Dirty Sheets

So I believe that this is a both/and universe. Why is this important, and what does it have to do with smut? Just this:

Since I think this is a both/and universe, I think that it’s entirely possible to cater to the actual grown-ups in the crowd who want good smut and want to choose their label for themselves.

This stems from this post on Erotica Cover Watch, discussing the filtering system that Fleshbot employs on their website. The short version goes like this: Mat (of ECW) notices that a post on Filament’s second issue is filed under the sobriquet of “Fleshbot Gay”. This sits poorly with her, because straight (and bi, please remember us lonely fence-sitters) gals have one thing in common: they like the cock. Filament is aimed at these gals, not gay guys (though if gay guys want to buy a copy they won’t mind in the least). So, she zips off an email to the editor (one Lux Alpentraum). Lux says ‘oh, whoops, sorry; fixfix!’.

Then Mat plays with the filters on the site (“gay” and “straight”) and notices that women who want to see naked and mostly-naked men have to click on “gay” to do so, because clicking “straight” gets you naked women. This irks her (not a surprise, given ECW’s mission) and she asks Lux about it.

Lux’s reply boils down to “The filtering system was here before me and I can’t figure out how to do anything about it sorry.”

Think about that for a second. You’re the editor for a giant website that is part of a giant media conglomerate (gawker) and you can’t do anything about something that makes or breaks the site for your visitors?

The answer is obvious to me; it may be obvious to you-the-reader too. It’s stunningly simple and stupidly inclusive.

Three buttons.

One says, “I want to see naked women, please!”
One says, “I want to see naked men, please!”
One says, “I don’t care as long as they’re naked, please!”

That lets everyone choose their own label for themselves instead of having to accept someone else’s; it’s the least likely to offend everyone involved; and everyone can tell what they’re getting right up front.

Personally, I found Fleshbot to be confusing and annoying to use. It’s not just the filters, it’s the busyness of the layout – I felt that the ads overwhelmed the content. I didn’t mind the color scheme, and I’m grateful that they maintained the scheme across all filters, though.

Since Fleshbot is all about the porn, this leads me to a third post.