The Cherry is wilting. In a nutshell, since I started working nights (and CherryTAP is off-limits at work, being... well, not safe for work), I'm here when most of my friends aren't. I also noticed the lack of visitors' traffic lately, which may mean it's either time for another blast, or it's time to move on.
In an effort to decide which to do, I decided to look around at what else was out there in this big, grand old world of social networking.
I went onto xPeeps.com and revisited an account I'd actually created earlier in the week. My experiences there were... less than thrilling.
Think of xPeeps as CherryTAP without the NSFW policy, the live chat, or the points-starved welcoming committee. Since there's no incentive to welcome new people, it's entirely possible to be there for quite a few days before someone actually gives your profile a view.
That leads to my next point. My account's maybe a week old and still has zero views. Now, this leads me to believe I have to actively put myself out there in order to make friends or even get hits, right?
Profile browsing is hindered by the site's frequent problems with downtime. I could be midway through responding to a friendly post in a forum, click on the "submit" button to enter my reply, and be greeted by a "Waiting for xpeeps.com..." message in my browser's status bar which won't go away. As frequently as my connection drops in my temporary abode (some models of LinkSys wireless routers act stupid and will stop recognizing 802.11b connections if they go idle, until you reset the router; I'm up to doing this 3 times a day unless I keep my streaming radio on), the other browsing tabs behave themselves. As I am writing this blog, xPeeps's page has timed out, while my MMORPG's update download happily finished ahead of schedule.
When xPeeps finally responds, the profiles that show up in your "Cool New People" section will display X-rated pictures of your fellow peeps. It would be nice if it bothered to check your settings to see what kinds of profiles you want gracing that box. I am a straight male and have no interest in seeing anyone's penis other than my own (and even then...), and often three of the four boxes show up with Ol' One-Eyed Willie as the star attraction. Guys, you probably learned this from here before NFSW came into effect - if you're looking to screw a girl from any social networking site, showing a picture of your schlong does not grant the same effect that the girls' flashing gash does. They're disgusted by it.
Those profiles that do show a female's goodies will, sadly, have a disclaimer on their profiles that will say "no guys, please." You're probably thinking, "Huh? Then what's the sense of telling the world you're Bi and looking to meet people?" Simple -- they're not. The profile is either fake, owned by a guy who doesn't want other guys to bother them; or, it's just playing into the idea that people always want what they can't have (how many men do you know whose e-peen gets larger when they know they can tell someone they bagged a girl who goes both ways?). FYI: the porn industry and swing clubs work the same way. They're not interested in single guys joining up with them. Your value only goes up if you can introduce a woman.
While I touched on this topic: a lot of xPeeps members are (or pretend to be) in the industry, and therefore any contacts you make there are divided into two groups: "friends," and... umm... "xPeeps". What's the difference? Friends are regular John and Jane Doe types you meet on the street, know from the supermarket, ran into the last time you went shopping for porn, etc. XPeeps are people who are in the actual industry. Therefore, to borrow from their FAQ, if I ran into Jenna Jameson's profile online, I could send her a friend request, and, if approved, I'd be on her friends' list with the other 20,000 people. If someone like, say, Lolitanymphette (remember her? CT's resident amateur pornstar) hooked up with her, she'd show up as an xPeep. Anyhow, since I don't have either friends or xPeeps there, I couldn't tell you if there's an access-level difference like, say, friends vs. family here.
Overall, if I was still a drooling, sex-starved maniac, I probably would have bandwagoned to that site and made that my home. However, its constant glitching, network problems, and unfriendly atmosphere will successfully save CherryTAP a user... at least for now.
