I have been reading the comments on blogs about the guys I shoot for a few years now. It gives me a good idea of how popular they are and how well they will be received in the future. And I’ve noticed a particular trend. There are blogs where the readers generally give positive feedback about the guys, whether good or bad. Often it reaffirms what I thought about the shoot. But then there are some blogs where the comments seem to be generally nasty. So nasty to the point where I am hoping that the model does not see the post. It takes a lot of work to build the guys up and make them feel good about themselves to appear in front of the camera, but then to have them read some pretty terrible comments is sad.
I’m sure that some level of vetting of commentary is done on some sites. Would you remove/exclude comments if the tone of comments is nasty rather than constructive? I will give you an example: “This guy looks like he should be in drug rehab”.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
We also get those every now & then, some can be really disturbing. We try to explain the models that one guy’s opinion doesn’t matter and that they shouldn’t take it personally.
I would never delete comments or feedback related to the action (e.g. the model looks good but he’s boring on camera or he didn’t have a hard-on) as that usually motivates the model to give the best out of him on his next scene(s). But if they go out of line (e.g. the example you posted) I think I would delete the comment and send a personal message to the sender stating his feedback was noted, appreciated but to try and send this kind of feedback privately via email to avoid making the models feel bad about themselves.
However this rarely happens that a member would comment really out of line in regards to a models looks and usually it’s 1-2 members that usually complain about everything (can’t satisfy everybody so we live with that). Most of them are quite educated and they try to be subtle rather than blunt.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
[QUOTE=BentleyRace;136698]I have been reading the comments on blogs about the guys I shoot for a few years now. It gives me a good idea of how popular they are and how well they will be received in the future. And I’ve noticed a particular trend. There are blogs where the readers generally give positive feedback about the guys, whether good or bad. Often it reaffirms what I thought about the shoot. But then there are some blogs where the comments seem to be generally nasty. So nasty to the point where I am hoping that the model does not see the post. It takes a lot of work to build the guys up and make them feel good about themselves to appear in front of the camera, but then to have them read some pretty terrible comments is sad.
I’m sure that some level of vetting of commentary is done on some sites. Would you remove/exclude comments if the tone of comments is nasty rather than constructive? I will give you an example: “This guy looks like he should be in drug rehab”.[/QUOTE]
I’ve noticed that as well on my own blog and yes I do delete comments if they are nasty or hurtful (when I see them). It depends though, things like “I wish he had shaved his ass…” type of comment I don’t mind so much.
It’s odd , I mainly get nasty comments on the blog but the majority of comments on erotic stories are often very positive and kind, even very touching at times. Not sure why blogs attracts a worse audience. I bet it’s the same with tube clips.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
I’ve seen it too, there are some real c*nts out there when it comes to how disrespectful they are to performers. I’ve made decisions before to avoid such places, and even ended a client relationship over the attitude of his readers and his lack of interest in how it affects the business or the models.
The thing is, these bloggers don’t seem to understand how negativity in the comments can damage their sales, and their audience too. Some of them seem to think it’s a good thing to have all that bitchiness on their blogs, but people who are pissed off, or feeling negative after reading that kind of bullshit, are not more inclined to buy anything at all.
In all honesty, if I were a studio or site and saw some of the trash these retards were saying about my friends and performers, I would probably be warning the affiliate and eventually withdrawing from it. Why would I accept some poxy blogger allowing his idiot followers to rip my models to shreds? It doesn’t help my business, doesn’t do anything for my models, and can only really damage the perception of my brand.
I started a blog a while back to offer a slightly bitchy side to things (one of those projects I became distracted from), but it was never about attacking the models over appearance or performance. I was very careful about that. It was about criticizing the style, the story or the theme, or just throwing in fiction to make something more humerous. This is the way to do it in my opinion. There doesn’t need to be a victim.
I would never publish a comment that an attack on a model. I wouldn’t want any of my blogs to be that kind of place.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
[QUOTE=conran;136705]
In all honesty, if I were a studio or site and saw some of the trash these retards were saying about my friends and performers, I would probably be warning the affiliate and eventually withdrawing from it. Why would I accept some poxy blogger allowing his idiot followers to rip my models to shreds? It doesn’t help my business, doesn’t do anything for my models, and can only really damage the perception of my brand.[/QUOTE]
I’m glad to hear this comment. There is one blog whose readers/commenters are particularly nasty. When I contacted the owner about how bitchy his readers are, his response was along the lines of, “Oh, yeah… they are. What can you do, though?” I’ve seriously weighed the option of canceling their affiliate account on a few occasions just because the comments are so fucking rude, including personal attacks that border on hate speech. I know another (quite well-known) studio contacted them to have comments taken about a couple of their stars. So I’m definitely not alone in being bagged on there.
On the bright side, I’m super stoked when I see that blogs like Queerclick (and others) have some sort of posting guidelines that filter out the nastiness. Constructive criticism is perfectly fine. But comments like the one given as an example earlier do nothing except make some bitchy queen feel empowered while hiding behind anonymity.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
Hey Ben, this is an interesting question. While I try not to censor anyone at my blog, there have been a number of times (less than five) over the past few years where I have deleted a comment from the moderation queue when a comment is nasty, slanderous or contains statements that could cause offense when directed at particular models.
While I love receiving feedback at my blog, some comments are totally inappropriate and I think people writing these comments fail to remember that they are talking about real people who have feelings. So while I try not to delete comments because I like people to be able to express their views, I have done so a few times to protect the models (and the person writing the comment from legal ramifications as well) when the comment does not contribute to the conversation.
When I read comments at other blogs, sometimes I hope the models don’t see the comments, because some guys can be really offensive. I do wonder what the guys writing the comments look like when they talk about the appearance of a performer or whether they could do any better themselves. In your example Ben, I would not approve that comment if it was at my blog, because it’s not appropriate or constructive to the post.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
If someone is being a downright nasty cunt, I wouldn’t publish their comment and I’d delete it if it got through. I don’t want to run that kind of a bitch blog. And some of these huge blogs, it seems like it’s a competition for the best line. They claw all over themselves to out do one another.
That’s the nature of the Internet, it’s quite easy for me to insult you from anonymity; but face to face, I might choose to say it differently.
It’s like the reality show The A-List of New York, those people are so mean and nasty to each other. I know, it’s reality TV, half of it is probably made up, edited in or out, or whatever, but it does getting viewers watching this kind of thing used to the idea that it’s okay to say whatever rolls off your lips and it’s okay to be mean to each other.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
It’s so easy for people to be mean on the internet. It’s anonymous and there are no consequences. I bet 90% wouldn’t even dare to say these things face to face.
I don’t delete negative comments, cause everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but I do delete comments that have obviously been written to hurt someone or to show how nasty they can be. It’s a form of bullying.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
I get that this can be a difficult decision to make, especially if that affiliate makes you some money. But I tend to consider these types of blogs to be more detrimental to sales and a brand, I’m not convinced that the sales outweigh the damage done. If this were any other business, a mainstream retailer, this wouldn’t help to sell a product. I think the adult business has a slightly warped view of their product, when it’s really not that different to a gang of people slating a coffee maker on Amazon just because they don’t like the color of it.
Large mainstream brands spend millions on trying to control or manipulate the public perception of their products, and any sane mainstream business would not allow a retailer of their product to openly attack them in this way. So why do studios do it?
Is it really so different with an adult product, or are adult studios simply ignoring an important aspect of branding and sales by allowing these affiliates to attack them in such a way?
As I said, I wouldn’t be allowing my company and performers to be attacked in this way, I don’t think it’s any different to a manufacturer having a retailer of one of their products using them as a punching bag for attention.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
I don’t know, if you started getting rid of every affiliate who said something you didn’t like, would there be any left? Some models are hot, others ugly; some have big, small, curved, pretty, ugly cocks; some sponsors say it’s a guy’s first time, when it’s not; others say a guy is straight when he’s not … I get it, it’s not nice when a gang of commenters bang the shit out of one of your models with nasty remarks, but how many people also clicked through to see for themselves?
Wouldn’t gay porn blogs be boring if they all simply posted the regurgitated descriptions that sponsors sent out? Blogs are supposed to offer the blogger’s opinion or view about something, they’re not just promo places where everyone says, “Oh this guy is hot.”
When Buddy Profts fired all their solo models, I did a funny piece with a picture of Cody Cummings down on his knees sucking a dick. The headline: Cody Cummings Down on his Knees Pleading, “Please Don’t Fire Me.” Cody retweeted that one himself.
I blogged about a Broke Straight Guy riding a cock like it was the last dick on earth and said something like “Give Me a Break, Is This Guy Really Straight?” It sold a membership.
I posted about a New York Straight Man a few times and constantly talk about his small cock, it’s one of my best selling posts.
I don’t go out of my way to be unreasonably mean about the guys in gay porn videos, in fact most of the time I’m writing about how hot they are, etc. But from time to time I do let loose with something that a sponsor may not like.
Beyonce recently caused a stir when she demanded that all press clear the pictures they’re going to post with her. Frankly, it was probably a publicity stunt to get her name and new album on the entertainment shows, but fuck off, Beyonce! You’re in the public eye, people are going to say and publish things you don’t like, suck it up or leave the business. And every article I read about it published the funniest, most unflattering picture of Beyonce.
It’s the same with gay porn, some people are going to love your latest guy, others will hate him. Some people subscribe to the adage told to them by their mothers: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all; others rip loose every chance they get.
One sponsor allegedly recently emailed The Sword and said they were going to cancel their affiliate account if they didn’t start playing nice. What did The Sword do? They printed a big giant blazing headline about it, posted the entire email, ripped the sponsor a gigantic new asshole, and went on a rampage about how awful the site was; and then all the commenters piled in to agree.
You’re best just to let this stuff slide off your back.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
If I let the things written about me & my partner bother me, I’d have left this biz back in 2002. You have to take it with a grain of salt.
I totally understand about not wanting your models to see nasty comments written about them. There’s really little you can do about it though. Whatever you do, don’t be tempted into responding or making an issue out of it. That will just make it worse.
At the end of the day you’re dealing with adults (your models) and they have to be able to take positive and negative feedback, no matter how unfounded.
On some blogs, (specifically WayBig), it seems like its a contest to who can come up with the, nastiest, meanest, most immature, hateful comments, regardless of who the subject is.
With few exceptions, I guarantee, the people paying for porn are not the ones leaving the nasty comments.
Re: The Tone of Blog Comments
With even less exceptions, those people are are not close to perfect themselves 
I agree with Seth and Michael, don’t take it too personal. Everyone has an opinion and opinions are getting much stronger when they are anonymous. If you can’t stand what others write about your product or models it’s better not to read it.