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| Why does everyone have their IM turned off?
Posted: 4/15/2009 7:13:03 PM | This came straight from Admin, aka Markus in Msg 12 of this thread:
Evidently userplane is being discontinued by AOL, or so i'm told by june 15th. Site usuage is far higher and less idiots when the IM is disabled so i'm going to leave the IM off. | |
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| Why does everyone have their IM turned off?
Posted: 4/15/2009 8:18:16 PM | Come on people it's not like you are paying for this site. If you really need to use IM use msn messenger it only takes a few minutes to setup.
http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger | |
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| Why does everyone have their IM turned off?
Posted: 4/15/2009 8:30:39 PM | I don't like giving out my msn .... I definitely would rather chat here. I like the IM because, well, its just fun to sit and chat. Plus for people like me who don't feel ready/comfortable meeting after 1 email or phone call it's an effect an ice breaker. Hopefully admin gives it a little more consideration. I agree that it could be intrusive at times but there was always the option to turn it off.
My 2 cents - Cheers! | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 8:36:16 PM | I will disaree that it is better ............. the whole POSITIVE here was the ability to meet and chat. Email are a waste of time and take forevvvvveeeeerr to correspsond.
Ya Have yo bring back the IM's ................ | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 8:51:40 PM | I like the IM thing. I would donate to the site to help bring it back.. I would donate anyways because it is free and donating $20 is still cheaper then getting charged that every month... Lets see, that would mean I would have paid about $400 already....  | |
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| Plenty of Fish Instant Messenger
Posted: 4/15/2009 9:13:17 PM | | The more functionality you take away from this website, the more you are like the other sites. The instant messenger was a good tool for communication, and now pof is being compared to other dating websites with less advertisements. If you are okay with being just like the other sites, you are headed in the right direction. H o t or N o t made a big mistake when they went from a paying status to free and back again to a paid site. My guess is that AOL wanted to start collecting fees for the use of their userplane, and Markus (not having a single employee) decided against it. Here is a little note for Markus: If you don't take care of your customers, someone else will. | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 9:15:07 PM | Well, if the userplane is no longer available, it is what it is. Still, other than that reason, I have a hard time believing some of the others here in terms of their good riddance missives. Let's face it, email is a bit of a vacuum, and there's a reason technologies like IM, texting and Twitter are surpassing it. Also, for those of you suggesting to merely use MSN or Yahoo's version, fair enough, but I think for many people that's akin to giving out their home email address; something they're not inclined to do at the drop of hat. Finally, for those who found it intrusive and as a means for harrasment: wasn't there a simple solution by merely disabling it on your mail settings? Kinda sounds like someone who claims they hate TV but keeps it on all night for fear of missing something.
Guess on one hand I agree with Cowboy: we shouldn't gripe about something being offered by free. But I'm a tad suspicious when Admin/Markus claims the site will be so much better without it. Whether recent changes (the "serious member" badge, the dropping of IM) signal a move toward a pay site remains to be seen. Anyway, RIP PoF IM. | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 9:15:07 PM | I'm all for bringing back the feature. Sure certain folks can be intrusive with its use, but it's a very dynamic option to have. Don't expect the quality of first contact emails to improve as a result. Expect more emails to sort through. Being involved in technology does require a little bit of forward thinking.
To give you some perspective, a site-based IM product that recently showed up on a software update site I watch had a shareware price of $599. Not sure what options are out there short of writing the code yourself or going with another sub-par third party app. | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 9:27:31 PM | AOL wanted to start collecting fees for the use of their userplane
They always charged, and it was my single largest expense more than my hosting costs.
UK traffic has risen 14% in 4 days since it was disabled, and even more now that its been removed today. | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 10:18:50 PM | I know of a dating site that has free IM, just like the IM here. Come to Date Hookup. It's great free site and free IM.
See you there! | |
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| Nobody reads the subject line when they post. *S*
Posted: 4/15/2009 10:19:43 PM | Sheesh, people, get a grip. Markus does not own the userplane, AOL does. Markus pays for it. AOL is discontinuing it. All the griping in the world to Markus won't change AOL's mind. Period. And asking for another freebie out of his pocket may get you somewhere but demanding, insulting and threatening to leave is not a nice way to treat someone who has given you a valuable FREE service all this time. I would never treat a gracious host this way. Let 'em go find something better for free. They're probably the ones who IM women without reading the profile then cry cuz nobody loves them. Read the profile and write a thoughtful email to people who interest you. Make it interesting. Griping about the wasted time/effort shows what you are willing to put into dating. Same goes for your profile.
*Side note: The man I met from here that I'm going to marry wrote me two well-thought and charming emails in rapid succession. He showed an obvious interest in wanting to meet ME, not just casting generic bait in a pond to see what's biting.
For those of you who like IMing and are concerned about your privacy: You are allowed on YaHell and M SN to have more than one email addy/profile. I would suggest setting up one exclusively for anonymous use. I personally prefer Y to userplane and don't mind giving my IM to some people. You can always delete/ignore them if they annoy you.
Lastly, I'm really enjoying everyone who is posting protests and wanting the IM feature back that are posting under the "IM turns me off" subject line that I began on post 11. This shows how much attention people pay to what is posted. Thanks for the laughs!!!!
Rock on.
~m | |
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| I used the feature
Posted: 4/15/2009 10:24:37 PM | Does it count as an increase in traffic, admin, if I was back and forth here today trying to have a conversation through email over the course of four hours that could have been conducted in a half hour of IM?  | |
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| I used the feature
Posted: 4/15/2009 10:35:34 PM | ^^^ Yes it counts for him. But you could of said hey whats your yahoo IM and been done in 10 minutes there rather then a half hour here?
Cowboy | |
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| I used the feature
Posted: 4/15/2009 10:55:16 PM | Yeah thats all fine and dandy but some of us use this site at a library or our office where its ok to surf the web on our break time but we can't install applications like MSN or Yahoo Messenger because the network admin doesn't want that crap on his terminals because too many bots can send viruses through them so I can respect the fact that the hosting site of the IM software decided to discontinue it. That being said there has to be a reasonable alternative to Userplane.  | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/15/2009 11:07:17 PM | Thanks for the tip about Date Hookup. And thanks to Admin/Markus for the free site. No hard feelings about the AOL/IM thing. And hey, no condescending, boldfaced, get-a-grip admonishments either. Ciao. | |
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| IM turns me off...not so much
Posted: 4/15/2009 11:11:45 PM | Markus,
I understand if AOL discontinues userplane and IM is removed temporarily until an alternative can be vetted. However, outright suggesting that traffic is increased after its removal is preposterous! I know you have to be a smart guy to run this site the way you do, but c'mon...seems like you at least need to take a course in statistics. Using a four-day sample of traffic (internet traffic, mind you) in a remote population as evidence of improvement not only undermines your argument; it suggests you don't believe your consumers are very educated. I agree with some of the above posters...something fishy is going on...forgive the pun. | |
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| Nobody reads the subject line when they post. *S*
Posted: 4/16/2009 12:22:29 AM |
Markus does not own the userplane, AOL does. Markus pays for it. AOL is discontinuing it.
We need to get the facts straight. AOL has a site explaining the userplane program well. AOL is still collecting revenue from it's ad-supported userplane. I would also dare to venture AOL would be out of business were it not for that revenue stream. There are two ways to get the program:
1. Instant install: Our free, ad-supported, copy-and-paste version. Add the one-line script to any HTML page for instant installation.
2. Integrated install: A customizable version that can be fully integrated with your site. Available with or without ads in free or usage-based packages.
I'm assuming that Markus went with the integrated install. The reason for the change probably has something to do with not being able to display ads on the 'serious member' profiles and AOL wants to have ads on every page if we are to use the 'free' version of the userplane. The userplane will most likely not make a comeback as long as we have 'serious' members.
This is the website for userplane from AOL:
http://www.userplane.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=apps.webchat
Lastly, I'm enjoying seeing the people believe what they think is true without doing any research into the matter. | |
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| Nobody reads the subject line when they post. *S*
Posted: 4/16/2009 1:18:02 AM | As an engineer with an MBA, I would like to view the issue from a business stand point. I used to use the IM feature very frequently and I believe it was a very effective way for communication. I also believe that the communication methods are the backbone of a dating site.
First of all, POF needs to realize that its biggest asset is its users. Without its users, there would be no revenue generation for POF. Some posters wrote that POF is a free service anyway and we should settle with what we have instead of complaining and pushing for extra services. This is a very unhealthy perspective. POF might be free for the users however, it makes its money over the users. Each time we use the site, we help the site make money and nobody will continue to use the site unless it gives its users what they want. Nobody will go on a crappy site just because it's free, right? Second of all, closing down a service that most users use will cause nothing but irritation among the users. Having a feature one day and not having it the other day is not a good way to retain customers; you are most likely to lose some of them. Don't get me wrong, there might be some obstacles such as AOL discontinuing the IM service however I am pretty sure there are ways to replace that service. Saying that you will not bring IM back just because the site is more effective and the traffic is increased based on "3 days" worth of statistics is just ridiculous. Keep in mind that every business is doomed to lose unless it keeps innovating and keeps its customers happy, regardless of how well it is doing right in the moment.
These are just my thoughts, I am sorry if I offended anyone. | |
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| Why does everyone have their IM turned off?
Posted: 4/16/2009 3:33:42 AM | If the admin is working on something or if the system requires us to upgrade to get the IM back ? would you not think they wopuld say something like send a email to everyone? there must be more to it. suspiciosu minds need to know.
I want my chat back! pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? | |
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| IM turns me off...not so much
Posted: 4/16/2009 3:33:47 AM |
Yeah thats all fine and dandy but some of us use this site at a library or our office where its ok to surf the web on our break time but we can't install applications like MSN or Yahoo Messenger because the network admin doesn't want that crap on his terminals because too many bots can send viruses through them so I can respect the fact that the hosting site of the IM software decided to discontinue it. That being said there has to be a reasonable alternative to Userplane.
Msn has web msn so there's no execuse no program to install ;)
http://webmessenger.msn.com/
If you're too paranoid to give out your msn just make another account for people who you don't trust, and if you're that lazy maybe you should be on a dating site since it takes a lot of work to meet people. | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/16/2009 3:46:30 AM | | Forget datehook hardly anyone there :P | |
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| IM turns me off.
Posted: 4/16/2009 5:17:02 AM | | You will lose members by the thousands. Please fix the IM. Otherwise, you are just another site. | |
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