After the recent forum discussions around the acceptability of various cuddling scenarios, I think there’s a need for some clarity over our official stance on secondary services.
I would like to confirm that our longstanding 'grey area' policy on secondary services remains unchanged. In essence, cuddling should be the main service, with any other activities being at our discretion and ideally viewed as reasonable add-ons to a cuddle session.
To allow for internal flexibility, this policy has always been presented as a guiding principle rather than a rigid set of dos and don’ts. Nevertheless, I would like to elaborate on this position and offer some guidance.
Guidelines for Pros
Here are some basic recommendations:
- Try and frame secondary services around cuddling as the primary activity.
- Minimise activities being presented as standalone services.
- Ensure that your overall profile distinctly conveys a focus on cuddling.
Cuddle sessions
This is a website for cuddling and those that apply to be professional cuddlers are approved with the expectation that the reason they joined is to provide cuddling. A ‘cuddle session’ can come in different forms and have connected activities. These activities are often what we consider as ‘secondary services’.
Considerations
Our policy considers the balance and interplay of the following factors:
- Community that is open, understanding and non-judgemental.
- Team that initially assumes sincerity of purpose of Pros offering secondary services, regardless of any negative connotations.
- Protecting our image by taking seriously the external perceptions of activities and services, especially as part of a movement with widespread misconceptions.
- Supporting the capacity for Pros to distinguish their offerings from their peers.
- Avoiding brand dilution and subsequent potential loss of leadership within this growing niche. E.g. If over time we become seen as a generalised companionship website, we will blend in with hundreds of others.
- Legal and regulatory environment (e.g. FOSTA).
Policy
As this subject involves many internal considerations and unique scenarios, we consider the matter of secondary services as a grey area. This policy type allows the moderator team the flexibility they need to handle cases fairly on a case-by-case basis. Most importantly, with the context of the individual's account and overall profile text.
We don't wish to create an exhaustive and ever-changing list of activities and scenarios that require official classification as being either within or outside the rules. There's often nuance involved.
For instance, proposing a lunch outing during a session is different to listing standalone services and pricing for dinners and weekend getaways. It's reasonable for the latter to draw more scrutiny to a profile as it could give the impression of the member being a generalised companionship provider instead of a professional cuddler with cuddling as the overall focus.
Reporting
We ask that you do not go about reporting members based solely on secondary services and how they are presented. Instead, please only report if you genuinely believe that the member is here for the wrong reasons.
Moderating
If a profile is reported in relation to secondary services, we will review based on the overall context of the profile and account. If we feel a profile has become too disconnected from cuddling, we will issue an advisory notice to their account with guidance relevant to that individual's situation.
I hope that by explaining our considerations and the principles of this policy, Pros may have more confidence in how they choose to integrate their services within their profile.