What Direction, Moderators ?

[suckling_pig]

Dear Forum Owner / Moderators,

Through the years, BW has indeed become quite an insitution, and for this I thank and congratulate you.

The fact is that BW has almost become the defacto gay forum in Sg, and has grown beyond the stated aims of a place for "mature gay men". I do think that now the majority of members / users are less than 35 years old?

My question are:

• Does BW intend to adapt to the need of users that find their way to BW, or does BW intend to cater to a defined target audience?
  
• Do you have any plans for the future of BW?
  

Thanks,

SP

Edited November 1, 2011 by suckling_pig

[sum1outhere_03]

The fact is that BW has almost become the defacto gay forum in Sg, and has grown beyond the stated aims of a place for "mature gay men".

Looks like youngsters like us have hijacked this forum!! Wuahahaha....

[greysuperhero]

Dear Forum Owner / Moderators,

Through the years, BW has indeed become quite an insitution, and for this I thank and congratulate you.

The fact is that BW has almost become the defacto gay forum in Sg, and has grown beyond the stated aims of a place for "mature gay men". I do think that now the majority of members / users are less than 35 years old?

My question are:

• Does BW intend to adapt to the need of users that find their way to BW, or does BW intend to cater to a defined target audience?
  
• Do you have any plans for the future of BW?
  

Thanks,

SP

yea, i would love to hear what the mods have in store for the forum, since there are so many youngsters here today, not just mature gay men:)

[HendryTan]

1. suckling_pig, your comment about the BW forum flatter us.

2. Several of the mods are travelling and we have not met. What I am saying here is NOT an official statement of our direction.

3. The mods are a bunch of volunteer moderators doing what we feel good about. Massage, Travels, Sex experience sharing, what ever we fancy. We do take the chance to share some of our philosophies in life. some good practice like Safe Sex. No Drugs. Other than that, there is no SPECIFIC AGENDA. Neither is there any 5 year plan. Disappointed ?

4. Some have asked whether we are heading towards a commercial site. I say an emphatic NO.

5. Personally I am surprise when the younger generation started registering on Blowing Wind. I am still curious what contents the younger members found interesting in Blowing Wind.

6. Over the years, from the technical angle, we have introduced features like Member Pictures, Status Update, Mobile which are enthusiastically embraced by our younger members. It makes BW more colourful and livelier. Of course it comes with some crash of culture. But so far I think it has being manageable.

7. Before the Moderators meet later in the year to discuss, perhaps mature and younger members like to share how this forum should evolve and what else you like to see.

Cheers !

Hendry Tan

Admin cum Moderator

[greysuperhero]

Oooh Hendry!

I just want to say that i like the new profiles and layouts:) it's not like the average run-of-the-mill forums. Thank you and the moderators for the wonderful work:)

And and, as a young user of BW, I just want to say that I use BW because it seems more civilised (LOL or less bitchy) than other forums. Most users here seem quite friendly. And of course the additional features like the like-button, customisable profiles, status updates etc keeps me here!

Edited November 1, 2011 by greysuperhero

[Wolfe]

The forum softwear itself isn't quite what I was used to - as in WYSIWYG editors. But I find it quite unique, alone with the customizable profiles and status updating.

[suckling_pig]

Hi Hendry,

It is a pleasure to hear that the Mods and Administrators are so open. I would like to say that it is clear that all of you are doing this in your spare time, and with no monetary gain, indeed I am sure you all incur little costs here and there which the rest of us users never even hear of.

Community Services

But I think it is important for me to bring up the future of BW because of what it now seems to mean to the community. Whether it was intended or not, the online presence of BW means that for many young gay men, or men in the closet, BW is likely the first forum where they can actually make meaningful contact with other gay people and discuss things in a helpful manner. It appears BW now has the choice either to take up a larger role within the community or not.

But at the same time, I know that it is unfair for the Mods and Admin to put in too much time. Perhaps what is possible is to rethink the structure of BW to allow other interest groups who are doing so much good work, but do not have as much web presence to open a shopfront in BW? The example that immediately pops into my mind is Oogachaga. Ever so often we get these young gays who come, and all we do in BW is refer them to OC. Wouldn't it be great if OC takes on the running of their own sub-forum?

Sorry, I have to rush to a meeting now, but I will write more later. There are other opportunities which perhaps BW can consider taking on if it wishes.

SP

Edited November 2, 2011 by suckling_pig

[imchaser]

Sorry, Oogachaga is Oogachaga. BW is BW. BW already is perfect the way it is now.

[suckling_pig]

Imchaser,

Yes, your opinion as a user is noted. Now do you also speak as a Moderator / Admin / Forum Owner?

[suckling_pig]

Hi Hendry,

It is a pleasure to hear that the Mods and Administrators are so open. I would like to say that it is clear that all of you are doing this in your spare time, and with no monetary gain, indeed I am sure you all incur little costs here and there which the rest of us users never even hear of.

Community Services

But I think it is important for me to bring up the future of BW because of what it now seems to mean to the community. Whether it was intended or not, the online presence of BW means that for many young gay men, or men in the closet, BW is likely the first forum where they can actually make meaningful contact with other gay people and discuss things in a helpful manner. It appears BW now has the choice either to take up a larger role within the community or not.

But at the same time, I know that it is unfair for the Mods and Admin to put in too much time. Perhaps what is possible is to rethink the structure of BW to allow other interest groups who are doing so much good work, but do not have as much web presence to open a shopfront in BW? The example that immediately pops into my mind is Oogachaga. Ever so often we get these young gays who come, and all we do in BW is refer them to OC. Wouldn't it be great if OC takes on the running of their own sub-forum?

Sorry, I have to rush to a meeting now, but I will write more later. There are other opportunities which perhaps BW can consider taking on if it wishes.

SP

Ok, back from meeting. Now to continue:

User Experience of BW

I believe that the users are varied. They start on one end, with youngsters just discovering their gay sexuality, to closet married men coming to terms with their secret, to attention seeking trolls and bitching queens. Some come with an earnest need to know more and find friendship, while others are just here to show off how clever they are, or sadistically put down others. Very unfortunately, the tone of BW lately has been taking on more and more of the latter rather than the former. In the sub-forums, and in the Main Forum in particular, many irresponsible and downright hurtful language is used. The result is that many people are just put off and don't post. What remains are loud and opinionated posters, who refuse to use common courtesy and respect for others.

I myself hesitate to post in the Main Forum because everything thread seems to devolve into bitching. We can all agree we do not need a BW Gestapo to ensure order, but I believe that by some re-structuring of the sub-forums, you improve the situation. By increasing more focussed sub-forums, only those people who have interest in the particular subjects will post. Some examples may be:

• Me and My Gay Sexuality - for those coming to terms with their sexuality. If OC wants to get involved, this is good place.
  
• Gays in Singapore - for those interested in the community's interaction with society and the state
  
• Love and LTR - self explanatory.
  

Funding for BW

I know that BW has built up tremendous goodwill, and many people will be willing to contribute a dollar two easily. A paypal account and/or a collection box in the saunas will easily settle the server hosting fees, plus whatever other costs you might incur.

[IkuTube]

01. The future of BW .. what it now seems to mean to the community?

02. It appears BW now has the choice either to take up a larger role within the community or not?

03. to rethink the structure of BW

04. There are other opportunities which perhaps BW can consider taking.

Suckling_pig, please note that my reply is not specifically directed to you. Your intention raising these questions are thoughts worthy (may I thank you for it) and many more such suggestions (from other Members) should be encouraged . Personally, I must say that you have brought up a very interesting topic for consideration and discussion.

A little sharing first:

Should we reflect back in time, BW started from a passion of one man. From just a casual, small and informal interactive forum, it opened up like-minded interest and had evolved to such big following (to where it is today). Our readership rose more than 300,000 on 13 October 2011. However, one thing remains unchanged - just as in the case of our founder BW-the-Man, the moderators (and like what HendryTan had mentioned) have no intention to head the forum towards a commercial site.

Limitations on moderating:

01. With such a growing readership and wide audience of all ages , it does bring in some concerns amongst the moderators. For one, it is now difficult for the moderators to control the contents of postings. Not because we are bochup but as pointed, the moderators here are volunteers who have their careers to think first. Hence, our hands are tight.

We need more members to help to police the situation together. Where and when there are postings which are not in line with the guidelines, do inform us. At the same time, we can only hope our readers (guests and members) to exercise responsibilities when postings. It will then be win-win situation.

Then, there is also a problem with spams with the growing popularity.

02. We are still hoping more members to respond to our ads for Volunteer IT admin. HendryTan posted it here - http://www.blowingwi...showtopic=24945

Let's not stop the discussion here. I am inviting for more members to share their thoughts (and to those points raised by Suckling_pig). Every new idea counts, big or small. One should ask, 'if this forum has become a part of my life/routine, how would I want it to be next?'

Our members should realize that, in order for this forum to grow and continue, we need involvement of new blood, new ideas and perhaps, new philosophy. This is the only way we can evolve and improve.

Change is inevitable.

Sincerely thanking each one of you in advance,

IkuTube

[suckling_pig]

Hi IkuTube,

Yes, the fact that BW is run by volunteers is foremost in my mind. This is why I think that if the community asks of you to do more than the stellar job you have all been doing so far would be unfair.

It is just that I see an issue that I think is important to be discussed. It is a fact that BW has become the de-facto forum. Any person googling gay issues in Singapore will likely be directed to BW, perhaps even more so than the other gay community outreach organisations. It is quite natural for any young and curious, or in-the-closet married gay to gain most of his info from BW. Just look at the number of anguished souls that write to BW every week.

So if BW has such a web-presence, how will it respond? Asking too much of the volunteer Mods / Admin would be unfair. But at the same time there is a chance to step up and benefit the community. What would be a workable solution? My suggestion is that perhaps OC can be invited to lead one of the sub-forums. It would be a great shopfront for them, and give them the real online engagement with the community that I believe they are aiming for. This would not take require much more time from the Mods / Admin but would benefit the community greatly.

If this is successful, other sub-forums can be lead by other organisations. AFA perhaps even FCC (Free Community Church) etc ( I know there is also a gay muslim org in Sg, but the name eludes me) can be invited to participate.

This is just off the top of my head. I am sure the Mods / Admin and all the BWers will have very valuable insights too.

[iamwill]

I would like to add my 2 thoughts to this discussion.

Firstly, I akin the situation that the forum is facing now is like what started out as a small family-run restaurant getting too popular for its current shop front. Many of its regulars had brought in their friends and by the word of mouth, the restaurant became so popular that the family are having a hell of the time to keep up the pace of the business. Of course, the family running the business should be really happy that their business is damn good and their efforts have paid off. Now the family is thinking, should they expand bigger so as to ride on the wave and let more people enjoy their food, or remain the exclusivity and just be contented with satisfying their current customer base?

Both obviously would have their pros and cons. If expansion is in the mind, then should the restaurant just increase capacity ie taking up the shops next doors, or even bigger thoughts would be to franchise the business. Then the next question would be can the current team able to cope with the increased capacity? Will the franchisee run the business the way it was originally intended?

If its to remain exclusive, then would it be a pity that something bigger could have happened and probably create an impact? Also, the existing regular customers might be lost because they might not get their seats when they come for their meals because the restaurant is too crowded.

My second thought would be about the issue of "bad" users like what has been mentioned in SP's post on user experience. As with all sorts of platforms, tools, IT systems and what nots, the effectiveness of these tools is as good as the users. Being a public forum like BW, surely there will be all types of people coming in to post. All coming in with different agenda also. To have a forum designed to filter off such "bad" posts would be almost impractical. Asking moderators to screen through ALL posts and determine if it should be allowed would be too much to ask for. It would also end up being a perception issue on why certain posts were disallowed. Surely, given the current technologies available in the market, sure such filtering is technically possible. But the question is "is it practical?" If such filtering were to be present in this forum, wouldn't then this forum become another Straits Times?

My personal opinion would be for the forum to remain as what it is now. Because I believe the moderators are doing it because they enjoy doing it. How well a person performs a certain function really depends on whether the person enjoys doing it. The initial intention of the forum, like mentioned by IkuTube, is to let like-minded people have an avenue to interact. It would be impossible to have a forum to cater to all the different "wants" of each individual. Not to say that the forum should remain stagnant, but have incremental improvements like what had happened recently on the revamping on the layout, new fucntions etc.

Users like us should also play our part. Give our suggestions on how to improve the experience of using the forums. I for one prefers simplicity, just able to read and post is good enough for me. But if its for the good for the forum as a whole, I would not mind to go along. Another thing is about those users/guests who post nasty stuff. No doubt these posting are not something nice to read and especially if its targeted at yourself. But us as matured users, we really have to accept that this is part of life, afterall we meet such people in our daily lives whether at work, neighbours etc. Take them with a pinch of salt and not take things personal. Its these people that adds a little color to the forum right? Don't mistaken me for encouraging personnel insults in forum postings. My take is not to stoop down to the same level if you think those people posting such remarks are low class, uncivilised idiots, replying them would place me at the same level as them. But then there are certain remarks with involves father/mother which are really uncalled for. I hope the moderators do take note cos it really does not look good on the forum as a whole.

I may be a silent reader all these while, but I do really enjoy the forum. I felt that this is one of the thing I can contribute to the forum for now.

[IkuTube]

Shall upz this thread for more discussion. :twisted:

[Blissfull]

I think the basic is to maintain the stability of the forum (the lags and stuffs) but I don't know any of those technical issues so I can't really say anything.

Other than that, I think the forum is pretty well done, the functions and usage. Kudos to the mods!

Maybe some of the things can be more interactive like ... redesigning the logo?

[fenghou]

Whatever the director the moderators decide to take, we'll support you!!

But please try not to separate the crowd (below 35 and above)

I've learnt tremendously from life stories posted by people who are above 40, namely Marky's life stories and a few other.

And at the same time, people above 35 can read about what youngsters like us are into.

So there's a mutual gain.

So hope >>>>does BW intend to cater to a defined target audience<<<

Doesn't happen, Cross it out!!

I'm in my early 20s by the way. But have been here since I was around 16+ of age

[suckling_pig]

But have been here since I was around 16+ of age

Ah hah !!! But not what you think, I am not going to point out fraudulent registration at BW

I am only pointing out that there is a need to accommodate young inquiring minds. I believe the original intent on requiring > 18 age was to keep on the good side of the law, and there is no reason why the official registration process can still remain. But in considering any structural change, this is a very important segment of the community.

Edited November 7, 2011 by suckling_pig

[MeowPrince]

Simplicity and ease of use, please. Bells and whistles are really not necessary.

[IkuTube]

Up it again :twisted:

No more comments? All happy with what the forum is today?

[Blissfull]

Up it again :twisted:

No more comments? All happy with what the forum is today?

Like I said above, just ensure the stability of the forum would be the basic. Fanciful stuffs are ... welcomed but not exactly needed. So, let you mods choose.

[derryfawne]

I'm pretty satisfied with the forum. My suggestion would be to have more special interest sub-forums. Right now, aside from travelling/kitchen/it/massage, everything is on the Main Forum... which is fine by itself, but I think sub-forums would help users to filter the type of threads they are interested (and not interested) in.

Like, for example, sometimes I feel like creating threads about music, but I feel reluctant to do so 'coz I'm afraid that too much music threads on the main forum would be akin to spamming. But if there's a Music sub-forum by itself, I can comfortably find people who are similarly interested in certain artist, and discuss comprehensively about the artist's body of work. It's also easier for us to find similar threads without having to dig pages to find them.

Having sub-forums also help users to filter threads. Say if we have a Fetish sub-forum, those who do not want to discuss such things can simply leave the sub-forum alone without having to feel disgusted by anything, and those who do enjoy talking about such things will not have to be preached for having offended unsuspecting thread passer-bys.

As for which sub-forums to have, guess it would depend on user votes/suggestions or actual forum statistics of which type of threads are most common in BW.

[derryfawne]

I myself hesitate to post in the Main Forum because everything thread seems to devolve into bitching. We can all agree we do not need a BW Gestapo to ensure order, but I believe that by some re-structuring of the sub-forums, you improve the situation. By increasing more focussed sub-forums, only those people who have interest in the particular subjects will post. Some examples may be:

• Me and My Gay Sexuality - for those coming to terms with their sexuality. If OC wants to get involved, this is good place.
  
• Gays in Singapore - for those interested in the community's interaction with society and the state
  
• Love and LTR - self explanatory.
  

I was reading this thread and turned out suckling_pig has already covered what I wanted to say in my previous thread well.

It's true that many people come to this forum with different things to seek and different issues to solve. There are people here who wants to discuss about the serious side of gay relationship... stories, bad experiences, advices. Then sometimes there are people who just want to discuss about sex... be it the more serious or the more fun parts of it.

I think there are also people who genuinely engage in healthy debates but has no intention to hurt the person, but rather just to have intellectual discussion over a particular issue, but not everyone will agree/understand to that... and it will still offend these people who just DON'T want to engage in debate because it irritates them.

All covered by suckling_pig quite well.

It is just that I see an issue that I think is important to be discussed. It is a fact that BW has become the de-facto forum. Any person googling gay issues in Singapore will likely be directed to BW, perhaps even more so than the other gay community outreach organisations. It is quite natural for any young and curious, or in-the-closet married gay to gain most of his info from BW. Just look at the number of anguished souls that write to BW every week.

So if BW has such a web-presence, how will it respond? Asking too much of the volunteer Mods / Admin would be unfair. But at the same time there is a chance to step up and benefit the community. What would be a workable solution? My suggestion is that perhaps OC can be invited to lead one of the sub-forums. It would be a great shopfront for them, and give them the real online engagement with the community that I believe they are aiming for. This would not take require much more time from the Mods / Admin but would benefit the community greatly.

If this is successful, other sub-forums can be lead by other organisations. AFA perhaps even FCC (Free Community Church) etc ( I know there is also a gay muslim org in Sg, but the name eludes me) can be invited to participate.

Yes. Even my straight friends who just happened to be researching on this issue found this forum so easily.

What I see is being done on other forums is to invite more volunteers to be moderators, sometimes even by any good-willed users whose moderatorship can be revoked from misbehaving. Of course it might not be that easy to give responsibilities to just anyone. suckling_pig's suggestion for organizations is pretty good. It helps these organisations to do something for the public they wish to serve, and at the same time BW will also have more human resources to look after these sub-forums.

Raising awareness of the 'Report' button might also be helpful... thus, all users can be watchdogs and moderators can act in respond to that.

[Atrapada]

I agree with derry's suggestion about having sub-forums relating to different interests. I've always enjoyed bw was/is how laidback it is. Pretty interesting reads every now and then. keep up the good work mods ^.^

[IkuTube]

Many thanks to all the replies, guys. Greatly appreciate the time taken to pen down the thoughts. So are the points that are being highlighted.

One thing for sure, BW is a shared ground even when there are moderators around. Together, I believe we learn from each other here.

The moderators will definitely look into all the ideas and going through them.

Again, to those contributing, my heartfelt 'Thank You'. Have a great weekend.

IkuTube

[Mercutio]

Hi,

Just my two cents' worth (and apparently it only takes two cents for me to reopen my account briefly after I decided to close it).

I created an account only this year, although I've been reading this forum on and off for many before that. And now I've decided to close it (or rather not have an active account since I come by here now and again), as I've found myself disappointed more often than not, by the caliber of too many posts.

Gachimuchi had in one post (sorry, I don't quite recall which) remarked that it was up to the members to ensure the quality, and we should therefore continue to be engaged. Well, I think I was fairly active in the short time I was engaged, and while I'm not saying that *all* my posts were great, it became too depressing after a while to want to continue posting about anything I felt was an important or serious issue. I therefore reverted to my former modus operandus to log in only as a guest, and in so doing mentally disengaged myself from feeling as if I was part of BW and wanting to participate and contribute.

This naturally begs the question "why", and I'm afraid my answer has to be that it would appear the majority of members, if the majority of posts are any indicator, don't seem to me to live up to my expectations of what members of a forum for "mature gay men without an attitude" should be. If anything, I see BW as degenerating more and more into a Trevvy. There is little sense of camaraderie. Members exult in hearsay and gossip: the more such smear the reputation of another, the better. Many posts in threads on serious subjects make me grit my teeth as I read them.

Some of this may be due to an increasingly younger demographic (but without prejudice to any individual, as certainly there are younger members here with extremely mature and refreshing views). Some of this may be due to an increasingly broad demographic: as Fridae, Trevvy and others dwindle in popularity, it would appear BW has become the new pole to which the hoi-polloi broader group drifts.

It seems to me, and perhaps the senior members could verify this view, that much of the charm of the BW of the past was as an archive of gay life in Singapore and as a place to exchange views, ideas and knowledge, when things were far less open and information a scarcer commodity. And as members were then perhaps more schooled, both in life and in the literal sense, the subjects discussed tended to be above what I would call baseline. To elucidate: less about "I have a big crush on this guy, how???", and more about sharing interesting experiences and inviting commentary about them (to which I have to add because the itch in my fingers do not permit me otherwise, commentary is not the same as opinionated judgment).

In closing, I applaud (must I really type the following words, could you not have selected a better nickname) Suckling Pig for the initiative and foresight to broach the subject, although I'm not sure I agree with several of his suggestions. In fact, I don't even agree there *is* at present a Singaporean gay community - a gay population, yes, but for the larger part without unity or fellowship or sense of a shared future. We may get there some day, but that day isn't today. Don't mind me: I'm now older and cynical, and whatever idealism and energy I may have had is spent, and another generation needs to take over. But if you want to think in this direction, focus on strategy first, before you go into tactics (e.g. having the forum broken into more categories - go look at Trevvy, it certainly didn't save them), and before you even focus on strategy, understand your own motives for wanting to lead this change.

M., last survivor of the Nostromo, over and out.

[Guest Ironrod]

I like BW it's like my "Apple newspaper" and best is it's not a hookup site [u can hookup if u want] so the choice is quite broad.

Maybe sometimes I hate those "guest" sprouting nonsense but well nothing is prefect.

[Phil]

I like BW it's like my "Apple newspaper" and best is it's not a hookup site [u can hookup if u want] so the choice is quite broad.

Maybe sometimes I hate those "guest" sprouting nonsense but well nothing is prefect.

Same opinion.

I'm not against evolution, but I feel quite happy with BW as it is.

And about "nonsense" (let's remain polite...), it is rather easy to separate that from the majority of interesting subjects.

[suckling_pig]

.......... as I've found myself disappointed more often than not, by the caliber of too many posts.

.............. Members exult in hearsay and gossip: the more such smear the reputation of another, the better. Many posts in threads on serious subjects make me grit my teeth as I read them.

.............the subjects discussed tended to be above what I would call baseline. To elucidate: less about "I have a big crush on this guy, how???

Mercutio says in a very eloquent way what many more discerning BWers think.

Some of this may be due to an increasingly younger demographic (but without prejudice to any individual, as certainly there are younger members here with extremely mature and refreshing views). Some of this may be due to an increasingly broad demographic: as Fridae, Trevvy and others dwindle in popularity, it would appear BW has become the new pole to which the hoi-polloi broader group drifts.

While I do agree with Mercutio's insight of the roots of the present tone of BW, I don't think that it is "game over". There are still things that can be tried to improve the tone. There can be sub-forums so that the younger set can write the way that appeals to them, and other sub-forums where the more serious minded can discuss what is on their minds. When I say "serious minded", I do not mean older. There are many clear thinking and knowledge/wisdom seeking younger men out there who do not take to the "emo/attention seeking/air-headed" tone either.

What concerns me is that BW is going the way of the lowest common denominator if we maintain a homogeneous forum structure. I might be wrong, but I have a hunch the Mods already tried to mitigate the problem by having a Main Forum and a Member's Lounge. But I think the distinction is not clear enough, and the Member's Lounge is treated more as a more chummy place than the Main Forum. What is needed is a clear sub-forum where more serious minded posters will congregate.

Having said this, I do not want to belittle the important avenue that BW can give the younger set to communicate and grow. We have all been there before. Don't you wish that you had a forum with older brothers who could give you advice when you were in your teens/twenties?

In closing, I applaud (must I really type the following words, could you not have selected a better nickname) Suckling Pig for the initiative and foresight to broach the subject, although I'm not sure I agree with several of his suggestions. In fact, I don't even agree there *is* at present a Singaporean gay community - a gay population, yes, but for the larger part without unity or fellowship or sense of a shared future. We may get there some day, but that day isn't today. Don't mind me: I'm now older and cynical, and whatever idealism and energy I may have had is spent, and another generation needs to take over. But if you want to think in this direction, focus on strategy first, before you go into tactics (e.g. having the forum broken into more categories - go look at Trevvy, it certainly didn't save them), and before you even focus on strategy, understand your own motives for wanting to lead this change.

M., last survivor of the Nostromo, over and out.

Mercutio, you are too kind. How do you know my nick is appropriate? You must have met me in TMC ?

But seriously we can look at the forum as a live creature which responds to our different methods of interaction. If one method does not get a desired result, another method can work. But I do think an amount of tweaking is required.

Just a few interesting observations I have made of the demographics of BW. The figures come from the couple of polls I made recently. Do you know that:

• 75% of the respondents are in their teens / 20s?
  
• 50% of the respondents are malay?
  

Of course these are stats of the respondents of those particular polls only and probably not reflect the actual population of BW, but it is surprising, no?

Edited November 24, 2011 by suckling_pig

[Lungker]

Hi,

Just my two cents' worth (and apparently it only takes two cents for me to reopen my account briefly after I decided to close it).

I created an account only this year, although I've been reading this forum on and off for many before that. And now I've decided to close it (or rather not have an active account since I come by here now and again), as I've found myself disappointed more often than not, by the caliber of too many posts.

M., last survivor of the Nostromo, over and out.

Mercutio, can't PM you. Can you reset your account to accept my PM or email me at Lungker@Gmail.com.

Not talking about OCD or Big Feet or Confused Christians.

Thanks.

Be Happy.

[Baloo]

I have been reading and participating in this forum since 1994-05.. I think... (under a different handle then)

It has grown... and it has evolved... in its own way.

there are quite a few other sites such as Trevvy and Fridae that offer similar - they have forums, they have groups, and very dedicated to many sectors of this genre of gay/bi/alternative preference stuff...

those wanting to have specifically catered areas - I wonder if you got the idea from there or other similar sites...

My opinion is - not to emulate those sites/offerings. here is here.. here is for sharing, opinionating, whatever... and volunteer run.

unless suggestor is suggesting to voluntarily come in, and set it up and run it as a volunteer with no ulterior motive - the whole thing is just moot...

and even then there must be the understanding that we stay true to the origins of this site - non commercial, volunteer-run.

there are already enough professional sites namely Fridae and Trevvy at least, not ot mention guys for men and planet romeo or whatever else out there to suit any and all variations of alternative preferences.

let this site be our little quaint village as it is... some improvements to the technology from time to time to keep up, but expansion of services? no.

I am not challenging anyone here - just a friendly question: what is the intention of the threadstarter? if honourable, we can discuss it - face to face even... like adults and none of the queen innuendos. if not, i'd prefer to just suggest that other sites be used ...

peace to all...

[Baloo]

. Just a few interesting observations I have made of the demographics of BW. The figures come from the couple of polls I made recently. Do you know that:

• 75% of the respondents are in their teens / 20s?
• 50% of the respondents are malay?

Of course these are stats of the respondents of those particular polls only and probably not reflect the actual population of BW, but it is surprising, no?

The older generation ... Gen O, and Gen X... probably not so interested to respond to polls... Personally, I din even know there was a poll

As to 50% of the respondents... you mean 50% of the 75% of the teens/20s respondents right? just want to know what's the total number of respondants to your polls...

you are correct to state that it's probably not the accurate reflection of the population of bw...

but one thing is clear - the younger Gen Y and Gen Z PLU/Curious are a lot more vocal on the internet/forums/fb etc... Perhaps it's time to have someone specially volunteer to cater to their needs on the net... more hip, more in tune to Gen Y Gen Z, music, fashion, hairstyle, piercings, tatoos, the market is quite big and lucrative actually... good for professional sites wanting to find a new niche market...