@UKGuy It was just an idea I had because it is a requirement on some other sites I am on like Uber Eats, Rover, and so on. It seems to work on those sites and the process is pretty smooth. So I thought it might be something to consider for this site to help protect some of the members.
I do agree that regardless of background checks or not, people should always talk to potential cuddling partners and get to know them well before any arrangements are made.
Like you mentioned, it helps to meet them in a public place and always let people (like family and friends) know where you are at all times. Those are great safety tips that should be followed by all members.
I don't know about the other sites, but it's not a requirement on Rover. It's optional and gives you an extra marker on your profile saying you did such...
@ubergigglefritz I think the rule must have been changed on Rover. Because when I signed up on Rover, it gave me two options: you can pay for a background check and be a basic member, or you can have Rover pay for the background check and become a professional. I did the option where I am a professional because I have worked in animal training, pet rescue, pet sitting, and so on for a long time. So Rover paid for the background check, my professional photos, and so on.
This was the policy Rover gave me when I signed up: https://www.rover.com/background-checks/
You can see the two options: basic or advanced. Basic would be someone who signs up as a basic member. Enhanced would be a check run on a professional (like what I registered as).
At least that is what I personally encountered during sign up.
I don't know. "If you see a profile badge on a sitter or dog walker's profile, that means they completed a background check." Implies to me that there's a chance there won't be a profile badge, but I don't know. Maybe it changed. I thought it was just encouraged to increase your likelihood of getting booked...
@ubergigglefritz Yeah that is what the page says. But you see it divided into two parts, the basic or the advanced. When I signed up, the form said you could either be a basic rover member and pay for the background check or be a professional and have it paid for you. At least that is how things worked when I registered. However, if you are a professional (like I am registered as) I believe they take more of a percentage of what you earn. The basic accounts get to keep more of their money, but they have to pay for the background check. The pros get a free background check, but the fee Rover takes after each transaction is higher. So it is a trade off.
I would suggest that over time, this will most likely become a place to hire professionals exclusively. I don't mean it as a criticism, only a prediction/observation. Cuddling is a very good thing and so is money. Bit by bit anyone who thinks they can monetize their cuddling probably will, and why not? Isn't it a win win for them?
But if a community of caring cuddlers is the goal, then the professional and the average cuddler ought to have different apps all together.
Just some food for thought, I don't have any solutions.
@kyl I kind of like that it is a good mix of people who cuddle for free and the pro cuddlers. It adds a good variety to the search. Also, if you have the pros all on one app, how would the non-pros contact them? They would be on the other app. :P
@kyl, a lot of people would choose not to monetize it. It is a completely different feeling to find and keep a cuddle buddy, or even find new ones as you travel, versus being available for anyone safe to cuddle with you and being paid for it. You have to be comfortable with all different kinds of people. Different ages, sizes, genders, sexuality, etc. You are expected to be 100% focused on that person. The cuddle is not about your needs, but about theirs. Pros need to get their own cuddle pro or attend cuddle parties to get their personal needs met. There are quite a lot of people who enjoy cuddling, but do not want to be a pro. It's not easy in the least. Enough reason for you? ;-)
I agree religion shouldn’t be on here, but the children question I like. I’m child free, and I don’t have any friends that are, so it’s cool to meet people on here that are. Not that there’s many. But it’s more than I know in “real life”
@amhunt I agree. I don't have any kids either. I think this is useful to know when looking at profiles, even if it is just connecting with other people who don't have kids either. I think it is also useful for people who do have kids. Because for example some special arrangements might have to be made or appointments booked around taking their kids to school and so on. So it is an important thing to mention.
@kyl Yeah, I can see that. I don't see as many non pros anymore, and I can kinda see why because who wouldn't want to get paid $70 - $100 an hour to just hug a person.
@amhunt I personally have to disagree with you on religion. I feel that questions like religion provide opportunities for people to hear out views opposite of their own, or people of the same views can discuss their opinions on certain topics. I also want to suggest that there be a search filter for religion as well since there is already one for Sexuality.
@GameStriker4481 did you read my response? It's not that easy or that simple. That's why a lot of people come and leave pretty soon after.
@kyl - There was a thread on here a short while ago about how often you would like to cuddle. As I recall, most people said multiple times per week. Several people said every day. Obviously, unless you have a lot of money and nothing else to spend it on, cuddling that often would exclude the use of professionals. Professionals are useful if you only want a cuddle partner now and again, but not for the average person who wants a regular cuddle buddy.
@GameStriker4481 @UKGuy @kyl I think it is interesting to hear other perspectives when it comes to pros and non-pros, so I appreciate you guys sharing some of your thoughts on this.
i would love to see in people's profile page any forum discussions they've participated in, maybe as hyperlinks. i find them to be very valuable, sort of like karma, but intellectually, or what their thought process is, their wit or how they view the world , themselves. sometimes profile pages are static, but in forums, their views and presence help define them, some good, maybe some not so good, but defining either way.
@happybear I actually like that idea. I think it might be neat to keep a blog on your profile as well because people could get to know you in some sense through that.
@happybear There's an unofficial way to see someone's past forum posts. Use a URL like this, and add the person's user name to the end:
https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/forum/profile/comments/
But if I click on the "More comments" button at the bottom, it seems to just go to the person's profile right now instead of showing more of their comments. (It has never worked for me; it used to just wait forever when I pressed that button).
@Mark Will this feature ever become "official"? It's very useful!
@respectful thank you for that alternate way, I've been going to the recent discussions tab on the right in the forum and then searching by profile name. @MoonlightSonata - it seem like with that added content, it could help define more things relative to cuddling, less typing answering questions, especially if it was answered in forum, could make people who are active in forums have more content for people trolling through profiles looking for glimpses of one personality to shine through. mark used the term discoverability, it fits here.
@happybear I agree! The more you can reach out and connect with other people the better.
@respectful It was never intended to be but maybe I can add a link to it near where the username shows for each post. I'll add this to my list and look into it.
I just wish that members are not allowed to create multiple accounts. I've seen banned members able to come back by creating a brand new profile.
I had an idea for the cuddle requests board that I just thought I would share here.
I think it would be nice if there were pinned boards in the cuddle requests section for each part of the world. So for example, a pinned board for Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, and Australia.
Then people could post their requests by continent.
It was just a thought I had that I thought I would pass on.
@Mark - I'm not sure allowing someone to browse every forum post you have made is a good idea. It might have a chilling effect on people's openness. People's opinions about things do evolve over time and looking at past posts could be misleading, especially if the posts are separated from the context of the entire thread. I would vote for just listing the thread titles someone has contributed to and let the person who is curious do the work of reading through the entire topic.
It might have a chilling effect on people's openness.
It's funny you say that - this has always been my concern too. Perhaps this would be better off going to a vote at some point.
I find it mostly useful as a pro. Potential clients' posts can often be more revealing than karma.
Being able to look at someone's posts has been very useful to me, especially for doing interviews.
@UKGuy's suggestion of just listing thread titles could work, but some threads (like this one) are 20+ pages long ...
My general thought though is that people's comments are public information, and it's a great way to get to know someone, so being accessible is better than being hidden away.
@MoonlightSonata It sounds like a good idea to have some sort of background check. Even on pet care websites, you have a few lists of checks (all optional but they strongly encourage to fill them and highlight the profiles who has them all first): In no specific order, a few ideas:
If I remember correct Couchsurfing used to send a postcard to the address provided with a code to fill up back in your profile to validate your postal address (because you potentially host people).
On some websites, when your profile is checked, you cannot change your name and date of birth...
*I understand it would give an overload of work for @Mark and his team; I would be happy to volunteer for those kind extra safety measure
We do plan to have some verification methods that you can do yourself. Eventually we might look into ID checks using a third party service. While I greatly appreciate your offer, I'm not in favour of verification methods that require constant human resources but that's not to say it's been ruled out for the future.
(like here but for pros. only). Why not extend the identity check to everyone?
There is no ID check for anyone currently.
@LovelyCompany @Mark I think even just having social media/ e-mail/ phone verification badges on a profile would help a lot. That's what they do on sites/ apps like OfferUp and LetGo where you sell things locally.
So sorry @Mark I got confused, my bad. True there was no ID check, I've been so used to those checks since I live in Australia, I see them everywhere
I agree that verifications without human intervention are always best.