BrokeStraightBoys
BSB Owner
I'm always thinking about this one and have tried a bunch of things with no success. I would love to hear your ideas on how to get more of our members posting on here.
Thanks,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
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How can we get more people posting on the message board?
- Thread starter BrokeStraightBoys
- Start date
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Thank you Mark for your concern about this board. As you and any regular contributor or just reader of the forum know just how important this forum has been to me over the last 14 years. I too am very concerned about the “State of the Forum”, to use a metaphor. Once again I use the analogy of a great restaurant, a steak house for example. If you are a gourmet steak house known world wide for your juicy thick delicious prime cut steaks, people who love steak will fill your restaurant. You can add some great side dishes of creamed spinach and steak fries and great desserts, but without the prime steaks, people will stop dining in your establishment.
When I joined Broke Straight Boys and when you started the forum, we had three updates a week, with the constant introduction of brand new to porn guys, some hot, some average, but almost all new, and there was so much to talk about. Who is straight? Who is fronting and we think is really gay? Who is cute and who we do not think is qualified to be a porn performer? And the speculation of who will become adept at sucking dick and who will only top and who will bottom? We were typically introduced to newbies on Wednesday’s when we saw solos and introductory interviews, and we all commented and speculated about the new guy. And with three updates, there was something different to watch and talk about for most of the week.
I fully understand what has happened, how young guys have evolved and there are more pansexual guys who do porn, and how the industry has changed and guys are doing cam shows from home and they are totally savvy about the internet and shop themselves to agents who book them on the circuit of gay porn sites. And I also understand the economics of the industry and with the pandemic and the testing procedures for COVID as well as STD’s the cost has gone up for the site, yet you have kept the membership cost to us the same. But with just one scene a week, there is not the variety of guys offered with three different pairings each week and therefore there is not that much to talk about. And the vast majority of guys who come here over the last few years being experienced gay porn performers there is no room for speculation or to watch them expand their boundaries as was the case in earlier versions of the site.
Getting back to the restaurant analogy, we have many picture threads today offered by Mark, Tampa, br, and I put up some celebrities and sports guys, but those to me are just the side dishes, but without the juicy steaks that people pay for to come to “Mark’s Restaurant”. I love Broke Straight Boys and especially the forum, and have no intention of leaving or stopping posting. But to the casual fan, there just isn’t that much to talk about and that is the crux of the problem, in my humble opinion. The solution to getting more participation would be to offer more scenes, but if that is not possible, then I don;t see more folks participating here. Again, thank you Mark for bringing up this topic.
kgmets
BSB God
I try to comment on every new scene both on the scene comments and on the Forum for both Broke Straight Boys and College Boy Physicals. I'm not as good on the Vintage videos, but I try. I'm been a member since July 1, 2017, and, even when we had three scenes a week I recall more activity on the Forum than on the scene comments. So much so that several scenes would receive rave reviews on the scene comments and more negative reactions on the Forum. I think that the scene comment reviewers and the Forum reviewers are, with the exception of me and a few other members, two different audiences. And it works both ways, as the names of many scene reviewers you will never see on the Forum. Honestly, I don't know what you can do except to keep asking reviewers on one to review on the other.
I'm surprised there isn't more conversation in here about Ukraine for instance. But politics seems to have a bad rap on the forum. Yes. Politics can be divisive and can get nasty at times. But at least it promotes lively conversation.
I miss some of the great conversations we've had in the past. I want to get back to that. I don't have any easy answers as to how to stir up more conversation. But it seems like the bulk of the forum has shifted more towards porn at the same time that the site is bringing out less porn content. It's a lopsided imbalance right now.
For myself though I admit that I do not have the proper eyesight at the moment to rattle off multi-paragraph threads like I have in the past. Though admittedly I haven't been tempted to all that much lately anyway. On current events, yes. But I'm not sure there is even an interest if I was to put forth the effort.
I miss some of the great conversations we've had in the past. I want to get back to that. I don't have any easy answers as to how to stir up more conversation. But it seems like the bulk of the forum has shifted more towards porn at the same time that the site is bringing out less porn content. It's a lopsided imbalance right now.
For myself though I admit that I do not have the proper eyesight at the moment to rattle off multi-paragraph threads like I have in the past. Though admittedly I haven't been tempted to all that much lately anyway. On current events, yes. But I'm not sure there is even an interest if I was to put forth the effort.
Wrong thread, Tampa
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Thank you for your perspective Tampa. Only I disagree with your premise that “the bulk of the forum has shifted more towards porn at the same time that the site is bringing out less porn content. It's a lopsided imbalance right now.”
The current bulk of the forum is of you and br posting images, which is not what the porn discussions of Broke Straight Boys models and scenes that used to captivate all the folks who used to post here. As I said in my previous post on this thread, the pic threads that Mark and you guys post are just “side dishes”. Broke Straight Boys performers and scenes are the real content that drives the forum, in my opinion. Without more scenes, there is less and less to discuss here.
kgmets
BSB God
My theory about the lack of discussion on Russia's invasion of Ukraine is that its hard to have a two sided discussion in a black and white situation in which Ukraine is clearly in the right and Russia is clearly in the wrong! For example when Putin blatantly lies in his claim that Russia is just deposing a Nazi government, when the President of Ukraine is Jewish who had family members perish under Hitler's rule and Russia just bombed the Hollecost Memorial in Kiev, who is going to defend a lie like that? When Ukraine's President was elected, a trivia question circulated: "Name the only two countries in the world that have a Jewish President and a Jewish Prime Minister?" The answer was Israel and Ukraine!
I agree with you KG totally. As to discussions. I think I have always added my opinion & the Forum has plenty of room for both he pics & o discussions. Frankly lets face it it is always a small minority who participate & most come just to look & not ever comment.
mikeyank
Long time forumite
But it was not always that most just read the forum and not commented. Check out threads from five years ago and see how many different people posted on them.
mikeyank
Long time forumite
I just picked a random thread from 2013 and I counted at least 20 different posters who commented. And so it was not always the case that only three or four people comment on the threads.
https://members.brokestraightboys.com/forum/showthread.php?6345-Sergio-and-Adam&highlight=Adam
The question is how to get more members posting as they did at one time?
https://members.brokestraightboys.com/forum/showthread.php?6345-Sergio-and-Adam&highlight=Adam
The question is how to get more members posting as they did at one time?
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Now we are getting to the “meat” of the matter.
Jaybifla
Chris Star and Brock Lee Reynold’s number 1 fan!
I have an idea but I’m not sure if it’s anything that Broke Straight Boys can budget. Put a call out to former Broke Straight Boys models. Go back to the beginning all the way up to a couple of years ago and see if they’d be willing to make an at home selfie type video. About 10 minutes long answering predetermined questions like what they’re up to, are they married, do they have kids, did anyone in their families ever find out they did porn, etc. A chance for members to see what they may look like now and learn about their current lives. I’m sure some wouldn’t be interested, but maybe throw them $50-$100 bucks. It’s non porn and easy money for them. Models like Adam Baer, Ayden Troy Jason Matthews, and all of the older models that some of the members mention from time to time,
I don’t know, just an idea. You could maybe do 2 really good ones and see what the reaction is. (2 highly ranked models we haven’t heard from in a while)
If it doesn’t spark a lot of interest then at least you’ve only done 2.
Mark, I remember when you released the Ethan Steel shower interview, unannounced, and it got such a great response. Release surprises and don’t tell anyone. Those are the best.
I don’t know, just an idea. You could maybe do 2 really good ones and see what the reaction is. (2 highly ranked models we haven’t heard from in a while)
If it doesn’t spark a lot of interest then at least you’ve only done 2.
Mark, I remember when you released the Ethan Steel shower interview, unannounced, and it got such a great response. Release surprises and don’t tell anyone. Those are the best.
mikeyank
Long time forumite
I love your idea Jay. I like all BTS stuff involving all models, but to find out what Ayden is doing today would be especially interesting. And yes, Mark’s shower interview with Ethan was excellent. The boys of Broke Straight Boys have always been more than just porn, but rather three dimensional people.
Whether your suggestion is taken up or not Jay, at least you're offering some concrete ideas on how to try to bring in new forum mebers and animate some new conversation.
For me, I just don't have the time. I usually sign on, download the scene and the pre/post interview and I'm off. Sometimes I'll swing by the forum, maybe mid-week but, I just don't have the energy lately unfortunately. I'll try to make more of an effort.
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Please do chac54! We desperately need some different voices. I am getting sick of myself. lol
I see your point my friend. But in my opinion only, when we gave up the delineated non-porn related section of the forum I think something was lost. I think that new or newer members kind of lost track of the fact that we can literally discuss anything in here we want to that we find interesting. Heck. We could be talking about favorite new recipes we found on YT...or the pros and cons of hybrid cars...or whether the U.S. should finally metrify. That's not to say that those exact topics are of particular interest to lots of people in here. Just to make the point that the sky is the limit on what can be talked about in here. But would new people know this if they stepped in here right now? If I was brand new to the forum (or was a ghost member) I would probably think that the safest thing to talk about, or what is most often allowed or desired in here, is discussion of sex and porn.
Discussion of sex and porn is fine of course. But when I think of some of the great conversations of the past where many people chimed in, not all of them were porn related. We gained many insights when talking about things other than porn.
