Here's my take on the subject, for what it's worth.
For one thing, and with no disrespect intended, asking "what is the purpose of this board?" is like asking "how high is up?" Each of us have his or her own reason for using it, and each of us has his or her own reason for choosing to post or not. Speaking for myself, and if other members are completely honest with themselves I think they'd agree, there is a certain amount of ego gratification to be gained from posting and adding reviews... there's always a bit of "Hey, look who I fucked". It's the same when guys tell everyone that they got a BBBJ, or that she wasn't a clock watcher and then add the caveat; "YMMV"... that's a veiled way of saying that "nah, nah, she liked me better than she will you" - more ego boosting.
But agreeing that ego IS part of the reason, I think there's also a genuine desire to help fellow hobbyist to maximize his dollar value and, yes, also a desire to help a PSE who one feels is an exceptional performer. For some reason, a few people object to this aspect of the board, and the word "shill" is bandied about. I really don't understand that. If you go to a restaurant and have an exceptional meal, receive outstanding service and feel that for the price you received great value, you probably go into work the next day and tell everyone about your dining experience. You take friends and family there to share in your find. You might even go to a restaurant review board and post about how much you enjoyed you meal, and few if any would accuse you of shilling for the restaurant.
My own reason for posting and reviewing is primarily that when I was a newbie, there were several hobbyists on boards like this who were generous and unselfish in their willingness to help me fulfill some of my fantasies, and this is my way of repaying their kindness.
As to this being a fanclub, I don't see it the way you do, Ohblah. I think it's human nature to brag when you get a great deal, and be low-keyed when you get taken. To admit that you spent your hard-earned money for something that ended up not being worth the price is embarassing for many to admit, so there's a natural tendency for the reviews and comments to be skewed toward the positive... take a look at singleton's list of 53 pornstars... the poorest one got an average score over 7, which is stated in the TER guidelines as the base rating for a good review... in fact theoretically it's the highest mark a provider can get without going "above and beyond" the norm. Now we all know that there are many PSE's who don't deserve anywhere near a 7, but as stated above, human nature takes over and those PSE's don't get as many negative reviews credited to their profile - Guys have a good time, they review; guys have a bad time, they don't, at least not as often.
And it's not that negative or bad comments about a pornstar are considered ungentlemanly and meanspirited. If the comments are legitimate, I think it's taken at it's face value. But if you look at many of the posts in context, often the negative remarks are made in reply to a post from someone giving the particular PSE good remarks, and the malice is not really directed toward the lady but, out of jealousy, evny or for some other agenda, toward the person who posted the positive comments.
I think if you look closer you'll find that it's a small number of the same people who repeatedly post negative comments about a girl they claimed to have seen in response to a positive post from a frequent contributor. As you said, you "window shop" on this board, and I think that the vast majority of those who come here are the same... they don't read each and every message that's posted, so they miss a lot of the pettiness and in-fighting that occurs. So when it seems that we're accusing someone of being mean spirited or ungentlemanly, it's often for reasons not immediately clear to the occasional visitor to the board.
I do disagree regarding your analogy that you "don't have to buy a store to shop at the mall". When you buy something in a store, both parties receive a benefit from the transaction. You get the product you want, and the merchant gets your money in exchange. It's a quid pro quo transaction. That's not the way this board works. It's based on the EXCHANGE of information for the mutual benefit of all parties, and those who don't share are really sponging off of those who do.
You say that you pay your money to be here, and that's all that's required, but you didn't really pay your money to be HERE. You paid your money in order to access the member's only sections of provider reviews... This board is free to all who wish to use it... you can read it for free, and you can post for free, you don't have to pay a dime. If everyone came here with the same attitude as yours, we'd all be looking at a blank page. When you go to a weekly poker game at a buddy's house, and at the end of the evening each week the same three guys drop a twenty on the table to cover the cost of food and beer, and the other three guys never kick in a dime, you eventually start to get a little pissed... you might not say anything to them about it, but it's in the back of your mind each week. Now imagine one of those three start complaining about the kind of food or the brand of beer that's being served... Believe me, someone is going to tell the guy to go fuck himself.
Please realize that I say the following with no malice and it's not intended as a flame... I don't care if people lurk here, and I don't care if they decide to post or not to post reviews, but you have to understand that people who do contribute reviews, contact info, and general information also don't care what lurkers have to say, and certainly do not give their opinions the same weight as that of someone who contributes... Lurkers who post complaints about the direction this board is going are like a hitch hiker who complains about what radio station the driver has on or how high he has the heat turned up... if they don't like it, they can get out and walk.
-- Modified on 12/7/2003 11:48:32 PM
