Suggestions and ways this website can be improved

[Deleted User]CuddleBandit (deleted user)
edited February 2019 in General
Hello fellow cuddlers, Cuddle Bandit here! I would like to point out a few things that I think are holding this website back. Cuddle Comfort has the potential to be a house hold name like Tinder or Snapchat. Unfortunately there are a few things holding it back. Examples include inactive profiles, blank profiles and similar format to that of dating websites. Do we really need to know the religion of our potential cuddle buddy? Same for work, car ownership, drinking and smoking.  I strongly believe that there are people who are naive and came across this website by accident. They just go straight away to fill the profile and fail to read the, "About Cuddle Comfort" part. These type of folk are treating Cuddle Comfort as a dating website and they don't know anything about therapeutic cuddling.  Suggestions: Have an option to blur our pictures for anonymity and we can later allow other users to see if they interest us. Much better than a blank profile. Also beats the hassle of exchanging emails or texts just to share a picture with a stranger. For cuddle requests have an option where we get notifications when a person from our city or nearby joins Cuddle Comfort. Get rid of the visitors feature. Reminds me of POF and OkCupid. It can also make us feel awful. You know why. Send out emails to inactive profiles to remind them that they have a profile on Cuddle Comfort. Maybe every 6 months. Its sad that I have to scroll through inactive profiles that have been dead for over 1 year or even 2. Just a few suggestions. Do you folks have any? Cheers! 
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Comments

  • edited February 2017
    Thank you for the feedback. The profile fields is actually something being addressed very soon based on a previous discussion. 

    I thought your dislike of the Visitors page was interesting as I've not heard that one before. I agree with your email ideas by the way. I will give the other feedback some thought too.
  • [Deleted User]cuddledingo (deleted user)
    Hi @CuddleBandit !

    Just wanted to give another opinion about the smoking/drinking and car ownership.  First, I don't care if you smoke/420/drink/whatever... but I am sensitive to smoke so would rather not cuddle someone who's hair smells like it. Having that option is very helpful in who I decide to chat with regarding cuddles.  Others probably have similar thoughts and I think that spot is listed for us.  Some other people may have issues with drinking, too.  Such as someone who's in AA and can't be around the stuff.  I dunno, I feel that stuff is kinda important to list so you don't waste each other's time talking and setting up a meet only to realize the one questions you didn't ask that everything hinges on.

    Religion doesn't seem that important, though, since if your religion forbid cuddling you'd probably not be on here in the first place :)

    I like the visitor's feature and have had conversations with people from other cities and countries who've visited my profile. Never would've met them without that.

    100% agree with the stacks of inactive profiles and clearing them out every 6-8 months. My only addition is that an email be sent out 30 days prior to deleting inactive profiles to give them the chance of signing back in and using the site.

    My thoughts. I'm a participator!

    @cuddledingo

  • edited February 2017
    @CuddleBandit I will have to second some of what @cuddledingo has said.
    While yes, parts of the profiles are mirroring dating sites, things like if the cuddler smokes (regardless of what they smoke) may be a deal breaker for a cuddler, Pro or not, as they may be sensitive to smoke. I know someone who, at the smell of cigarette smoke, starts to get a migraine that can quickly put her in the bathroom in the dark with a towel under the door to block out all light, sound, and smells for the next several hours while trying to manage through what feels like railroad spikes in your head.
    Also, about drinking... like @cuddledingo said, some people may be trying to quit drinking or have a problem with it and want to be around others who don't drink, so I can still see the benefits of having that listed.

    I do think it's important to list if you own a car as some people, Pro or not, might not want or be able to go pick up the person to cuddle with them. A persons religion, doesn't matter so much for cuddling.

    I would enjoy on the Search page to be able to see when the person last logged in without having to go to their page. I know it sorts by last login date, but I generally just open a few profiles to find the ones of people who have logged in with the last 2-3 weeks and work backwards from there.
    I agree... profiles that have been dead for over 6-8month should be marked as inactive, maybe removed from search results, or removed, but emailing the people even once a month to remind them of their profile might get them to come back or would just draw out them coming back for a day or two, browse profiles when they're bored, and disappear again for another 5 months before repeating again.

    The Visitors page has been a hit and miss for me. Sure, you get to see who has visited your profile and I'd started talking with a few people that have but are in other cities or other countries because of it. Sometimes I'll click on someone just to see where they are because if you only see a persons name or see a city name you're not familiar with, I can see wanting to go to their profile to see what state (or country) they are in in case it's closer than you thought and would be able to meet them. It's something that I've enjoyed going to, but wouldn't be a loss if it wasn't there anymore.

    I do enjoy the highlighted new members on the main page, getting to welcome new members and all.
    I would suggest that after a person has made a profile and has opted to apply to be listed as a Pro that they immediately get a pending Pro status icon added to their profile. Also, I do love the simplicity of creating an account here, but maybe adding an option from the beginning to be listed as a with the pending status could be an option. That way, the newer members that go through and fill out the profile with no mention of waiting on becoming a Pro don't suddenly have their profile change to Pro without knowing in advance that they are awaiting the Pro status.

    While I know there is a standard price range for rates, maybe having that as part of a Pros profiles to be searchable by such as hourly rate, discounts for multiple hours, travel charges (maybe not exact prices, but that they do charge for this), and optional overnight sessions as being ways to search for Pro cuddlers and if the Pro wanted to elaborate on their rates then they could do that in their About Me section.

    Another idea, after a Pro and a client have a cuddle session, maybe an email reminder to both about leaving Karma for one another. It's a great thing this site has, but doesn't always seem to get used.

    Also, I don't know if this would be a good thing or a bad one, but a lot of forum-style sites will have things on the main page showing how many guests are on the site, how many members are logged in currently and sometimes which ones.... basically an "Online Now". I know some may see it as a dating site feature, but it could be used for those that maybe 2 non-pros want to meet up to cuddle and binge watch season 3 of a TV series or a non-pro sees a Pro is online and reaches out to see if they are available to book on short notice if the Pro is also free to do so and looking to cuddle up with someone.


    Just some of my thoughts. I know @Mark you've said a lot of site features and improvements are coming and to hold out hope for the future of the site so I'm excited to see what is to come :)
  • I think the visitor section is really useful.
    Their should also be a sexual orientation field. It seems sometimes it's there and other times it's not.
    The more fields the better as long as they're optional.
  • [Deleted User]Alternis (deleted user)
    edited February 2017
    As it stands right now you get 1 karma per different pro hired. There should be some kind of difference between a client who saw a pro once and has 1 karma and another client who really liked a pro and visited 5 times and the website got its cut 5 times but still has 1 karma. Maybe not get 5 karma but some kind of indication on how many times that pro was seen.
  • I agree Alernis. I get lots of repeats and i think it would be nice, if we had a tally or something that shows the number of visits :)
  • [Deleted User]CuddleBandit (deleted user)
    @cuddledingo regarding the smoking, true that. 
  • [Deleted User]CuddleBandit (deleted user)
    edited February 2017
    Ok, so smoking, drinking stays and pets too. Helps to know in case of cat allergies, etc. The "Education" part crosses the dating website arena in my opinion. It would be nice to have several cuddle related questions in the profile with multiple choice answers. Example, "What are you looking to get out of cuddling?" and "What's your favorite part about cuddling?" etc. 
  • @CuddleBandit I like that idea of adding in cuddling related questions... adding in something like "Favorite cuddle position(s)" even and maybe not a "why are you here" but rather the "what are your cuddling needs".... alone, depressed, recent breakup, new to the city, prefer to stay in with someone than to go out and party, and/or sleep easier next to someone for the overnight stays.
  • [Deleted User]chococuddles (deleted user)
    I like everything on the 'about me' except 'religion'.

    I like the visitors. Love the the "online now". Also would like the option to list Pros by rates.

    The "what are you looking to get out of cuddling" and "what's your fav part about cuddling" can and usually is included in the 'About Me' area.  I think those questions with multiple choice answers seems like it might make things redundant.

    I'm definitely on-board with limiting the blank and inactive profiles. 

    'Dating Website' is a dirty phrase around here but some of the same etiquette and energies apply.  The more I know about a potential cuddler the better.
  • Why not have a forum for off-topic discussions and humor?

    Why not replace the P symbol which means professional with a $ symbol which means you can expect to pay?
  • [Deleted User]cuddledingo (deleted user)
    Good ideas above!  I'm not a huge fan of the profile Q&A stuff, either.  That's what the about me area is for.

    As for inactive profiles, yeah I thought about that too where they log on for a day and get another 6 months reprieve. I suppose you've convinced me it was a silly idea.

    Pets was a good idea, too. Or maybe just a generic "Allergies" section? Like I want to literally barf every time I smell incense and I know some cuddlers love using it. Same with strong perfume/cologne... my eyes start to water and my throat clenches, which is a hindrance for comforting cuddles haha :)

    Whatever the case, I don't think it needs to be too complex with dozens of categories listing everything.  I like the streamlined nature of it being somewhat simple.
  • edited February 2017
    "Why not have a forum for off-topic discussions and humor?"

    I'm totally for that but imagined it would happen naturally once there have been enough off-topic discussions here to warrant its own category. People are free to create topics on almost anything really.
  • On the visitor section i would prefer it if it just showed the last time a particular member visited rather than every time. In the edit profile page the orientation question has no option to keep it blank like the some other questions have. Generally i find the site OK to use.
  • I'm trying to go through all the comments and i dont see it on here but one thing i think that would make it a little better would be to be able to put in a search with a beginning point.  i'm not always home when i want to cuddle.  I live more central eastern but travel and would like to be able to find people close to my travel cities rather than expand my search my 1000 and weed through them. 
  • [Deleted User]April_May (deleted user)
    Timezone and dates of messages are really wonky. Also being able to send pictures would be nice, but with a report feature so it stays platonic. People don't really want to share their face sometimes unless it's private, and I understand that. People want to keep their professional and personal lives separate.
    Something like a facebook messenger feature would be good. Also an App because I'm out and about a lot.

  • I  agree that alcohol and smoking is a much bigger deal than just well it's just cuddles so who cares.  I am one of those people who are sensitive to smoke.  Cigarette smoke in particular.  It will put me into a coughing fit for days and will more than likely ruin the rest of the night as I will spend it coughing in your ear.  Not fun for either person.  With regards to drinking, I don't really drink.  I don't mind people who do, and I have alcohol for friends who come over, but I still think it is an important aspect that people care about.  

    As far as the dead profiles and the no pictures.  I don't have a picture for a couple reasons.... I like to keep my personal life private and I don't really want my face on a site that doesn't lock pictures to members or friends only.  In my area, there are maybe 5-10 active profiles out of roughly 40 so it would be nice to see them be cleaned up or at least allow for us to filter by last activity.  

    With that being said This site definitely has potential.  It could even go as far as hosting cuddle group sessions in local areas.  This would help promote the site/growth as well as provide people a way to meet other people in their area who are interested in cuddling that they may have never had a chance to meet or taken the chance to message and meet up.  Also advertising would be pretty huge.  But since this is a free site, it would be hard to generate revenue for advertising.  This would also demonstrate why events like cuddle parties would be great to spread the word for free :)
  • [Deleted User]NJCuddleDevil (deleted user)
    I don't blame the website.  It's the people that ruin it.  The truth of the matter is we have not figured out how to make social networks function like real life.    And honestly, people act differently in their cars then when they do walking.  It's just this strange thing we all do as humans when we are in a different environment.

    I still love craigslist.  It's not the site itself that is awful, it's the people using it.  But there is no site without the people.

    I think you have to show up how you want other people to show up.  And that's the best we all can do.  There will always be a-holes, fakes, and what have you.  It comes with the territory. 
  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    Karma is a very important but imperfect thing. Pros and clients don't want to receive bad karma so they may be afraid to leave bad karma which means that a pro may not be getting the lower rating that she actually deserves. I was thinking about this today and thought a solution may be to turn karma off for everyone on the site except for pros. If this is done, clients will be more willing to leave an actual real rating for a pro. If you think about sites like Yelp, customers can rate a business but the business doesn't rate the customer. The only possible downside would be a clients may get blackballed by other cuddlers. Just a thought.
  • [Deleted User]NJCuddleDevil (deleted user)
    I think Ebay is a good site to look at when thinking about Karma.
  • Don't let every female become a professional make them give at least 3 free cuddlers. Or pay a 1 time fee upfront. Takes .money to make money
  • [Deleted User]NJCuddleDevil (deleted user)
    I know a lot of people complain about this site going to the pros, but honestly, there's is no advertising on this website at all.  Do you think it's free to host a website?  Do you think he should just devote hours and hours of his time for nothing?
  • I love everyone's ideas!  They all sound great to me! @morpheus  I'm curious. What makes a good cuddler good and a bad cuddler bad? 
  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    edited February 2017
    Comment to come
  • One thing I would like to see on the forum is a way for professional cuddlers  to sign up to something so that other professional cuddlers could be the security person that they reach out to when having a session with a client. That way we wouldn't need to keep worrying friends and families each time we have a session and would still have that extra security just in case it was needed. 
  • edited February 2017
    That is an ongoing consideration and would be a feature for all members. I would imagine it would be an SMS feature that requires you declare a cuddle finished on the website or otherwise we send a text message to your safety contact.

    Does anyone know of a website that does this? I'm wondering why I haven't heard of other websites that involve meeting strangers doing this. Let's take Tinder for example which often have strangers meet without even talking to each other. There must be a reason they don't do it - perhaps PR or legal.

    In the meantime there does appear to be apps that achieve this.
  • My suggestion is get rid of pros who have no karma after 3 months or revoke them back to normal cuddler status. Obviously they aren't serious about being a pro, and are wasting members' time
  • [Deleted User]chococuddles (deleted user)
    edited February 2017
    -Search by username.
    -Show who's online (maybe by putting a green dot by their name or something, when offline just a light gray dot)
    -Require active Pros to have current images (no more than 3 months old).

    Are there any other possible income revenues besides Pros? Offhand I can't think of any upgrades to create.  We get so much for free already it's hard to imagine what someone would pay for...

  • edited February 2017
    @chococuddles If we did have upgrades it would probably be message tracking, browse profiles anonymously, be highlighted in search results and have your messages pinned to the top the recipient's inbox.  

    But like you say, we try and make sure there are no website limitations for members so I have no idea if anyone would actually find upgrades appealing.
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