Help Us Pick Out a New Logo

[citylaw1]

People are NUTS. I don't care if you call it www.cumdumpster.com and neither do the escorts.

[Guest beloved]

Before that, we were going to name the site CList.com and make its primary focus on listing places and escorts. Ex. Top 10 bars in Rio or Top 10 Bottom Escorts in USA.

I like this name much more than the others considered.

[MsGuy]

I thought "boy toy" was slang for gigolo. When did slang for paid young male companions for wealthy dowagers come to have connotations of pedophilia?

I understand the term has migrated into gay vocabulary for similar arrangements on our side but, I've never heard it used in connection with underaged kids. Maybe folks here should just relax a bit.

[lookin]

I am relaxed damn it!

[TotallyOz]

I thought "boy toy" was slang for gigolo. When did slang for paid young male companions for wealthy dowagers come to have connotations of pedophilia?

That is the meaning from everyone I have talked to in the last 2 weeks. I had never heard the connotations to pedophilia before this thread and I am surprised that some posters have bad feelings to the use of the word boy in boytoy but not the word boy in rentboy. However, we can't change someone's feelings about what pops into their head with the word. I would just love to understand why some associate it with young (under 18) boys.

Lookin, is that relaxed? Can we get together and you eat some of my special brownies? I think I might be able to change the expression on your face.

[Guest NCBored]

I thought "boy toy" was slang for gigolo. When did slang for paid young male companions for wealthy dowagers come to have connotations of pedophilia?

I understand the term has migrated into gay vocabulary for similar arrangements on our side but, I've never heard it used in connection with underaged kids. Maybe folks here should just relax a bit.

To me, a boytoy is a significantly younger sexual playmate - not exactly the same as an escort. Most of the common defintions I find on the web don't mention payment. And that's my larger issue with the name - I think most people's first interpretation will be 'twinks', not 'escorts'. I would expect boytoy.com to be a twink porn site. Which raises the question - what IS the vision for the site?

[Guest lurkerspeaks]

I concur with NCBored. I am not opposed to the boytoy name as some are because of pedo issues, but more that to me, it is a synonym more for twink than for escort. I would also expect it to be a twink porn site.

[TampaYankee]

If you have taken notice of news, fiction, and Page Six type media outlets then you should have noticed that the term boy-toy is usually used in the context of a younger male in the life or company of an older person -- male or female. There is no limitation on body type or age other than the age difference is significant enough to be of note to the observers.

A certain music and movie mogul is always seen with his collection of boy toys who are not exactly twinks if one appreciates biceps and lats and a few years of age make a distinction. Take any of the Magic Mike actors. All could be considered boy-toys in the right relationships. Are all of these inappropriate guys to have a site associated with? Are all of you guys so young that only teen twinks would provide the necessary age differential?

Has the term been co-opted by some sites for twinks? Yes. Does that forever pollute the term? Ask Page Six or Jackie Collins or any of a host of media outlets, society reporters and trash fiction authors.

[Guest lurkerspeaks]

We were asked for input and we have given OUR thoughts.. I completely understand the desire to bring in more traffic.

I (we) are merely saying what the term "boytoy" brings to MY (OUR) minds. and we are the group who regularly think of escorts..so what will those folks not so accustomed to escorts think.

Ultimately, I will visit this site, no matter what the name is, but if i was looking for escorts/escort info, and I was interested in some of the more mature escorts, the name boytoy would not be a site I would take a glance at. Just my two cents worth.

[TampaYankee]

We were asked for input and we have given OUR thoughts.. I completely understand the desire to bring in more traffic.

I (we) are merely saying what the term "boytoy" brings to MY (OUR) minds. and we are the group who regularly think of escorts..so what will those folks not so accustomed to escorts think.

Ultimately, I will visit this site, no matter what the name is, but if i was looking for escorts/escort info, and I was interested in some of the more mature escorts, the name boytoy would not be a site I would take a glance at. Just my two cents worth.

And we thank you for that input. It is important that we have the sense of the members. Believe me when I say it has given us pause to reflect. As for my words, I'm just trying to point out that there is a wider world context that we do not imagine or did not invent.

[Lucky]

Finding the definition of "boytoy" is easy! Just Google it:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=webhp&source=hp&q=boy+toy+meaning&oq=boytoy&gs_l=hp.1.0.0i10j0j0i10j0l2j0i10l3j0j0i10.1873.4142.0.7634.6.6.0.0.0.0.98.531.6.6.0...0.0...1c.PamK9su3qp4

[Guest Fluffypuff]

To me, a boytoy is a significantly younger sexual playmate - not exactly the same as an escort. Most of the common defintions I find on the web don't mention payment. And that's my larger issue with the name - I think most people's first interpretation will be 'twinks', not 'escorts'. I would expect boytoy.com to be a twink porn site. Which raises the question - what IS the vision for the site?

If I saw the site name "Boytoy," I'd think it was the gay equivalent of Ashley Madison; it sounds like a site where beautiful young men meet sugar daddies seeking arrangements.

Something combination of "By the hour," "playmate" and "men" or "boy" would be great.

How about BoysByTheHour or MenbyTheHour? (I don't see the pedophilia issue in "boys," but given the accusations gay men have faced over the years, others may be more sensitive to that.)

[Guest Fluffypuff]

Also, to the mods: I think it's more important to have a name that lends itself to unique Google search words (so your name ends up on top). Remember, many people today go to sites daily without having any idea how to get to them without Google or a bookmark.

I wish I had answers for how to get more escorts to the site, but as someone who does something related for a living, I can say for sure that the logo will not matter much one way or the other.

[AdamSmith]

I would just love to understand why some associate it with young (under 18) boys.

To quote Barney Frank after Dick Armey called him Barney Fag, then apologized that it "just came out":

"It couldn't have come out unless it was in there in the first place."

Projection, anyone?

[TampaYankee]

Also, to the mods: I think it's more important to have a name that lends itself to unique Google search words (so your name ends up on top). Remember, many people today go to sites daily without having any idea how to get to them without Google or a bookmark.

This is a primary issue that drives the site name. All of the 'unique' google search words in the world won't help if they are not what people think of when typing into a search engine.

One needs a readily recognized word that most interested people will associate with your site content but that also distinguishes the site from others. That is a very hard condition to meet. You either have to create a name that is on everyone's mind or tongue that hasn't been used or be lucky enough to have a name meeting that demand in your hip pocket.

At one time some years back I tried in vain to secure the name 'Men4Rent' for obvious reasons. It was taken. I was about ten years too late. The name was not being used actively. Someone was just parking it and had no intention of letting go of it. For all I know that status remains the same.

So yeah, a lot of it comes down to easy recognition/association with site theme and search user identification. There aren't that many of those out there that are free or cheap for the taking. I doubt there are any.

It is only true that 'if you build it then they will come' if, in part, 1) they know it exists and 2) they can find it on the internet. Fifty might find 'SexInCoolTropicalBreezes.com' whereas fifty thousand will find 'Sex.com'.

Whatever we choose must broaden site exposure else we will retain the status quo. IMO, the HooBoy model has reached saturation in the present times. There is a lack of significant new blood into the scene on either side of that equation. There is limited demand and that has been capped. People have made their choice of site for whatever reason. Our passing out favors at the door isn't going to change the status quo. We need new blood. That comes with expanded interest offerings and making ourselves easy to find for that new blood. The question is how to do that without undermining our present offerings.

[citylaw1]

Many here still sit on a "davenport," so take some of the pedophile alerts with a grain of salt.

[Lucky]

From today's NY Post gossip column:

Katie Couric has fallen for a handsome financier seven months after her split with her boy-toy Brooks Perlin, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/couric_falls_for_financier_L2UzcojJdxv75B9Y1Yv63I#ixzz22DKkSpRz

[Guest CharliePS]

Since returning to my computer this afternoon, I have been reading through what I missed, and I would like to make a few comments.

If I were googling to find a gay site to check out and possibly participate in, I would never think to input "boytoy," since it's not a term that suggests male escorts to me, nor is it, in its usual meaning of a young man in a relationship with an older celebrity or wealthy male or female, a subject of interest to me. "Male escort review" is exactly the kind of title I would look for, since it suggests a place where I might encounter gay men who are not uncomfortable with the company of men who pay professionals for sex (let's face it: many interesting gay men find the subject offputting, to say the least). I am actually not very interested in talking about escorts anymore, but I wouldn't want to participate in a site where the subject is considered unpalatable.

But that's just me. Oz and TY are probably correct that lots of new posters might be attracted to a site called "boytoy." It would become a different kind of site from MER in many ways, but some of the MER regulars would continue, while others would drop away. I think it's true that the market for men who hire and review escorts is limited and may have been pretty much tapped out by the two existing sites--it's not a product like the smartphone, where new competitors keep trying to muscle into the market because of its potential. Oz and TY have been clear about their reasons for wanting to redesign the site as "boytoy," and I would be surprised if they don't ultimately go ahead with it. If so, I genuinely wish them well, but I will probably be one of those who drop away, not without some regret. It's not only the standard meaning of "boytoy" that I am not happy with, but I also am uneasy about the Big Brother suveillance that I suspect any site starting with "boy-" is likely to bring.

There is a time for everything, and I have almost left Daddy's site on several occassions. In the past two weeks, I have survived being away from both sites with no unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Maybe it's time for me to rethink what I google.

[Lucky]

When the website goes down, will it rise again as boytoy.com???

[BigK]

Tanks for the mammaries! His stage name was Devon Blackwell. Just astounding the integrity of his blog, even as he descended into meth-fueled bipolar disorder during that cross-country trip. And then got into recovery. All faithfully chronicled by him, right out in public.

Thanks also for the pinpoint accuracy of your limning the enormously gratifying rewards of interacting with Woodlawn and doug69. Would that their ilk were more abundant these latter days.

Devon is now escorting again out of Houston.

[flipao]

I would love to see a section for the Arabic countries (like Morocco, Egypt and Tunicia) in the new website. thank your for all the efforts you are making with the new website!