers to put radar-assisted braking technology standard in all cars, and Toyota (their forever darling) installed it 2-years ahead of schedule across their entire line.

Porn Users can be the Consumer Reports of the Adult industry. It can be that beacon shines light on malicious websites, and lauds producers of excellence.

Originally Posted by MikeC:


In an online world where very, very low memberships are commonplace (for Black Friday this year, Evil Angel, one of the biggest companies in the industry, were offering $5/30 day memberships), and the risk of being swindled has mostly (but not entirely, to be sure) gone away because it's the big brands and big companies that rule over all, what value does PU bring to not just the members of the site but also those who stumble on it, where there are few (bad) surprises and less risk than ever?


Mostly is a VERY strong word for the current state of the industry. Will a reputable site turn into a credit-card stealing street urchin the way German Goo Girls did some years ago? (They may actually be ok again, they seem to be posting new content) Not very likely, but that extreme level of theft is not really the risk I was ever worried about from the industry. I saw that Naughty America, one of the largest and oldest networks, was very recently swindling its customers by adding an up-charge to every one of its channels. It was like subscribing to HBO and then finding out that Game of Thrones is in the Fantasy category and you need to drop another $10 a month to get access to it.

Could somebody post a warning on Reddit about it? Sure. But have you actually tried searching Reddit? Unless you have a very specific search query (which usually means you already know the answer but you are looking for a key detail) you will get swamped by loads of mildly relevant but almost entirely useless posts. Reddit is a loveable but nearly unregulated shit-show of chaos, drama, and depression. It can be informative and fascinating, but it is unreliably either of those things.

The fact of the matter is that I don't go on reddit when I'm making buying decisions. The opinions are too varied, too scattered, too unreliable. I look to professional sites and I look to user review sites with a modicum of organization. Consumer Reports is great, but they don't review porn, and they are only useful for general reviews of anything. If you really know about a product category, in-depth, you'll usually find their reviews broadly correct, but useless in the specific. For that you must turn to a niche site, where real fanatics will dig into the category and lay its secrets bare.

For pornography, Porn Users was that site, and somewhat still is. I must admit that I've always felt we underrepresented the Gay Porn community, but otherwise, it had a pretty good collection of regular reviewers that covered a broad spectrum of fetishes. And as long as people will try to recycle content, add charges for crappy service, and other unique ways to sneak extra money from the dollars of pornographic spectators, there will be a need for an organization like Porn Users.

Originally Posted by MikeC:


I think it is very easy to just dismiss us and the team as "not minding the store," but it's another to think about the online adult industry and where a forum like PU fits into the larger scheme. It's not what it was just 5 years ago, let alone 10 or 12, when you joined.


Honestly, while I spent countless hours on the forums over the years, for me it always and always will be about the reviews. I didn't always have the time or money review as many sites as I would have liked, but that was always the focus for me. I'm a collector and a fan (let's not forget that is short for "fanatic") of pornography. It has always been my desire and goal to improve the industry, to share my enthusiasm for the content, and to see the industry thrive.

In the past decade I've been lucky to see a world that, in general, seemed to be moving towards a lessening of the taboo and stigma of the pornographic industry and sex workers as a whole. However, that has taken a turn of late. Most famously with Tumblr, but also in subtler ways like through Instagram and Gmail (most shockingly). Sex workers are very broadly defined by these monolithic corporations that control the pipelines of news and entertainment through which we connect with the digital world, and they can invisibly silence entire segments of the population through the use of simple computer algorithms. Not only can they do this, they are doing this.

I've seen it happen overtly on platforms like Patreon, and I've learned from women working in the burlesque industry, that Google is treating what they deem to be "sexually charged" advertisements from legitimate user accounts like spam, and hiding it from their users. These are self-owned, usually women-owned, small businesses that can't reach their audience because a corporation decided to overlay its faux morality on the computers handling their social content. So while I think the population, and certainly millennials in the specific, are becoming more sex-positive and less judgemental of those who earn a living from sex work and sex work adjacent industries, our corporate overlords are heading in the opposite direction.

That may have veered a little off topic, but the gist of it is that Porn Users provides an organized place for enthusiasts to share their reasoned and moderately unfiltered opinions about the content they like to collect and consume. The forums provide a... forum... to discuss the nuances of the industry. At its best, the forums are a place to explore the meta, the esoteric, and the just plain weird, within the umbrella of pornography.

Originally Posted by MikeC:


For what it's worth, my opinion on these questions is that (as a webmaster mentioned to me recently) we live in a Yelp world. There absolutely is a place for user-generated reviews of adult sites, a place where people can honestly and earnestly talk about a hobby they can't typically share out in the open. The old way of doing things simply won't work anymore.


I legit don't know what to make of this quote. We live in a post Yelp world. That platform is on the outs because nobody trusts it anymore and Google Maps is crushing it. Was it king? For sure. But they have squandered their trust and people are running away. It is ranked 217 in the world, and has moved 10 spots down the list in the past 3 months alone.

You say there is a place for user-gen reviews of adult sites, but are you saying that isn't PU? That it's Reddit and we are the old way?

Originally Posted by MikeC:


We have been collecting all of the feedback on to how to make this a better site. We are hearing you and we want and will make changes.

I know there is an element of us both talking past each other, but you feel as if we are not doing due diligence and that is why the site has been on the decline and I am trying to express that we have tried to make adjustments and changes precisely because it is declining.


I'm running out of characters, but in short: Learn from Reddit. Turn some of your fanatics into moderators. Utilize Reddit and Twitter as platforms to direct people to Porn Users. And work on better cooperation with small porn sites. Give them a voice here.

Cheers. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo

02-09-19  04:27am - 2050 days #492
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Toadsith we are honored by your presence here. This is a great post.

02-09-19  05:37am - 2050 days #493
exotics4me (0)
Active User



Posts: 664
Registered: Jan 12, '07
Location: USA
I was sending Freddie an email Thursday morning but got busy at work and didn't finish it. I have the utmost respect for our members that are frustrated with the mistake(s) but I don't agree with being this hard on Freddie. The email I was sending her was in reply to an email she sent me back in December. Seeing the problems pop up and thinking back to December, I don't think anyone offered her any help. We always help new staff. And even worse, this past holiday season was maybe the busiest in years on PU. I'm sorry guys, this is one time that I'm just going to offer any help to Freddie that she might need, including lingo, I know "shill" popped up a few times and try to give her a better community welcome than she received.

To the rest of the discussion, if I could convince the current staff of something, I could at least help with some of the problems. We lack good communication. Mike mentioned Freddie contacting ex-members and it's a great idea but did anyone stop to think some current members are friends with a lot of ex-members and could provide updated contact info or even directly connect you to them? When we talk about changes from Khan/Rick to Rabbit, that's one that rarely gets mentioned. We no longer operate like a community. We're staff over here, members over there.

I do think Mike gets that as I've read where he knows that a lot of us have strong attachments to PU, to our old friend Khan but I don't know how much the current staff understands that connection or attachment. It was unique, after all.

I'm going to use this to show what I mean. Khan has been gone for 6 years now. He's still #8 on the most forum posts list. He wasn't just staff or administrator, he was one of us. Many members and ex-members alike, want that kind of interaction from the staff. If it can be done, I kind of got the idea Freddie was going to be more involved, I do think it improves Porn Users.

Back when PU first started talking about using social media, myself and others used the feature on Facebook (years ago) where you could have a work page and a personal page. Those are more merged now but if you mess with the settings and group your friends, you can still create a PU group of friends, as example. I have 28 in mine. All 28 are ex-members. All 28 are still active on Facebook. When I thought about it on Thursday, I didn't have an answer for why I've not recruited them back. I guess I've got to know them more and figure they'll come back if they want to.

I posted a question just to those 28 friends on Thursday evening, "Why did you leave PU?"

There was an overwhelming amount of mentions of Khan's passing but those aren't impossible to fix. They wanted more interaction like Khan brought to the forum. They said Khan's moderating of topics was the best and stopped members from bullying and avoided the possible "mob mentality" breakdowns that forums see.

Those things could be at least somewhat replicated.

Like MikeC's post, insular came up and it went into the bullying. One ex-member said something happened in his porn viewing interests and he started enjoying transsexual porn. He posted a review or two of transsexual sites and "as soon as I posted in the forum, several members started being asses to me, I had enough confusion about why I was liking transsexual porn but didn't stick around to see if anyone had answers for me."

Five members referenced one incident from last year as being their "final straw" and all five described it as two members being dicks to one member and no staff intervened.

I really can't stress how important that is with these ex-members. When you add in that we're often talking about a topic people struggle with talking about, if they don't feel like they're going to be able to talk about it without being chastised by others, they're not going to talk about it.

Then, on Friday, I asked this question of the 28, "Your feelings on the raffle?"

A funny response, "I hated all you fuckers that kept winning. Khan wouldn't approve enough of my reviews for me to be eligible! By the time I became eligible, I didn't have anymore sites to review!"

A common response paraphrased, "Too many members write reviews of sites in networks. They look like they copy and paste it and change the site name."

I know that my mileage could vary on the raffle question since friends aren't going to give me a hard time about winning but the only complaints about raffle winners were like above. Those that post many reviews from one network or those that write short reviews.

I had a lot of these "You guys that won a lot, won a lot because you earned it."

The big question is how many of them can I flip back to being active members?

I really don't know but I will try. I'll wrap up with a very important question several have asked me since Rabbit bought PU/TBP. I think this could be huge.

In 2009, a top PU reviewer named Roseman (you out there? if I say something wrong, please correct it) had his wife join PU and didn't tell Khan. Well, they both won a raffle and Khan noticed their IP being the same. He got pretty upset but I don't remember what he did to fix it. I want to say he disabled one of their accounts or made it where they couldn't review. In Roseman's defense, I think everyone realized it was his girlfriend/wife as they weren't being secretive about it. Playful flirting and so on. Keeping in mind, this was 10 years ago and I don't think it has came up since.

When talking about needing more female members, could ex-members add their wives/girlfriends without getting in trouble? I seem to remember a check box somewhere in my profile that says disable raffle or something like that. Four of the ex-members said their reason for leaving was their wives/girlfriends saying they spent too much time talking about other naked women lol. If they could be a part of it they wouldn't stop them from coming back.

It was also a question I was going to ask Freddie, in the email I was sending her because my girlfriend would love to be a member. She's only been speaking English for 6 years and she doesn't get a lot of practice typing/writing English. I don't think she would want to review sites but I could see her posting in the forum. I also have a female friend of 20+ years, a therapist, who would probably be a lot of fun as a member. She's the one that says she's, "A hopeful lesbian" which means she's hoping a really sexy lesbian will seduce her. Her IP would be different than mine but my girlfriend's would be the same as mine. I'm offering two female members.

And with an answer, I can relay it to those on my Facebook. If I had any other advice it's to not underestimate the members' willingness to help. My first time I jacked off, I thought I'd invented it. I looked down at my sloppy handful of junk and thought, This is going to make me rich. - Chuck Palahniuk

02-09-19  09:32am - 2049 days #494
Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User



Posts: 2,158
Registered: Jan 01, '08
Location: Wash
Well, after careful thought. I decided this is not the place for me any longer. I could careless about all the excuses given by staff. They are ruining what work many of us put into this website.

When PU sold, it did so because of the value many of us put in to this site for over a decade. That is something many of my fellow members are missing. The site only has what little value left because we put our hard work into. New owners walk in as they always do, think they know better and fuck everything up.

I am glad my fellow members are OK with the site and have confidence in the new owners. Not this member is like a barrel of fucking monkeys. Who probably could do a better job. I do not buy for one second they give two shits about all the work we put into reviews and the community.


Ive said enough, I wish you all well. But I'm gone. Not going to bother wasting my time. This place can not be trusted if the reviews can not be either. Only the select long term members would i ever trust, it seems now the site wants numbers no matter how they get them.

To all my fellow members, its been a nice ride for 12 years. I wont be back.
To the owners and Administrators, thanks for fucking things up and ruining what once was awesome website.

Bye all closing my account after this post and I won't be back. Since 2007

02-09-19  09:35am - 2049 days #495
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I am truly sorry to see you go.

02-09-19  11:29am - 2049 days #496
Toadsith (0)
Active User



Posts: 936
Registered: Dec 07, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by exotics4me:

I don't agree with being this hard on Freddie. [...] We always help new staff. And even worse, this past holiday season was maybe the busiest in years on PU. I'm sorry guys, this is one time that I'm just going to offer any help to Freddie that she might need.

100% agree. Reading through this thread, it seems like there was blood in the water and there was nothing @FreddieAdmin could say that would make amends after a few missteps — she was going to get bit for simply responding. A more eloquent mea culpa might have helped, but as far as I see it, she acknowledged her mistake, and said changes were going to be made to improve. Granted those are just words, but they are the sentiment we want, no?

Originally Posted by exotics4me:

When we talk about changes from Khan/Rick to Rabbit, that's one that rarely gets mentioned. We no longer operate like a community. We're staff over here, members over there.

I do think Mike gets that as I've read where he knows that a lot of us have strong attachments to PU, to our old friend Khan but I don't know how much the current staff understands that connection or attachment. It was unique, after all.

I'm going to use this to show what I mean. Khan has been gone for 6 years now. He's still #8 on the most forum posts list. He wasn't just staff or administrator, he was one of us. Many members and ex-members alike, want that kind of interaction from the staff. If it can be done, I kind of got the idea Freddie was going to be more involved, I do think it improves Porn Users.

10000% YES. This, completely this. Khan was a unique element that really set the tone of this site. I had mostly left the site before the sale due to a lot of reasons that had more to do with me than the site, but his absence was visible almost immediately. Khan weighed in on discussions, and always had a hand on the till, it was kind of like sharing the site with a supportive but very watchful father. He gave gentle reminders of where the line was whenever people began inching past it. I think we all loved the man but also feared his disciplinarian hand. Most moderaterators operate like a figurehead of a judicial system, coming when they are called and doling out justice.

Khan was a bit of a helicopter dad. Often he was the first to reply to any new thread, and if somebody was making a post that would fit in an already existing thread, he'd link them to that thread, remind them of how the search feature works, and encourage them to go make a new post over there. He was also simply engaged on a social level, Khan never let people forget that he was the moderator, but he was also happy to weigh in on discussions, especially ones that veered away from simple topics about porn (the usual "best ass in porn today" type schlock) but instead entered the meta, the philosophical, or even were just completely off topic but interesting none-the-less, like music or hollywood movies, et cetera.

It was very comforting to have a friend of the community running the site, not a friendly staff member.

Originally Posted by exotics4me:

There was an overwhelming amount of mentions of Khan's passing but those aren't impossible to fix. They wanted more interaction like Khan brought to the forum. They said Khan's moderating of topics was the best and stopped members from bullying and avoided the possible "mob mentality" breakdowns that forums see.

Again, YES. Khan gave out bans like hotcakes for bullying. There was a Zero-Tolerance Policy on that.

@FreddieAdmin Would you prefer the community report instances of bullying asap to you using the report feature? Under Khan's reign, the only time I would report things was if it was obvious spam to help get it off the site asap. Since Khan read the site so much, I respected his judgement about when a conversation was simply heated versus entering the territory of bullying. But we all could try to be more vigilant about that if it would help you.

Originally Posted by exotics4me:

One ex-member said something happened in his porn viewing interests and he started enjoying transsexual porn. He posted a review or two of transsexual sites and "as soon as I posted in the forum, several members started being asses to me, I had enough confusion about why I was liking transsexual porn but didn't stick around to see if anyone had answers for me."

That's just awful. I'm sorry to hear that happened.

Originally Posted by exotics4me:

I'm offering two female members.

YES! Let's make this happen, Porn Users has always been too male dominated.


In summary: Great post, @exotics4me, lots of useful information, constructive criticism, and helpful suggestions. I'd love to see old user's come back, and new users breathe life into this place.


EDIT: As I've been catching up with the current state of the site, I'm actually noticing that @FreddieAdmin has been posting a lot of new threads and engaging with other users quite a bit — that's great! Thank you! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo
Edited on Feb 09, 2019, 12:50pm

02-09-19  11:31am - 2049 days #497
Toadsith (0)
Active User



Posts: 936
Registered: Dec 07, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by Cybertoad:

To all my fellow members, its been a nice ride for 12 years. I wont be back.


Sorry to see you go, but be well and do great things. 😔 "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo

02-09-19  11:32am - 2049 days #498
Toadsith (0)
Active User



Posts: 936
Registered: Dec 07, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by mbaya:


Toadsith we are honored by your presence here. This is a great post.


Awww, thank you 😊 Glad to see you are still so actively involved! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo

02-09-19  12:58pm - 2049 days #499
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by Toadsith:


Reading through this thread, it seems like there was blood in the water and there was nothing Freddie could say that would make amends after a few missteps — she was going to get bit for simply responding. A more eloquent mea culpa might have helped, but as far as I see it, she acknowledged her mistake, and said changes were going to be made to improve. Granted those are just words, but they are the sentiment we want, no?


An apology is a good place to start.
My issue is as follows:The first raffle, she did not know the rules. Ok, understandable. Awards a winning to someone who had won the previous week. Corrected the mistake online, not in private and let us know that mistakes would be corrected even after the raffle winner is announced.

Soon after awards a raffle again to someone who won in the previous raffle. HUH? Told me that the rules did not apply, New Year new rules, but that she was changing them after the fact since no rule change was ever announced.

What you saw was my reaction to a third episode. She had time to change the announcement, but instead did not. Later she told me that she could not take the award away because she had already announced it and thus establish a precedent for that kind of thing. She actually did that on the first event. To make matters worse the review in question was 97 words and said nothing. Even if you are unfamiliar with what shills do, that would still be a totally inadequate review. Gave it 1 point when the rule is that under 150 is ineligible.

Did not read the raffle rules even after she made the first mistake, did not even know about what she had previously posted in the first incident.

After the second incident I disabled my account. I had a change of heart and contacted her to reopen it. She was unaware that it was disabled. A regular here is not noticed?

I am sorry but this is not about cutting someone slack. Edited on Feb 09, 2019, 04:02pm

02-09-19  04:01pm - 2049 days #500
lk2fireone (0)
Active User



Posts: 3,618
Registered: Nov 14, '08
Location: CA
Cybertoad,
The site and members will miss you.
I only hope you change your mind and return to us.

02-09-19  09:44pm - 2049 days #501
Toadsith (0)
Active User



Posts: 936
Registered: Dec 07, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by mbaya:


An apology is a good place to start.

Did not read the raffle rules even after she made the first mistake, did not even know about what she had previously posted in the first incident.

[...]

After the second incident I disabled my account. I had a change of heart and contacted her to reopen it. She was unaware that it was disabled. A regular here is not noticed?

I am sorry but this is not about cutting someone slack.


Those are some serious missteps, not going to lie. Hopefully all this discussion will lead to some changes for the better. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo

02-10-19  04:25am - 2049 days #502
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I don't want to leave again.
I have a few reviews ready to post.
I want to see what changes around here.

02-10-19  04:50am - 2049 days #503
exotics4me (0)
Active User



Posts: 664
Registered: Jan 12, '07
Location: USA
Originally Posted by mbaya:


I don't want to leave again.
I have a few reviews ready to post.
I want to see what changes around here.


I want to throw something in. The reason I don't agree with the treatment of Freddie, is because I know you pretty well. You might not remember this but way back when Miss Hybrid unleashed her spam attack on PU, you were the one member who backed me up and said you had never known me to cause problems. Because it did look like to some that I was causing problems. I've also never known you to cause problems. And it's why I said I understand the frustration but I hope you do at least give the staff a chance to make changes. My post above lists several changes that I think would be great for PU. Including a couple of female members, which is something I know you've asked for more of. I wouldn't say I'm taking a risk there but having members like you in the forum, will make me feel a little more comfortable about how they're treated. My first time I jacked off, I thought I'd invented it. I looked down at my sloppy handful of junk and thought, This is going to make me rich. - Chuck Palahniuk

02-10-19  06:06am - 2049 days #504
elephant (0)
Active User



Posts: 583
Registered: Jan 11, '07
Wow this turned into some discussion indeed

I don't know exactly what went on with the suspect review so I'll not pipe up about that but as Freddie is new I think it was a genuine mistake that she wanted to encourage new active people here which is good. I also wouldn't like to see this becoming the norm when any old short review is entered into the raffle. Some sort of helpful point of view has to be taken to say what good and bad points and more info than a couple of sentences. I do however feel that punctuation and grammar shouldn't come into it either though, hell I'd never get any reviews into the raffle if that was the case, I write my reviews from the heart and do put some effort into them but they are a million miles from what others who genuinely can write much better than me post on here.

There should be a system to spot the fake reviews though, totally needed.

With the ideas of changing the raffle, I actually think it should still be weekly and still be $100 1st and $50 for 2nd and 3rd. It just works well this way, I wouldn't want to see the 3rd prize be a membership.

Great to see some old names chipping into this thread, Porn Users is a special place on the web and has been a place I've visited lots over the past 12 years, work has been super busy of late so I get on when I can to check up on new reviews and the forum, it's always had this friendly tone and managed to keep away spam and trolls, long may this continue. "Women are like tricks by sleight of hand, Which, to admire, we should not understand." WILLIAM CONGREVE

02-10-19  10:56am - 2048 days #505
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by exotics4me:


I want to throw something in. The reason I don't agree with the treatment of Freddie, is because I know you pretty well. You might not remember this but way back when Miss Hybrid unleashed her spam attack on PU, you were the one member who backed me up and said you had never known me to cause problems. Because it did look like to some that I was causing problems. I've also never known you to cause problems. And it's why I said I understand the frustration but I hope you do at least give the staff a chance to make changes. My post above lists several changes that I think would be great for PU. Including a couple of female members, which is something I know you've asked for more of. I wouldn't say I'm taking a risk there but having members like you in the forum, will make me feel a little more comfortable about how they're treated.


Yes I do not make trouble and don't even complain. I have ignored many things that have happened here.

I am glad you brought up the topic of Miss Hybrid. I remember it well. I think that I have become hypersensitive regarding shills and trolls as a result. How that webmistress treated our members was a real travesty. I was afraid that the incident would be the downfall of PU. Anyone who was not here then is lucky to not have had that horrible experience. We must be vigilant that our site does not allow parasites to ruin what should be a great site.

I think we can make PU the best review site of any kind. We are already better than Amazon or Yelp reviews. Reddit is a site that I am not familiar with.

I will not go into what I have already complained about.
I don't want to be angry forever and I don't want to leave PU.

02-12-19  12:39pm - 2046 days #506
FreddieAdmin
PornUsers Staff


Posts: 0
Registered: Dec 06, '18
Hey guys!

Here are the Raffle winners of the week. This week there won't be a third prize as there weren't enough reviews submitted by users.

The first prize goes to lk2fireone for his reviews on Jizz Bomb and Burning Angel. You can read them all here!

The second prize goes to marcdc1 for his review on Black Meat White Feet which you can read here!

Get your reviews in for next week! Looking forward to reading them

02-12-19  12:52pm - 2046 days #507
marcdc1 (0)
Active User



Posts: 139
Registered: Jan 10, '07
Location: New York
Awesome!

Thanks

02-12-19  12:56pm - 2046 days #508
marcdc1 (0)
Active User



Posts: 139
Registered: Jan 10, '07
Location: New York
Originally Posted by mbaya:


Yes I do not make trouble and don't even complain. I have ignored many things that have happened here.

I am glad you brought up the topic of Miss Hybrid. I remember it well. I think that I have become hypersensitive regarding shills and trolls as a result. How that webmistress treated our members was a real travesty. I was afraid that the incident would be the downfall of PU. Anyone who was not here then is lucky to not have had that horrible experience. We must be vigilant that our site does not allow parasites to ruin what should be a great site.

I think we can make PU the best review site of any kind. We are already better than Amazon or Yelp reviews. Reddit is a site that I am not familiar with.

I will not go into what I have already complained about.
I don't want to be angry forever and I don't want to leave PU.


I really appreciate this community. And I think this discussion is a testament to something sadly lacking on the internet these days - civil disagreement and constructive conflict resolution.

02-12-19  01:01pm - 2046 days #509
marcdc1 (0)
Active User



Posts: 139
Registered: Jan 10, '07
Location: New York
Originally Posted by elephant:


Wow this turned into some discussion indeed

I don't know exactly what went on with the suspect review so I'll not pipe up about that but as Freddie is new I think it was a genuine mistake that she wanted to encourage new active people here which is good. I also wouldn't like to see this becoming the norm when any old short review is entered into the raffle. Some sort of helpful point of view has to be taken to say what good and bad points and more info than a couple of sentences. I do however feel that punctuation and grammar shouldn't come into it either though, hell I'd never get any reviews into the raffle if that was the case, I write my reviews from the heart and do put some effort into them but they are a million miles from what others who genuinely can write much better than me post on here.

There should be a system to spot the fake reviews though, totally needed.

With the ideas of changing the raffle, I actually think it should still be weekly and still be $100 1st and $50 for 2nd and 3rd. It just works well this way, I wouldn't want to see the 3rd prize be a membership.

Great to see some old names chipping into this thread, Porn Users is a special place on the web and has been a place I've visited lots over the past 12 years, work has been super busy of late so I get on when I can to check up on new reviews and the forum, it's always had this friendly tone and managed to keep away spam and trolls, long may this continue.


I just want to take a second and agree with elephant. I think it's healthy to question ways to improve the raffle but I don't want to see a good thing broken. I worry that a membership gift as a 3rd prize would become too difficult. Nothing is a welcome as cash - and Amazon is about as close to cash as you can find on the internet.

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