New members, lurkers, fake engagement, reviews.

[Valentina]

@urquell makes a number of important points in his very well reasoned and well written posts. Of course it would be great to have more contributors and reviews. If the OP brings people to MERB, maybe they'll stick around and participate. What I find odd is that at times it feels like we've lost sight of the fact that this is an escort review board. It's not a joint-stock company in which our collective goal is to support SPs by writing good reviews. I commend the OP for her energetic commitment to the SP community, but she seems to assume that new members will only write positive reviews that will help SP's. That's worrisome. I also find it odd that SPs repeatedly point out that they pay to be out here; they pay to advertise. I find the SPs who post out here to be consistently intelligent, candid, and often super cool; and I appreciate that sometimes it can feel fun that we're all mixing it up. But ... clients and SPs don't always share the same priorities ... and this is not a general forum for all things escort; it's first function is to be a review board and resource for clients.

I don’t know if you’ve been recently active on the forum. A big a big part of what I believe in is all of our health.

Last month, I decided to make an important health thread and was threatened to delete it. I took it upon myself to put a target on my back. And what do you know? I was shamed for doing so and insulted and threatened by unknown numbers.

So no, when I tell new clients who join MERB - I take the time to show them around. It’s not just about reviews and being selfish. It’s a whole ensemble.

 

[Johnny test]

Thinking about it SW may even be the best vector for growth of the forum.
When you think about it, the 1st thing we have in common is them.
I think some of you guys have sometimes met in real life but if i'm not wrong you probably met here.
Add to that that the name MERB is not particularly google friendly if you're looking for an escort.
So if every lady were to mention the forum to their clients, we may have more reviews and maybe even less sentences like "she's fully booked but still no review"

 

[Valentina]

The truth is, however, that there have been shill reviews throughout MERB's history, if not as ridiculously blatant as the deleted one you had linked to. Many of them are posted in exchange for financial discounts, although such arrangements are rarely disclosed. The thirst for new reviews promotes requests for such arrangements from bargain hunting clients. I wonder what the SPs do with the "what's in it for me?????" clients who will offer a Shakespearean review provided they get free sex, or at least seriously cheap sex in return. These quid pro quo type arrangements are as old as the history of escort review boards. And basically, that's the likely end result of a campaign for reviews- to draw out the bargain hunters like a corpse draws out the maggots.

This.

 

[urquell]

Gonna be very vague about this at the risk of receiving threats again lmao.

You know that chilling word but that starts with an S. Yeah. I too hate coercion. That’s why I’m trying to bring up a point about the others who are left in the dark. Because of favouritism. That’s why I mention lurkers. Or new members. Because they can actually help instead of being bystanders.

It’s another good for Thot post I guess. I’m not the only SP who feels the same. I guess I’m just the messenger that actually does something about it.

Anyways. I really don’t wanna fight at all and I also hear and respect all your points as well! Just speaking on behalf us girls.

I think there was some important context left out in that quote of mine, lol, but no big deal. I'm also not interested in prolonging an argument with you, and I really do wish you all the best as far as your client gains go. No reason for any of the ladies not to succeed. I just hope you find another, better route to do it that compromises the membership less.

 

[Valentina]

I think there was some important context left out in that quote of mine, lol, but no big deal. I'm also not interested in prolonging an argument with you, and I really do wish you all the best as far as your client gains go. No reason for any of the ladies not to succeed. I just hope you find another, better route to do it that compromises the membership less.

Don’t want nor need client gains nor do I wanna win competitions lmao.

I simply am raising awareness and bringing light to the situation us SPs are in. Which is indeed compromised at times lol. So…

No other place to do it than through the community, I’m not gonna write a letter to Santa Claus about it.

Same principle as if you have a gym membership but you don’t use it / go to the gym. It’s useless.

 

[envelopes]

You and I are reading two different things. We have all been reading and discussing the lack of reliable information, the bias and lack of candor in reviews, the limitations, bias and lack of relevance of some of the award threads, the relative merits of different types of business models and board formats, strengths and weaknesses etc.

So here comes the OP, and what I'm reading is: "I will be inviting new people to sign up to MERB, and since the people I know to invite are my clients, that's who I'll be inviting. I'm also coaching other SPs to do the same". So, the clients in question are of course going to be positive supporters of the SP who invites them. I actually don't see an inherent problem in this. If it were just an invite to MERB then sure, why not? However, the obvious subtext here, quote: "This creates many missed opportunities for reviews" unquote, to me is reading as if these people will be pushed/encouraged (let's call it that) to provide reviews. Well, who would then be reviewed? Of course the SP with whom they already have a positive relationship. Guess what kind of review we're going to read?

Now, as for the SPs pay to be here thing, yes of course we all know that. Are they entitled to privileges for paying to be here? Sure. If there wasn't a benefit then why would anyone pay to be here? However, if the "add-ons we want as features" comment doesn't scare you, well.....

This one is a particularly fun quote: "please help us SPs out by leaving reviews & interacting from time to time. There’s a lot of fake engagement out there, it would help ALL OF US SPs. Especially in times of a “contest”". This reads "hey, please leave us a bunch of positive reviews, especially in contest times, because, well, better scoring in these awards threads translates into dollars for us. Please though, only genuine positive reviews, none of those fake positive reviews that other SPs get. We're not twisting your arms at all, you, our favorite regular customers who we have steered to MERB. Also, I'd like to thank God and the Academy of for this award."

Look, I have nothing against Valentina or any of the other SPs here, but the way this reads to me and what I infer is not that we're bringing a bunch of new, fresh faces into MERB to help energize and diversify the site, which I would quite frankly love. What I'm reading is that the SPs are being encouraged en masse to each bring in their personal cheerleading squads. It's like Youtube saying "would you like to see more ads?" and you go "no, not really", and the Youtube says "great! We're going to give a whole new whack of ads, personalized just for you!". The people that newly come into to put in reviews are not going to be a random sampling of people providing objective reviews. They're going to be loyal customers already. There's going to be such a large inherent selection bias as to make all of those reviews completely worthless. They're effectively just going to be extra ads for the SPs. On top of that, because we won't won't know which of the "new" people coming into the site are going to be direct SP referrals any new person's reviews for the supporting members need to be essentilaly ignored because we won't be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. And what is fake engagement exactly?

So, TLDR, SPs do many things that are interesting and helpful on this site, but this isn't one of them. It's helpful to the board, and to the SPs, but not to the general membership, to the contrary in fact. The SPs pay to be here and are entitled to a benefit for that payment, but there has to be a balance otherwise the relentless self-promotion escalates and becomes not just an inconvenience but an active impediment to contributing here.

Yes, I know I'm making few friends on this and am also prepared for the backlash. And yes, it's tone deaf. Still, I suspect that the cheeleaders will be louder despite being outnumbered and I will be chastised accordingly. Again, Valentina, despite my obvious disagreement with your post and its aims I have absolutely no personal animus against you or any of the other SPs here. I'm totally against site creep though.

My post will be slightly off topic but,

I think the best reviewers are the one who find this board, and boards like this organically. I think it just attracts a certain type of client, those who do their research, and that's the type of reviewer good for boards like these. New members who need to be told to come to a board like this (it's not like it's especially hidden... it's the first result on Google) aren't exactly the type to be contributing objectively with HQ posts (obviously, there are exceptions, I'm not saying any referral will be crappy members, but I think it's just logical)

IMO, there was an abundance of high quality reviews on this board, pre COVID. I think it's due to the fact that after COVID, there had been a huge influx of newcomers to the hobby due to the quarantine. And these are a whole new demographic of hobbyists. And at the same time, I noticed many of the top reviewers I trusted before seeing an SP, are now gone. There needed to be a "passing of the torch" in some way, where new members are encouraged to share. I shared every SP I visited after I joined.

I myself have been writing less and less reviews, due to a combination of reasons:
1. Many low quality reviews from new members, so I don't know if I should see the SP or not. Therefore, I have not seen too many new new SPs, so I stick with the ones I already know
2. Less talent out there. Simply too hard to book, and when I TOFTT, and post them, they seem to be fully booked the next time I try, and I assume it's because of the influx of new bookings (perhaps not, but I err on the side of caution now) (there were two new SPs I saw last year, they had lots of availability and easy to book, but one week after I posted a review, they were fully booked the week after I tried to repeat)

Basically, I have no idea who the hell to see of the new SPs, and I keep my favorites on the DL.

I would really love to see the stats on new reviews per month and lurker numbers/new registrations from pre COVID and now -- that would be interesting to see.

Again, I said my post was slightly off topic -- but my point #1 was in response to your post

 

[Meta not Meta]

MERB has always been misnamed.

It's only nominally a "review board." More accurately would be to describe it as an "advertising board." I mean, just look at the proportion of advertising vs. actual reviews.

And truth be told, most reviews function as little more than unpaid advertising. I get that. I found myself doing the same pre-Covid. Suppressing poor or bad experiences, and mostly only highlighting the very positive experiences.

For one, people aren't products and shouldn't be treated as such. You really don't want to insult anyone.

For another, certain tangible benefits, like early schedules, may accrue to frequent flyers in good standing with both the agencies and their ladies, so you really don't want to be too critical, if at all.

There's just no upside for the reviewer in doing otherwise, at least publicly ... private messages are another matter, of course.

 

[Valentina]

I apologize in advance but, there’s shit that needs to be addressed (@envelopes thank you for your input)

I myself have been writing less and less reviews, due to a combination of reasons:
1. Many low quality reviews from new members, so I don't know if I should see the SP or not.

I really don’t fail to see you guys’ / clients’ POV at all on this topic! I may play the bimbo part well online but I have HALF a brain lol!!!

Again, this is why I bring up the combination of favouritism, lurkers who CAN help contribute with their *old account* status vs. new account reviews.
Afterwards, most are suspicious of the fact that new reviews made from new accounts are not credible.

Some are failing to see the “vicious cycle” this leads to concerning your support / vouching for SPs.

➡️➡️➡️➡️ MERB is an amazing tool with interesting forums EVERYONE can be a part of and join a conservation/ get informed - be it about health, politics, hotels, etiquette, etc, it’s not SOLELY about reviews. ⬅️⬅️⬅️⬅️⬅️ and I make sure to “teach” newcummers about this!

Therefore, I have not seen too many new new SPs, so I stick with the ones I already know

I mentioned once how personally, I don’t need to try different flavours or dishes when I’m satisfied - to your point - this I totally get!

HOWEVER, I may have my favourites but I don’t keep reminding people how they’re my favourite lmao. I’m not gonna go on Google reviews or YELP every month to keep leaving the same review. ➡️ AKA romanticized reviews that are over the top / the guy lives in LalaLand and thinks the SP came from DATY/DATO, squirted and told him “I Love You” as she climaxed… let’s be for real here.
There’s no need to keep boasting about make believe scenarios in ones’ head.

Not to mention how members get freebies from some for said reviews - and completely forget about their old “obsession” lmao. “Oh she didn’t give me XYZ - well I won’t vote for her / she’s dead to me”
Yeeeeahhhhhhhhhhhh…

2. Less talent out there.

There very well may be less talent + the industry has become over saturated with women who don’t even like doing this / just want a quick cash grab / want to level up others and “monopolize”. Which can explain the “simply too hard to book” part.

Which then sucks for the rest of us hard working SPs who can actually offer the most fun time you can ever have - and in turn get more bang out of your buck.

Simply too hard to book, and when I TOFTT, and post them, they seem to be fully booked the next time I try, and I assume it's because of the influx of new bookings (perhaps not, but I err on the side of caution now) (there were two new SPs I saw last year, they had lots of availability and easy to book, but one week after I posted a review, they were fully booked the week after I tried to repeat)

Might I add, Some girls don’t know what they’re doing but also… some do it on purpose to create demand. They wanna have this way about them to seem busy when they’re actually not hahah.

Booking is quite simple:
- Send proper intro
- Send donations
- Agree on booking time + date
- Bang
- The end

UNLESS - we deem certain messages NOT WORTHY of a booking…
There should be no reason as “too hard to book” - it’s either a SP simply doesn’t want to book you because she doesn’t feel your vibe / has personal restrictions / wants to avoid you

OR

it’s a conflicting / recurring schedule issue.
(Some people are on the night shifts, family, wife, kids, appointments, LARPing haha, work, etc.)

Basically, I have no idea who the hell to see of the new SPs, and I keep my favorites on the DL.

^^ my OP’s point exactly - fresh and relevant reviews help. Be it from new or elder accounts.

I would really love to see the stats on new reviews per month and lurker numbers/new registrations from pre COVID and now -- that would be interesting to see.

^^ I too, would LOVE to see this haha!

 

[Workingman]

2. Less talent out there. Simply too hard to book, and when I TOFTT, and post them, they seem to be fully booked the next time I try, and I assume it's because of the influx of new bookings (perhaps not, but I err on the side of caution now) (there were two new SPs I saw last year, they had lots of availability and easy to book, but one week after I posted a review, they were fully booked the week after I tried to repeat)

I think this is a big one personally. I've been using merb for about ten years now. I find it can be very cryptic, and as much about reading people as well as reading between the lines.

I don't know how much truth there is to this, but I feel like there can be negative reviews to reverse that process, and lower rates of a particular SP or MP.

I personally have no interest in advertising for people. I'll review when I feel it's necessary. Meaning if it's really bad/unsafe I'll leave a warning of some kind, or if there is info lacking I feel people should know about.

If I do have a regular that I see a few times a month.....I'm not posting. I'd share in a dm possibly, but if there's already enough info out there I don't see any point.

 

[Jordd]

Yes exactly, and it’s totally understandable!

But yes .. I’m trying to educate people to get off the leolist macdonallll sites and use this more.

MERB is a great tool for everyone!

I would love to get some lessons on making reviews (in private)

 

[EagerBeaver]

MERB has always been misnamed.

It's only nominally a "review board." More accurately would be to describe it as an "advertising board." I mean, just look at the proportion of advertising vs. actual reviews.

True- but its called a review board because without reviews, it is not of interest to advertisers, because the the existence of the reviews augment the advertising.

But it is not a review board in the same sense as Yelp. With Yelp, if you do not have reviews, nobody knows anything about your restaurant.

 

[urquell]

MERB is an amazing tool with interesting forums EVERYONE can be a part of and join a conservation/ get informed - be it about health, politics, hotels, etiquette, etc, it’s not SOLELY about reviews.

Yes, it is about reviews. Look, if MERB is a hamburger then reviews are the meat, and everything else is a condiment. You want everybody to care about the condiments, because you own the condiment factory, but the guys want a better burger. Before anyone misconstrues that, I'm talking about the board, not the sex. What you're proposing is to downgrade the quality of the burger so that it'll be possible to add extra varieties of pickles. Nobody comes for the pickles, some guys don't even like pickles, they simply want a better burger. Half-assed analogy, but whatever. Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes to this board to learn about health, politics and SP booking etiquette. Sure, it may be nice to have for conversation purposes, but it's not necessary, from the guys point of view. The SPs want to reframe the conversations to deal with things that benefit them, and I'm going to say this again for the 100th time to the peanut gallery, SPs may pay to be here, but they're the advertisers, not the clients. The men are the clients. Trying to reframe the board to be a reflection of what the SPs want does not address the needs and wants of the clients, and if you don't address the needs of your clients then you will fail.

Again, I'm all for having diversified topics and interests that make it easier to retain and entertain the community at large. It helps everybody bond and more information is always good, both for knowledge and as a transactional lubricant (yes, I know how that sounds. lol). Having said that, the interests of the SPs and the board members need to be symbiotic, and not mutually exclusive in their goals, which seems to be the direction things are currently headed.

 

[Valentina]

You want everybody to care about the condiments, because you own the condiment factory, but the guys want a better burger.

I honestly care about the meat ( lol ) but condiments are good available extras.

What you're proposing is to downgrade the quality of the burger so that it'll be possible to add extra varieties of pickles.

At all. Ohhh fuck no!
It’s already downgraded. That’s why I mention newcomers and how I show them the ropes and you guys should too. That’s why I mention lurkers to join the mix sometimes.

Also the the gym membership analogy…
Why get a gym membership if you’re not even gonna use all the features. Get a home gym instead then? With makeshift pulleys and cans of peas as weights.

Nobody comes for the pickles

That’s sad. I’ll steal everyone’s pickle. Best part of the burger.

Half-assed analogy

Better than no ass I suppose

Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes to this board to learn about health

Yes actually. I invite you to look at other threads also. Lots of people post in the health section because they’re scared the condom broke, etc.

You yourself, may not use merb for those purposes but it may help / guide many people who aren’t informed on X subject. Merb is a great place for this. People help one another on important threads like health <3 which I’m big on.
+ no judgement. I want people to feel comfortable talking about sex and health. Real talk.

a transactional lubricant

this made me die!!!!

Having said that, the interests of the SPs and the board members need to be symbiotic, and not mutually exclusive in their goals, which seems to be the direction things are currently headed.

MANY SPs have taken the time to teach etiquette, many ask and reply to the “ask us anything” thread. It’s not only about reviews.

Again, YOU may not use merb for purposes other than reviews.
I tell my new clients who don’t have merb to beware before they waste their lives away on political threads like I do LMAO.

Sincerely, I legit take an extra 10-15 min out of every session to show them around and how to search for everything, including girls, forums, reviews.

My whole point is to get them off Leolist and be confident in their bookings / safe and not scammed - and many never go back to Leolist and it makes me fkn happy to see them use merb like CHAMPS.

The direction things are currently headed is:

Valentina is asking people to be aware of the situation for all SPs, (my #1 post)

- beware of favouritism.
- be welcoming to new members she wants to add into the mix since you may see them around here.
- Valentina is kindly asking lurkers to BUST* out of their lil shells and join the party at times because of their fkn dinosaur status on their accounts (help add credibility to reviews)
- to help Valentina show new members around not only for hoe tingz and reviews

Like I said, I’m all worried for client gains. I really am Gucci on that. This is about using the community and your *free* memberships hahahaha to its full potential WHEN you can lmao. I’m not asking everyone to assemble on merb at 5:00pm sharp everyday and start comparing dick sizes… there’s more than enough of that already happening lmao.

 

[urquell]

I honestly care about the meat ( lol ) but condiments are good available extras.


At all. Ohhh fuck no!
It’s already downgraded. That’s why I mention newcomers and how I show them the ropes and you guys should too. That’s why I mention lurkers to join the mix sometimes.

Also the the gym membership ANALogy…
Why get a gym membership if you’re not even gonna use all the features. Get a home gym instead then? With makeshift pulleys and cans of peas as weights.




That’s sad. I’ll steal everyone’s pickle. Best part of the burger.



Better than no ass I suppose



Yes actually. I invite you to look at other threads also. Lots of people post in the health section because they’re scared the condom broke, etc.

You yourself, may not use merb for those purposes but it may help / guide many people who aren’t informed on X subject. Merb is a great place for this. People help one another on important threads like health <3 which I’m big on.
+ no judgement. I want people to feel comfortable talking about sex and health. Real talk.



this made me die!!!!



MANY SPs have taken the time to teach etiquette, many ask and reply to the “ask us anything” thread. It’s not only about reviews.

Again, YOU may not use merb for purposes other than reviews.
I tell my new clients who don’t have merb to beware before they waste their lives away on political threads like I do LMAO.

Sincerely, I legit take an extra 10-15 min out of every session to show them around and how to search for everything, including girls, forums, reviews.

My whole point is to get them off Leolist and be confident in their bookings / safe and not scammed - and many never go back to Leolist and it makes me fkn happy to see them use merb like CHAMPS.

The direction things are currently headed is:

Valentina is asking people to be aware of the situation for all SPs, (my #1 post)

- beware of favouritism.
- be welcoming to new members she wants to add into the mix since you may see them around here.
- Valentina is kindly asking lurkers to BUST* out of their lil shells and join the party at times because of their fkn dinosaur status on their accounts (help add credibility to reviews)
- to help Valentina show new members around not only for hoe tingz and reviews

Like I said, I’m all worried for client gains. I really am Gucci on that. This is about using the community and your *free* memberships hahahaha to its full potential WHEN you can lmao. I’m not asking everyone to assemble on merb at 5:00pm sharp everyday and start comparing dick sizes… there’s more than enough of that already happening lmao.

I think you missed the point of what I was saying. People don't come here for all the extra fluff. They come for reviews and venue information. They may or may not use the other stuff afterwards but they don't come here because of it and don't stay because of it. I've been a member of somewhere between 15-20 monger boards at one time or another. Some have this stuff and some don't. Nobody notices the absence if it's not there. It's nice to have vs. need to have. I was referring to what brought guys here in the first place

 

[Giselle Montreal]

i just don't follow why you necessarily think that newcomers will be bad reviewers or biased?
If they come through an SP recommendation, the first review will (most likely) be positive but they may wrote more reviews afterward.

Indeed. And all esteemed members here had to write their first few reviews one day.

 

[Johnny test]

if MERB is a hamburger then reviews are the meat

Love the analogy and i understand where you're going, i just don't follow why you necessarily think that newcomers will be bad reviewers or biased?

If they come through an SP recommendation, the first review will (most likely) be positive but they may wrote more reviews afterward.

 

[urquell]

just curious, what kind of keywords/requests did you use?
I'm not sure MERB is as easy to find especially if you don't know it exists.

Love the analogy and i understand where you're going, i just don't follow why you necessarily think that newcomers will be bad reviewers or biased?
If they come through an SP recommendation, the first review will (most likely) be positive but they may wrote more reviews afterward.

If you consider what happens on a go forward basis then that might explain it. It's not just the initial dump of "new" reviewers directed by SPs. You have to also consider that they will have an ongoing collection of new clients accumulating all the time, and that they in turn will be directed to give positive reviews of their sponsors. It will never stop and there will always be a new group of newbies with questio
nable reviews, except instead of happening organically they will be consciously directed. You'll never be able to trust the reviews, even worse than now.

 

[Valentina]

If you consider what happens on a go forward basis then that might explain it. It's not just the initial dump of "new" reviewers directed by SPs. You have to also consider that they will have an ongoing collection of new clients accumulating all the time, and that they in turn will be directed to give positive reviews of their sponsors. It will never stop and there will always be a new group of newbies with questio
nable reviews, except instead of happening organically they will be consciously directed. You'll never be able to trust the reviews, even worse than now.

No because some will only review 3 or 6 months down the line.

They might say they saw “Cherry Diamond” recently but Cherry Diamond doesn’t know who he is by his merb handle.

He will go see Chanel SweetCheeks next and it won’t be directed either? He will now be a merbite who doesn’t use LL fast food and bring flow to merb. For everyone and for his next reviews.

 

[urquell]

No because some will only review 3 or 6 months down the line.

They might say they saw “Cherry Diamond” recently but Cherry Diamond doesn’t know who he is by his merb handle.

He will go see Chanel SweetCheeks next and it won’t be directed either? He will now be a merbite who doesn’t use LL fast food and bring flow to merb. For everyone and for his next reviews.

ehm... what?

what possible difference does any of that make?The rationale is just getting weirder as we go along.

 

[Abi Doll]

This message goes out to all users & mods. I hope you’re all doing great!

I will be inviting new people to sign up to MERB (just as I’ve coached many SPs / help build their profiles here).

Expect to see reviews from “new members” soon - be it for myself or other wonderful SPs ♥

I’m trying to get people off of the fast food sites (like LL) and comelol participate on this forum.
There’s wayyyyyy too many people who don’t know about MERB, TERB, PERB. This creates many missed opportunities for reviews that don’t end up being documented!

I don’t know if some members are aware, but we SPs pay to be here. Not to mention the add-ons we want as features. Many of us are passionate and take pride in our job!

To the lurkers out there, I really do love you all but please help us SPs out by leaving reviews & interacting from time to time. There’s a lot of fake engagement out there, it would help ALL OF US SPs. Especially in times of a “contest” lol. Which should be authentic and not coerced.

Thank you, and wishing you all the breast!

-Val ♥

Omg Valentina!

As an SP. I thank you @Valentina ♥️
So refreshing to see you say shit like this . This is why it’s unmotivating to use MERB at times .