@SnugglesRus Interesting, thoughtful and makes a lot of sense. A thorough and really understandable post as to why becoming a pro can be so viable. I look forward to more posts from you.
@achetocuddle 💯
I mostly remember CL personals as a place for dudes looking to get handjobs from strangers
Damn it, you're telling me i'm joining the cuddle complex 5 years too late? And post-pandemic dry-up? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Back when CL Personals was a thing, i made a handful of friends from it. I would always get responses from people who genuinely wanted to hang out. It was a cool time. That was only like 7 years ago.
Idk what happened. Nowadays It's like pulling teeth from a lion trying to get anyone to just have a conversation, let alone meet face-to-face.
@TruePower
@pmvines 😂😂😂
Speaking of Craigslist… why couldn’t Pinocchio get a date on Craigslist? Because everyone wanted “no strings attached “
@FitSmartCuddler @MxSmith Perhaps also the “average Jane” might have felt it to be a lot more “normal” to post/respond/trust a site like Craigslist. Almost everyone I mention CC/platonic cuddling wonder out loud if it is actually just platonic. And therefore my suspicion is that female enthusiasts who use CC use it as a last-resort place, and it of course doesn’t help that a lot of men aren’t the most polite or welcoming.
I personally find very less value in hiring pros and use this site mostly for the forums and to chat casually with distant enthusiasts even if I’ll likely never meet with any of them.
@OhioMike you are a dad joke wizard
A few thoughts:
I have noticed in myself an ability to romanticize the past, remembering its joys and forgetting its pain points, especially in comparison to what feels like a painful/frustrating present. I wonder how much of the OP's reflection is impacted by a similar ability.
While it is probably true that having options for a wide variety of interests/activities gave people space to look for their interests out loud, I would be willing wager a healthy sum that any woman who posted in "Strictly Platonic" or made any non-sexual request got more sex-based responses and propositions than not.
CuddleComfort is complex because it can be both a great place to express intimacy needs/wants that we are not well-practiced in as a society, and we are all impacted by a society that does not prepare us to express intimacy needs and often does not reward us if we try to do so. So the experiences here can and do vary and often reflect the isolation/challenge in communicating and other challenges we experience in the world outside of CC.
Got it! I've been thinking about this for a day and a half and I've finally come up with a worthwhile thought.
Firstly though, many wise things have already been said in this thread and I'm not disagreeing with any of them. @GreatHornedOwl that was a fabulous post, thank you.
The fundamental difference between what happens here and what happened on CL is the use of the world "cuddling". CL was a place you went to try and find what you needed, irrespective of emotional involvement. In fact, on the whole, few people went there seeking emotional meaning and if they did they headed for the appropriate section.
However, the women outside the cuddle world who I've talked to about cuddling mostly associate cuddling with a strong emotional bond. Basically they see cuddling as a thing to be done only wtih a partner.
In other words, there were proportionally many more women on CL, and they were much more ready to engage, because there is no 'emotional barrier to entry'. Here, there is.
The second thought has already been suggested. Half the women who would be here, are here but as professionals. This is only one of the reasons why having the money to pay a professional, and not doing it, is madness.
@jetblack - You said "I would be willing wager a healthy sum that any woman who posted in "Strictly Platonic" or made any non-sexual request got more sex-based responses and propositions than not." My experience suggests that some women posting on Craigslist Platonic section did receive some sex-based responses, but not many.
In my earlier post (page 1), I describe posts by two women in Craigslist Platonic section. You are correct about the first woman, who received 1 legitimate response (mine) and 4 sexual propositions. A similar post on CC would probably have received dozen of sexual responses.
With regards to the second woman, you would loose your bet. She received several responses, but only one (again, mine) from an "older man" as she requested. None of the responses were sexually oriented.
It would be interesting to hear from some women who had posted to the Craigslist Platonic section. There must be at least a few here on CC.
I put an ad in craigslist to take care of the elderly for a side job, I put my picture in there thinking that I might look more legitimate if people see my face, but I got one man after another saying I’ll take you out to dinner I’ll pay for your time. I kept saying I’m trying to do Home Health not be an escort. I honestly did not get one good inquiry about taking care of an elderly person, just people lonely looking to go to dinner with someone. If I had enough guts I would advertise on craigslist. My only problem is I don’t want people that I know looking me up on cuddle comfort. Mostly because a lot of the profiles don’t look like it’s platonic cuddling and I don’t want my friends and family to think that I’m doing anything more than Platonic cuddling. Cc to me kind a looks like an escort service. I always wonder why people give a booty shot when someone is not even supposed to be touching your butt😬😬😬.
I’m surprised why men don’t just get on dating sites and say that they’re not really wanting to date and no FWB , just Looking for someone to cuddle. I probably would’ve taken someone up on that back in the day when I was on dating sites. But cuddling would’ve probably been way way way down the line I would’ve wanted to meet quite often before I cuddled, especially in bed.
@CuddleDuncan I agree with you that several of my clients really needed the emotional support along with cuddling. Honestly those are my favorite clients. For the others that just want to feel the touch of a woman paying for a cuddling probably doesn’t seem right.
I’ve tried to give some of my clients discounts and some insist on paying me full price they say that they’re paying for my time and that my time is important .
A lot of pros on this site (not counting me), have a lot of experience have taken lots of classes have paid for certificates and training. So it only seems right to pay for a service where someone is giving their talent and expertise.
I don’t think that I would ever pay for a cuddle but if I knew that I was guaranteed to get some kind of emotional healing and some lessening of traumas, then why wouldn’t I wanna pay. Because I would be getting a lifelong benefit from it. i’ve heard several people on the form say that it’s changed their life when they met the right pro. That’s a valuable thing. I suppose a lot of men are just looking for cuddling time and closeness not necessarily therapeutic or trauma reducing Cuddling. I guess I said enough lol
@KozyKim maybe good experiences on Craigslist is regional … I was taking to other members here about Craigslist experiences and in Ohio all I remember is the “ Ohio Craigslist killings “ and sex trafficking minors. I had the impression that Craigslist was kinda of seedy and stayed away But then other peeps said the site was awesome for them. 🤔
Trust me I thought wow somebody paid me to go out to dinner with them that doesn’t sound too bad.
This is a funny part to the story I hope someone enjoys it. I had the ad up for like three months and every single person without exception without exception with somebody that was lonely looking to take me out to dinner or stuff like that. So I close down the account and gave up 15 minutes later someone calls me and says do you still take care of the elderly and I said oh did you see my ad, and he says no I got your business card a year ago When I met you at the restaurant, and told you my grandparents might need help sometime and I thought how timely 15 minutes after I shut down my craigslist home health site. That was a great job I saved all the money from that job and paid off the rest of my school. It was meant to be.
Self moderated
@Lisa987 i read what you said, ty 🌌
I used to use Craigslist all the time. I used it from 2008 until it was banned. I met awesome people. I even dated a few of the guys I met through Craigslist and I met one of my best friends through Craigslist! Most of my ads were always looking for somebody to go to underground parties with me. I never had a bad experience with Craigslist. After Craigslist personals were banned, I had no choice but to use Bumble and Hinge. Both have been a waste of my time. A friend of mine told me about Cuddle Comfort a year ago. I wasn't really using it like I should have but this year I've been using it to supplement my income as I'm building another business. And it has been amazing! I no longer date, but I do find that meeting men here on Cuddle Comfort treat me so much better than anybody that I would ever meet using Bumble or Hinge. I did a virtual with a cuddler over a year ago and he's a really good friend of mine now. He even helped me with my Google My Business page for my other company. Both Craigslist and Cuddle Comfort have been amazing. I recently had a client that canceled on me, because he had cold feet. But instead he took me to my favorite restaurant and we walked around my favorite area and it was awesome! I'm sorry that you have not had any success with this site. I hope that you do one day because I think a lot of the people using Cuddle Comfort are pretty awesome.
Loving the stories!
I remember going in CL personal section because it was just interesting to read If it was still a thing I would be posting on there
@FitSmartCuddler I empathize and agree with @JBearz -- I've met some really cool people via Craigslist way back! Some I still talk to years later. It used to be the same way with AOL chat friends and dating apps. It was pretty effortless connecting with genuine real people. People are a lot more flaky and disconnected now. We're more digitally connected than ever but more disconnected from each other on a human level.
There’s a site called DoubleList that is trying to be like Craigslist however the folks posting to platonic/friendships clearly do not understand those words. I checked it out and it’s just for hookups.