It's good to see some moderator love. My hat's off to you all - to the community that flags the transgressors, and to the mods for their diligence and excellence. I still see some riff raff that I'm surprised haven't been banned yet - but my karmic belief has not been wrong yet, and that is: trash eventually takes itself out. I just wish the timing was faster sometimes. Like right now. Now would work. Now would be really nice.
Holy cow!!! @BlueIris has been BUSY lately!!! Whew what a flurry of activity.
I know it’s not much but I am so grateful for your viable presence in the forums. (I am also grateful for all of the behind the scenes moderating that happens invisibly)
Give it up for the mods 🎉🎉
We certainly owe the mods our gratitude. I don’t think this site could operate without them. And I don’t think our gratitude, alone, is sufficient.
I think this site ought to do all it can to convince qualified mods to stick around. In short, Cuddle Comfort should pay them. I said what I said.
Cuddle Comfort has enough revenue. And they have enough people working as independent contractors, that they should be able to figure out how to compensate mods without creating an employer / employee relationship.
If Cuddle Comfort wants this community to grow and thrive, this is a no-brainer.
🙊
I agree with you @MonkeyNeedsAHug
Cuddle Comfort has enough revenue.
Is this fact or conjecture?
I really hope the person who was recently timed out for being incredibly creepy and crossing multiple boundaries with me and others is banned😞
@SpicyNSweet you're not alone in that thought
Unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case. It looks like just timed out.
@TheFunCartel
You’re so full of jokes, so much of the time. I can’t tell if this a serious question. (And I promised I’d take 48 hours off to figure out what I did in that other thread to provoke you to curse at me.)
Most sources I see estimate CC revenue as “less than $5 Million, annually.” That seemed consistent with my own numbers, which I stopped crunching once I reached “millions”. Do you think that’s far off?
In any case, if conjecture were permissible, I’d speculate that an investment in the essential labor the moderators provide would do much to benefit this community. Those benefits would include a safer and more welcoming environment to women. More women sticking around would mean more people getting cuddles. Platonic cuddles becoming more common should lead to it being better understood and more acceptable in the main. Traffic to the site would grow and revenues would increase.
I’m talking about investing in the thing that is keeping this site on the rails.
Eager to hear what others think.
@sillysassy @VitaminJ @cuddlefaery @xandriarain
@MonkeyNeedsAHug switching mods to paid employees would be a logistical nightmare, to be fair. Have to deal with international employment laws - most companies based outside of California and Colorado already won't hire remote employees from those states due to the extra red tape and higher compensation requirements. And several of the mods live in California.
It should be noted that professional cuddlers are NOT independent contractors for CC - they are not employed by CC in any fashion, nor are they compensated by CC. The working relationship rather goes the other way around - pros compensate CC for advertising space and a booking platform. By not employing pros, even as independent contractors, CC avoids having to deal with workers comp, disability insurance, liability insurance, health insurance, retirement funds, wage & time laws across dozens of localities to coordinate, etc. I'm not familiar with UK business & labor laws, but I am quite familiar with California's and it gives me a headache even contemplating hiring people here.
Even if CC tried to hire mods and/or pros as independent contractors, they'd run into red tape in several jurisdictions due to classification of employees vs contractors. It's highly likely they'd be forced to convert them to full employee status, which would lead to all those extra aforementioned costs. It would be very unlikely that it'd be sustainable without creating a more steady income stream from charging for membership - which then opens the whole can of FOSTA-SESTA et al. worms.
I also want to thank the moderators for helping keep this community a safe space. There have been times when I felt violated, and the mods stepped in and helped me feel protected. I don’t think you guys realize how much that has meant to me, and I’m truly grateful for everything you guys do. 🥹💔❤️🩹💛💛💛
Not sure if it’s allowed, but I’d like to offer all mods, current and retired, a free cuddling session as a small thank you. A space where you can just let it out, relax, recharge, and feel the same sense of safety you’ve helped create for me. 🫂💖🫂
Every time I see @BlueIris in the forums, the song “I Need a Hero” plays in my head lol.🦸♀️
@SpicyNSweet hopefully they will ban him a day or two before his time out expires. 😁
@BellaAine Awwww, that's so sweet!!! You made my day!!!
Xoxo @Adragayle and @BellaAine ! And thank you for all you do, @BlueIris
@SpicyNSweet My pleasure!!
@BlueIris Awww, 🥰 I’m glad! You definitely deserve it! 💖🫂💖
As a retired mod, it's lovely to see this thread make a comeback. @BellaAine so glad the current mods have helped make this a safer place for you. Appreciate the kind words and that was a sweet offer from you. Keep staying safe out there. 🤗
@BellaAine I will now have that song playing in my head as @BlueIris 's intro whenever I see her 😂
This version seems especially apropos
@Shake I can imagine the emotional weight of helping others through those situations doesn’t just disappear when you step away. I'm sure it does take a toll, and I'd be more than glad to give you all a safe space and gently guide y'all through releasing some of it. I hope you know your time and effort mattered too, and I appreciate everything you did to help make this community a safer place. Thank you for setting the standard for others to follow. 🫂💖
@cuddlefaery Now I have a visual to go with it. 😭 lol I wasn't joking when I said that song pops into my head every time @BlueIris appears in the forums. 😂
@cuddlefaery that is definitely the best version!!
@BlueIris definitely gives Jennifer Saunders. Can I grow up to be like you? 😁
Reading all of this about all of the international labor laws makes me annoyed and upset that there are so many impediments to converting a volunteer labor force into a paid labor force. @cuddlefaery and @MonkeyNeedsAHug Although possibly those same laws provide lots of protections for people. So in true Cuddle comfort forum fashion, even though I’ve given the disclaimer of knowing nothing about said laws, I will go ahead and pontificate for several paragraphs.
I feel like this thread could belong in the ways to make CC better. Simple identity verification for all members or even an optional blue check that your identity has been verified would go such a long way to eliminating creepers. And the additional labor that that would involve would dovetail very nicely with a few paid employees.
It has me wondering what would be the ramifications of having the availability of the Venmo or CashApp accounts of all of the moderators, listed somewhere and appreciative donations could be made at any time. What would stop the site owner from being one of the largest donors?
Just anecdotally, I can think of a certain chicken restaurant in my town that while Every other fast food place was struggling to hire and keep employees, this place was always fully staffed with very happy people. I was at an event with one of the moms of those employees and she told me stories about holiday parties and weekly gift card, giveaways, and appreciation and prizes and Not only did the employees have fun socializing together outside of work they felt genuinely appreciated. I realize that entire model is not applicable here. But I do know that as a public school teacher, my abysmally low salary made me feel less appreciated than many of my other professional peers. So while money is just one part of the full appreciation spectrum, it is the traditionally accepted form of payment. All of the words of affirmation that are showered upon the mods on a pretty regular basis Are wonderful and I need to do better with that, and being a Math person I am not as good with words as many others on this Forum. I’ve met a few moderators in person and been able to thank them with free cuddles or at least free potluck picnics. But at the end of the day as a teacher while it was nice to get compliments and appreciation. Little goodie bags for teacher appreciation week, sometimes that felt like lip service, and it was still insulting to receive a lower salary than an Uber driver. I loved compliments, but I also felt like with my education and the expectations that were placed upon me, I should be able to pay for simple pleasures in life like groceries and utilities.
I don’t think it’s our job as professionals to pay the moderators, we pay 15% of our income to the site and so most traditional commission structures that should go towards the various services that are needed.
I just wanted to say that I completely agree our mods deserve an extra-special shout-out. I also agree with @BellaAine that @BlueIris deserves special recognition as an exceptional moderator—while remaining incredibly humble at the same time.
I've only had a couple of interactions with you, @BlueIris, but I truly appreciated the time you took—even if it was only a few minutes—to address my concerns and offer thoughtful advice and solutions without ever making me feel like I was just another issue to resolve. You responded so quickly, and from the little I know of you, it's clear that you genuinely care about the community and the people in it.
People who quietly make others feel heard and supported often don't realize the impact they have. It may have seemed like a small thing to you, but your kindness and attention to my concerns meant more to me than you probably realize. Thank you for everything you do. ❤️ 🙏👍😗🤩☺️👏🎆💯🫶🌈🏆⭐️🥇
@Velvet_Heart It's so heartwarming when we as mods are appreciated. We all care very much about this community. We wouldn't do what we do otherwise. It's a good feeling when we're able to solve problems and help others.
Thank you so much for those lovely sentiments. Your note was a very bright spot in my day.