The times they be a'changin'.
Sweettea..sweetea, I forget her actual handle raises an interesting dilemma. Why are female hobbyists not treated the same a male hobbyist?
It seems that there is the powder room for providers and the ROS and Locker room for Hobbyists. But, only male hobbyists are allowed to see the premium hobbyist features.
Just wondering why this is. Is it to keep the providers out of the locker room? But surely a provider would never willingly identify herself as a woman, it would be so easy for a provider to review herself and a few friends to gain access to the locker room....and has been done, I am sure (and no I have no concrete evidence....but what is the possibility that NO provider has ever tried this?).
Just wondering...is it because when ECCIE and the rules were set up....no thought to women hobbyists were contemplated?
Just curious....doesn't pertain to me, but I think it might be interesting to welcome women hobbyists and get their perspective on things....lord knows us guys have pontificated ourselves into deafness about the same old subjects already.
This is a great place to ask this question.
Anyone is more than welcome to write a review. The main purpose of this site is to exhange information. Reviews are an excellent source of info. We welcome reviews from any and everyone. It just has to be in the correct forum.
Wiley and I see it as info, but because we are mods we have to see it as a matter of access too. If it is in the review forums we have to grant, or deny, access to premium areas.
Let me explain.
As mods Wiley and I are hobbists, but we also act as extensions of the owners. We carry out their directives and follow their policies. So, when the owners started this site they decided to give a reward (premium access) to guys that write a quality review. This "reward" gives hobbiests access to areas of the site that non premium members don't have.
When Sweat Tea wrote her first review about Kaitlynncoxxx. I specifically went to the owners to ask about this specific issue because I was asking the same question.
This is what was explained to me
One of the areas a hobbiest with PA can visit is the Men's Room. By definition, the guidelines and title this area is accessible only to men. Not women.
In order to work with the current software, if a review is written by women it has to be in an area other than a review forum. Why? Thats simple - as mods we have to approve, or deny, access to premium areas based on the review.
So I was informed to move the to CO-ED forum.
Across the board there have been reviews written by ladies. Admittedly, most all have been providers. So that decision is easy about the placement. BUT, I personally know of two providers who purposely sought out a provider for legit reasons. Can they write a review for PA credit? No. The same applies to a hobbyist that is a lady for the reasons I listed above.
This has nothing to do with Sativa, Sweet Tea or Kaitlynn. This has to do with the policy of the board and stated purpose of specific areas. Those reviews are out there and are being used to exchange information.
Can Sativa or Kaitlynn link those two reviews to their profile? Yes. They can put it in their showcase or a number of other places.
If a man writes a review of Sativa will be linked to their profile automatically? Of course.
So like I said, this is specifically a question about access. Nothing more or less.
Stick.
slick, if i may pose a question and not to open a can of worms over this, but is there REALLY anything that is discussed in the men's room that a female 'hobbyist' shouldn't be privvy too? i see the things discussed there and it is usually just a little more private information than what is discussed in the info and iso forum. as hobbyists who take the time to share information with the men, shouldn't they also be allowed access to a little more of the private info?
just a thought
You know, it seems rather silly, in this situation, to be splitting hairs like this. This lady is married. Had her husband written the review, he would have gotten premium access and hence, " Hey honey, come see the review you wrote and I put my handle on." Voila, she sees the ROS, which she was an integral part of and, she sees everything else that premium access gents have. There is absolutely no way of knowing who is behind a post or review unless they are willing to admit to it. In a case where someone who has admitted to being married to a "man" and has written a review about it, should be allowed the opportunity to have her review stay where it belongs. There, I got that off my chest.
I agree herefornow. I also understand Stick, that he is only a mod and only enforces the rules, but does not make the rules.
If this is to change, there must be a way in which to forward suggestions and comments to the owners?
The only reason that I can see that the reviews got moved to the Coed forum was she was honest and admitted to being female. She could have easily not said anything and with no conflicts arising that would lead to suspicion, there would never be any question about her being any more than just another "hobbyist". We really don't know anything about each other. We could be men, women, cops, etc. We take each other at face value and draw our own conclusions about each other as far as can we take the info from that person for any value. This is done by us all the time, normally when reading a review I first look to see who it is by and how many reviews they have.
Perhaps there is room for change and improvement.
But like Stick said, we are not the owners (we don't pay for people to write the software) we only use this site. He as a mod has to enforce the rules.
Perhaps our concerns could be forwarded. Sweet tea has seen two providers, she is pretty much as verified as any of us and is in no way trying to sneak around and gain info that she should not see as she is not a provider.
Trust me, the owners will see this thread.
Thanks for this thread, Disilene.
You are pretty much the coolest dude ever now.
I'm sure many other hobbyist, including myself wish their SO were as open as the female hobbyist doing reviews. Rules are rules and I seem to think that if they start giving PA for female reviews , then it would only be a matter of time before some providers would want to write reviews and receive PA stating that " It isn't fair to them" The ML is already about as secure as the one on the movie "Porky's". Hopefully our mods and St.C will have some insight for us.
Damn, I'm always too late w/the "being the coolest guy ever," since all you get from me is a somewhat distant, "um, me too..." But I have to say I'm w/dis & here4now, and frankly, sweettea who wrote the reviews. I've never tried what she's doing. I may never. When I read it, it's not in a "Dear Penthouse: I never thought this would happen to me, but..." way. It's INTERESTING to see someone else's perspective! Just as I enjoy the perspective of some of the other people on this board. I hope they're able to find a solution which satisfies this member, who in good faith has submitted her reviews & made her contributions just as we all have. One of those people is ILDA, but let's face it, man: if the ML is already not very private, then where's the harm in putting this woman's reviews in the Independent or Agency Reviews sections after all?
OHD I agree with you. The only problem I truly believe lies within giving PA. Firstly, if they start giving it to everyone, they will no longer be people putting up the "premium" for that access , nor will as many hobbyist be writing reviews as much in order to get that PA. Just my .02
There have been rumors of providers using fake reviews/handles to get PA access but I never heard it confirmed, just rumors. They can also just pay...also there is that site that has the info from the private areas...that we don't talk about. So keeping a female hobbyist out of the locker room will not stem any information from being disseminated and we haven't even mentioned white knights.
This site is only in existence because of the reviews. Without the reviews it would just be another ad site and would not be unique like it is. I think by having as many people as possible contribute reviews the site can only grow and don't see the negative effects.
I don't know anything about the financial aspects of the site, paid PA + ad revenue, but I think the site can only benefit from having reviews from all hobbyists.
I agree with OHD, it is kinda hot reading a review from a woman's perspective.
I don't know anything about the financial aspects of the site, paid PA + ad revenue, but I think the site can only benefit from having reviews from all hobbyists.
Originally Posted by disilene
I wanted to bring this up earlier but didn't because I was... exasperated.
It seems like by placing this limit on the site's functionality instead of trying to find a way to work with this potential situation, however rare it may be, is just alienating another potential market for revenue.
Also:
I am recruiting white knights. Always. You just have to be comfortable putting on wizard robes or some hand crafted armor, wielding a staff or sword, and of course doing this for me on command:
I think by having as many people as possible contribute reviews the site can only grow and don't see the negative effects.
I don't know anything about the financial aspects of the site, paid PA + ad revenue, but I think the site can only benefit from having reviews from all hobbyists.
Originally Posted by disilene
Not sure if yall saw what I wrote or not, but no one is restricting reviews from members or about a provider. We strongly encourage reviews! Those two reviews weren't deleted. They are out there for everyone to read. Frankly, those reviews are more accessible than 99.9% of the reviews because non PA members have access to the ROS.
They are out there for everyone to read. Frankly, those reviews are more accessible than 99.9% of the reviews because non PA members have access to the ROS.
Originally Posted by Stick1969
which brings up another point that is also a double edged sword, you're giving people without PA access to information that IS only for PA members but giving the 'teaser' of seeing 'some' private info, especially from a female perspective, may get other lurkers off the schneid and into the game.
as mentioned before, the thought of the information being posted in the 'private' section being truly private is a fantasy. ALL of the information on this site is available on various sites on the web. just a whole lot easier earning or buying PA. but it is out there.
just my few cents.
Too many 'eyes' are seeing the ROS which is why many reviews are being posted back channel these days. Stuff like this causes reviewers to post underground. The best recon never makes it to the public.