The Matrix Challenge

[Guest Matrix]

Since it seems that people, when challenged, produce their best work and ideas - I'd like to begin an honest dialogue and challenge here where members share and discuss features, functions and interactive tools which they enjoy and use when visiting other websites during their daily surfing activities elsewhere other than here at MER.

Often times, places we visit on the web, introduce us to functionality and features we don't find elsewhere. it's really how these things often times become a part of what we expect when visiting other websites.

I think this thread could be valuable to everyone who might be interested in identifying how we members here at MER could collectively and enthusiastically compare, and collaborate, new concepts and ideas we find around the web to make this site a hands down slam as the one to visit and support.

As with every website there are good things and bad things which capture or chase people away.

I'll start this dialogue out with one thing that I think no website should ever do. I'll always be positive about things I see - even if I think they might negatively impact the very website I'd like to assist.

When I load the MER SPLASH page on my 15.6' laptop - which has become my main device for connecting now - The last thing I would want to have on my website is a double row link of hot boy images at the very top of my page that many will click on immediately which takes you away from the MER home page, before it's often ever fully loaded.

It's one thing to drive traffic to other sites for the affiliate click-cash benefit - but if that's the first thing many surfers see - and do - often times they will never get to the guts of the splash page which, for good or ill, captures the essence of your site. Why invite surfers away from your site before they have had an opportunity to digest what your site is actually about?

F4F - I would argue, pays less in affiliate fees than members might pay, for premium memberships here, had they not been sent away so quickly - from the top. Perez Hilton gets top dollar for his placements, but, this is not Perez Hilton.

I'd rather see more of the MER offerings when I log-on to the splash page, which will ultimately keep people from clicking away sooner than later, just because of some hot, cute sexy boy jerking off on another site. Why tempt people to leave - before they've ever really gotten a reason to check this place out?

Balance your revenues versus potential growth carefully. One does not necessarily trump the other.

Almost all of my other observations and injections are positive to the commitment of invention and creation. This one has just always struck me as odd.

Anyone else like to further this dialogue?

[TotallyOz]

Thank you for the advice. We appreciate it. I hope others get in on the conversation as well. We are always willing to listen and discuss mixing things up.

[Lucky]

I'd get in on it, but I really pay no attention to the details, I just use the site as is and make the most of it. Technical stuff I leave to those who like it. Function over form, maybe?

[Guest NeedSome]

Matrix - great idea for a thread. I take your OP to focus more on features/functions of the forum than on content (i.e., ideas for new forums or threads). I'm not the most creative guy, and certainly not a tech head, but what about some sort of pull from Rentboy/Rentmen to consolidate escort travel into the escort travels section here. I think it would benefit escorts because they wouldn't have to post their travel plans here, and for clients, we'd have an up to date listing of where all traveling escorts are. Could even be map-based, so that you could click on the map and see all the traveling escorts in your location. I don't know enough about web technology to know if you'd have to write an interface program or you could just have some sort of bot that would go out to rentboy every few minutes and bring back traveling ads.

It does make me think about other integration points, but most stuff I can think of would require some agreement with the other escort sites and I'm sure they want to drive traffic to their own sites.

I'm also thinking about some sort of consolidated "gay culture" RSS feed. I could come here and see content from RSS feeds from gay-related sites. That way I don't have to manage all those RSS feeds myself (ok, I don't know how to do that, or if it's difficult enough to add value having a centralized location).

That's all I can think of. I might noodle on this in the shower tonight.

Is this the idea you had in mind for this thread?

[MsGuy]

I'm also thinking about some sort of consolidated "gay culture" RSS feed. I could come here and see content from RSS feeds from gay-related sites.

I know so little about tech stuff that I had to google "RSS feed" to be sure I knew what NeedSome was talking about, but I kinda like the idea of a page that links me to stories from a variety of gay sites/blogs that might be of interest. Some nights I enjoy just wandering around from link to link in gay cyber-space and this sort of thing sounds like a good entry point.

And who knows, we might spot some fun stuff worth toteing back here to kick start some threads in the forums.

[Guest NeedSome]

What about Grindr for MER forumites? So we always know where everyone is.

Hmm...on second thought maybe not...1) We could just get grindr and 2) I don't want people knowing where I am (especially since I spend 90 percent of my time in bathhouses).

[Guest Matrix]

Is this the idea you had in mind for this thread?

Yes, amongst a few others. But mainly, to be honest, I was simply testing the depth of interest by members, and of management, to drive this site and these forums into a more highly visited destination.

As I suspected, people will groan and whine about the lack of participation here, but when it comes to pulling together to execute new ideas and concepts, the crowd goes hush.

That's more of an observation of where TY and Oz want this place to be then it is about people like Lucky, who just suck it up and works with what he's got.

A stalled train doesn't remove and right itself from upon it's own tracks. It's takes many to achieve that and from I can see, people here would simply rather just drive around it and make due, than clear the path for a better train.