Do you think...

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Do you think that hiding the Masturbation and Sexuality, Fetish & Sexual Addiction forums in the Sexuality section of this board has contributed to the decline in new posters? These are after all two of the three biggest forums on the board and I would think the things that many people generally have the most questions about. I mean, that's how I found this board and those two forums where what made it interesting enough for me to stick around long enough to become a member.I know sites like Wiki After Dark and others catch more folks and I know there are a plethora of sites like this geared specifically toward girls and young women. However, I have noticed since the change over to the new forum, a couple of years ago, that the anonymous users generally stay constantly around twenty but after the two above mentioned forums were hidden fewer of those twenty seem to becoming new posters. I may be completely wrong it just seems that way to me. Just for clarification I'm not questioning the number of anonymous users but the number of anonymous user who become posters.Was hiding these two forums just a preemptive measure for the sake of safety or was it a real problem?

They can only access the STD part and the Birth Control part.

No, no, no they can see the depression forum. and all others except the community forum. Log out and look at the board and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Was hiding these two forums just a preemptive measure for the sake of safety or was it a real problem? We did seem to have more creeps and pervs previously. We often had members join who would rarely post( if anything) but who had a lot of PM activity. When looking into their PM's you would find them PM'ing ALOT of people. When a few hits get a response it would often progress into sexual discussions.I caught one old fart in his 30-40's teaching a young teen girl how to masturbate. One guy's was into exchanging pictures of his hard-on with any takers.. It was my choice to drop 3 forums from general public view.. The IMPORTANT forums are still open for all to see. It can be changed but I thing for the overall security of the younger members, it's better off this way.I don't know what the rate of registering was before but here is the latest stats:Board Statistics Version: 7.1.1 Total Members: 16061 New in past 24 hours: 0 New in past 7 days: 6 New in past month: 41 Total Forums: 21 Total Topics: 27000 Total Posts: 319995

Im with you on that one. I was getting a little sick of getting creepy messages.Good call!

I think that's a good point. I'm concerned we are getting fewer new members.

Ive noticed a few in the last month. 42(?) I think it said. I dunno.. I havent noticed any creepy msg's in a while.

If there are fewer new members fewer old members are going to hang around and it's going to be cyclical downward spiral.

And the place can become just a social club for old members, which makes it less and less attractive to new people. New people are more encouraged to post if they see other new people posting and asking the same sort of basic questions.

Do you guys think bringing back the Shout Box would make it more attractive for passers-by and up the mood here?

I'm all for bringing it back. I'm for anything that might breath more life into this place because try as I might I can't find another hang out I like and especially not one where I feel that just maybe I contributed to helping somebody out in some way, however meager the help might have been.The only bad part the shout box show cases my horrible spelling.

I'll put it back in but if I remember correctly if someone wrote a "&" it would hang it up. hopefully it won't become a hassle and slow down the board.

I didn't know it had been hidden but there is a marked decline in activity.I understand the "creep factor" (sdp should be careful as to what he defines as "old" though :p )The shout box wasn't anything special in my opinion but it was the sexuality forum and the apparent need for a bit of my experience that brought me here.

There are many forums but I found A2A better cos the members here are really cool and actually have good advices and help out well. I am gonna hang around here and help out others as well. Atlast I found a place I can hang out with nice friends like you guys, Though I am a newcomer I hope you guys wont mind me pesting you There are pros and cons with those two hidden. I think most teenagers and people have questions in those areas and its also something that "creeps" like. I joined up after reading a few posts under Sexuality . These topics are what attract people cos many are having problems in their lives which they cant ask anybody.You could just add a line "Masturbation and Sexuality....only members allowed...for security reasons.....or.....for the safety of posters"...something like that or a lock icon next to them and not hide them.You could also not allow PMing for newcomers for a while, 1-3 months would do, "creep factor" may reduce as they cant PM anyone and can only post. If the posts indicate oddness you can ban that member.Shoutbox is great.

The ideas you suggest are great.. except we don't have the capability to implement them. We can turn off the PM feature completely block the "creeps" but a lot of people use the PM for thisngs they don't want "out in the open".

Got it. But I think you should not hide those two.

I liked the chatter box! I was sad to see it go. I think it could help lighten the mood around here sometimes.

Okay, call me stupid but...what is this chatter box thingy?

What do you mean "what is it?" Did you look to he lft of your screen?

Originally Posted By: sdp

What do you mean "what is it?" Did you look to he lft of your screen?

There's nothing over there.
It's blank.