Why are there so many forum categories?

[Phillybriefs]

After settling into USG-online's forums these past couple of months, I've begun to think that there are so many forum categories that there's not enough critical mass to keep a steady dialogue.

For example when I saw that a member had posted a rear view of the Marc Ouest Gladiator in Rear Views, I posted the front in the same thread only to see later in the Singlet forum he had posted the front.

There's a category for one to post pictures of briefs but then there's another category for designer labels. Well, most of my briefs are designer so which do I use?

I feel like I'm at a party in a house with 100 rooms and there are 100 guests. Rarely do I see five or more of them in any room because the party spans all of the rooms. Seems like that's why certain forum categories stagnate.

Honestly I'd dump all of the user photos into one category (it's all underwear!), merge other forums like the celebrity sightings with film and tv, Real world with Gear sitings, etc. It's all so specialized like a library.

Don't get me wrong Deusex, the forums are great and I very much appreciate them and your hard work to maintain the site. I just wish that there were more chance for active dialogue.

[SweatyAussie]

Philly, I don't think anyone will criticise you for not choosing the right category, unless it's blatantly wrong, eg. posting thongs in the longjohns section, or posting celebrity shots in a section that's supposed to be for self-pics. I don't want to put words in deusex's gob, but I imagine the forum names were chosen more as a leader to suggest what kind of things members might like to post about, rather than hard-and-fast categories.

I don't agree that all the user photo fora should be merged, because some guys are much more interested in, say, thongs, than longjohns, and would prefer to go straight to the section(s) they are interested in than to wade through a lot of (to them) boring posts.

That's not to say the divisions could not be improved. I personally have never been quite sure what should go in Designer Gear. Skinzwear, for example, certainly design their tangas, does that make them designer gear? In fact, in what sense can a garment NOT be designer gear? Maybe the different sections for media sightings could be merged as well.

What do other members think?

[The Bondsman]

In fact, in what sense can a garment NOT be designer gear?
What do other members think?
I think that "designer" is a WAY over used word and tends to refer to the price, rather than the garment.
It's a way of selling undies that cost exactly the same to make as cheap asian imports (AND were made in the very same place!),for about at least ten times as much! Right?

[deusex]

Phillybriefs,

You are right in that some of the categories are a bit redundant, most were created 7 years ago when the site had no members and I tried to guess what people wanted. Some of my thinking was different back then. Even 7 years ago, there were only a select few "designers" and the guys are met were of two very different mind sets. There was the die hard white briefs set (Hanes and Jockey) and then the new designers (Calvin Klein and the new 2(x)ist and soon after C-IN2) The traditionalists hated the new designer briefs. I'm not sure that's necessary any more.

If I remember correctly, the rear shots were added simply because so many guys wanted to drop their drawers and show off their gaping assholes. I felt that polluted the other categories.

Actually, now that I'm remembering it, being an underwear and photography site, the categories were created before the galleries (which are also pre-PhillyBriefs) so they also served the purpose inspiring guys to get creative with their cameras (hence the "Give us a Peek", "Public Underwear" and the "I Dare You" ones)

As far as collapsing all the categories, I still don't think that's a good idea, as Sweaty mentioned, unlike myself, there are lots of guys that just don't care for certain styles. Most classic briefs fans simply don't want to see the pouch/3d stuff from Koala, Dubio, and Dore.

There are, admittedly, some categories that could be cut. The Public Underwear and the I Dare You simply didn't take off.

When I get some time I'll talk it over with Sweaty and Bondsman and we'll do some tidying up.

[The Bondsman]

so many guys wanted to drop their drawers and show off their gaping assholes. I felt that polluted the other categories.
Deusex, I am voting that imagery above as the most colourful use of language here on site for 2009!
And you said you weren't good at grammar....!

[deusex]

Sorry Bondsman (and anyone else offended) but I used to work in the adult industry. We had created Bedfellow.com but due to financial reasons we had to partner with an established straight porn producer. It was frustrating partnership to say the least. When be brought the first working concepts of Bedfellow to them they tried to tell us it wouldn't work and went off to create their concept of a gay site. We ended up launching Bedfellow which quickly became the busiest (and most profitable) gay site of it's time, meanwhile, their gay site died within a year. If you saw their take on a gay site, it was essentially one of their straight sites, but instead of "Big Wet Dripping Pussies", they has lines like "Big Wet Gaping Assholes" and of course absolutely disgusting references to "Man Pussies"

As you know, Bondsman, I haven't been involved in Bedfellow in years. They managed to take it over and ruin it, and they never did learn - here's one of their new designs for a gay site:

http://www.bedfellow.com/bedfellowasspounders/?grid=444&unid=1&gaid=19&stid=91&plid=467&coid=16778x

[The Bondsman]

Sorry Bondsman (and anyone else offended)
Certainly wasn't "offended" in any way, ...just admiring your colourful turn of phrase!
Re. the site: Isn't it amazing the misunderstanding between the sexualities?
What they imagine we want?

[deusex]

Exactly, we often told them we would never kid ourselves that we could build a successful straight porn site.

Similarly, when Adrian and I tell people acquaintances what we now do for a living - selling men's underwear, one of the first things they ask is "why don't you expand into women's lingerie?" We simply tell them we wouldn't have the first clue how to sell women underwear - and of course we simply wouldn't want to anyway.

[Phillybriefs]

Thanks for being open to my suggestions. I know this site is your baby.

I'd love to see briefs (tighty whities, bikinis, lowrise etc), thongs, pouches, jocks, boxers, and perhaps boxer briefs in their own categories, while all else is labeled "other" to be perused by the curious.

It'd also be great if most of the categories below Jock Talk were condensed by 2/3. Surprisingly even though it's a jock centered website, Jock Talk is fairly slow. I posted an image of a jock and asked for comments thinking guys would jump at the chance to chime in but only 1 guy did. Very curious. Should Jock Talk just be rolled into General Underwear Talk?

I'm only making suggestions and thinking aloud a bit to see if perhaps more of us can be in the same "rooms" at the same time. I'm sad to see so many topics whither on the vine after only 1 or 2 posts. :confused:

[deusex]

I really do appreciate the feedback and although I will get rid of a few like I mentioned, I still don't think combining categories in the show and tell section will change the success of a post. I don't think most people solely go to the top forum category and ignore the rest. As I've explained before, this site simply doesn't have the numbers as commercial sites like GQ and Justusboys (your examples) do to make the forums work more like a live chat.

Some conversations are slow, others are heated and fast. That's the natural ebb and flow of this board. Combining categories isn't going to make the unpopular posts more popular, it's just going to make them get buried even faster.

Most regulars know to look for the orange icons to see threads with new posts.

Most of the categories under Jock Talk serve a purpose, some are to keep certain types of posts out of the main General category, others are to offer suggestions on types of things to post.

The site isn't perfect, and I am open to suggestions (and like I said, I'm going to collapse a few redundant ones like the designer, dare and public categories) but I'm not about to change everything around when I feel pretty strongly that all the effort wouldn't accomplish what you think it would.