Hi Folks,

You might recall that before launching the Forums, I had considered making it a requirement that you have a verified pic in order to be able to post. The idea was to add yet another incentive for people to get verified, while helping to keep the Forums clean from spammers. In the end, I decided against making it a requirement at launch because I felt that sparking up a Forum was already difficult enough as it was without adding hurdles. However, I feel that the Forums have now gotten big enough that they have a life of their own that carries them forward, so it is time to re-visit this issue.

Here are the Pros and Cons of requiring a Verified Pic:

Pros:

• No more fake profiles creating fake friendships.
• Higher quality threads and posts (e.g. less "hit me up" threads) since getting verified means -- in general -- you are a more serious (less casual) dater.
• More verified users on the site since access to the Forums will incentivize it.
• Less trolls since they won't be able to hide behind the veil of anonymity.
• Permanently Banned users will have a very hard time posting again since we'll be able to quickly and easily see it's them again with their new verified pic (assuming we don't catch and ban them during the verification process).

Cons:

• Less threads, posts, and overall activity in the Forums since a smaller % of users will have access to participate (this is a big one to consider).
• Some users don't have a camera phone and won't be able to use the Forums as a result, which won't exactly be fair to them.
• New users won't be able to immediately post and introduce themselves in the first 24 hours, and they could leave and never come back to the site before they even had a chance to get hooked on the Forums.

To be clear, all users would still be able to READ the Forums. This restriction would merely apply to creating Threads, replying to Posts, and voting in Polls.

So I see more Pros than Cons, but the first Con is pretty big since a Forum with less activity always has the risk of fizzling out. Keep in mind that several of you have pointed out that these Forums are already friendlier and "better" than Forums on other sites, so anything that changes the chemistry of the Forums has a risk of changing things drastically and having unforeseen consequences. So keep all that in mind before you vote.

I should also add that upcoming Premium users would never face any requirements since they will be paying for a service, so this restriction would not apply to them. I don't think that would be an issue, though, because almost by definition, a paying user is a more serious dater and has less anonymity (with our without pic) compared to a completely free user.


Anyway, I've created a poll for this and will do whatever you guys vote for. Feel free to discuss (and even add to) the Pros and Cons here before voting.


P.S. I should have clarified that this would NOT affect the Feedback section for obvious reasons.

I voted no for 2 reasons. The first is the 1st "con" u mentioned. The forum still needs to grow. There are still lots of dead times here as it is. The 2nd reason is that I consider myself an intelligent individual and can usually distinguish between fake and real users. Plus, I really on the verification system that's in place to help sort the wheat from the chaff. I personally think the pic verification process needs to be improved a bit. I've seen a couple pics verified that I wud not have. Especially ones where the verification pic looks WAY older than the profile pic. Is that specifically against the rules? No, but it IS dishonest on a dating site. Anyway, these are just my thoughts...

Heres the think andres if the people like your describing are fake like the man from swanhill then most of your users are good at depicting them and report if they feel there fake or rude

Great points, guys. This definitely isn't an easy decision, which is why I'm leaving it up to the community. :) That said, whatever is decided won't be set in stone, and we can always re-visit this later.

Make every1 need 2 be verified , i spend more time tryin 2 figure out Who's real than socializing..

Andres yes i think u should foce verification for all the reason's listed above. As far as losing % well we would only be losing the want ads, hit me ups, and the trolls. Now a days MOST people have access to a camera phone. For the first 24 hours while they wait to be verified maybe u could limit their activity, so they could still participate but after 24 hours if not verified then they will not be able to post until they get verified. That way we get to meet them and it will encourage them to get verified when they see the fun we have here. But i vote YES u should have a verified pic cuz its jus to easy for someone to make a fake profile, and come on here and manupulate all of us.

I'm going to be honest, I am torn between yes and no.
On the one hand, it would cut out all the crap posts, and repetitive posts, which would be nice. But on the other, well, the forums are the place to meet an mingle.
Maybe instead of not allowing them to post at all, have a post limit per day for them? Or (and I have no idea if you've talked about this before) as a premium feature, make it so you have the option to make a post that only verified members can respond to? Idk. Just some ideas for further thought.
Like I said, I am torn between the two.

@Cmack: heres the thing though im not fake and you just commented on my thread/post i garuntee im not fake im just on tje site to explore new things and many of the verified pic people even say there just looking for friends so whys that always neccessary to talk to people idk but also good ?'s

Doesnt realy matter what i think,every body hates when im around,so yes

I vote no....becuz sometimes ppl wld like to come to the forums with a lil anonymity and talking on the forums is not in and of itself any kind of risk...if members want to take the risk of talking privately with a non-verified then that is certainly somthing we as adults shld b able to decide for ourselves. and as Ram said I wld love to see new users.