[LOCKED]Bring back the mail

Eh. I don't mind moving to a different system. I generally use my phone here anyway, for anything three paragraphs or less. What I mind is such piss poor execution that IM is not actually functional for use on my phone. It's the only place on SLS where my autocorrect/autofill doesn't work, the text box is too small, the 255 character limit is fine for wanna fuck messages, but nothing more detailed, plus there's no point in trying to move technologically to the 21st century when everything else about your site is stuck firmly in the 90s.

The colors, the fonts, the shag rug suburban feel of the whole thing? Ugh. Yeah, technology, even if you execute properly, isn't a panacea for an ugly, outmoded look. And when you execute so poorly that nearly everyone, particularly anyone who has ever had the slightest direct experience with a rollout, is screaming because THIS IS NOT HOW YOU DO THINGS, you've automatically upped user resistance by about 100000 percent.

So, the IM system is shitty, avoidably so, even if the concept is meant to be an improvement.

Outside of the expertise in software UAT, I'll associate myself with FireBirds point of view.; They Don't Care.

We are minimal users of the site. However we've seen all the suggestions over our short time here about site improvements. Many of them very valid. Few ever implemented. V&S is also correct, the majority of us are paragraph people living in a keyboard world.....well we are. On the other hand I continue to be amazed at all the things my adult children can do on a smart phone.

This is why we keep our options open with paid memberships on more swing sites than SLS. In our local part of the big blue dot, it's generally the same people on other sites. However.....the other sites still accommodate, welcome and celebrate paragraph people living in a keyboard world. :)

So I have a different take, and yes, my husband does own a software company.

SLS needs to grow or die. I think this change is just a way to make it easier to transition over to app-based communication. I would say a good precentage of the user base is already viewing the site on their phones. Anyone under 35 is almost definetly using their phones exclusivly.

I get it... people don't like change. It's kind of tough. But I think that the use of outside messaging sources indicates that they are trying to position their platform as more of a conenction utility. Find the connection, go offline.

AOL's problem was that they didn't grow or change. They tried to jam everyone into the AOL ecosytem. When they tried to change, it was by merging with Time Warner, which in theory was a good idea... you could provide people with access to streaming services before that was even a thing... but it was too ahead of its time.

I think that this platform will become "Tinderdized" and that isn't necessaraly a bad thing.

You know one thing Tinder does well? It simulates real life. When I look at a man, I know within a milisecond whether I'm attracted to him or not. Back when I was single and on OK Cupid, I realized that I could fool myself into thinking I was attracted to someone. I would wrinkle my nose at pictures and think "He's not that bad" and then fool myself into liking him becuase I read his profile and... oh, he's into The Cure and he's been to Italy.

Then you go on a date with a complete drip.

With Tinder, at least I was attracted to the drips I fucked, even if I never wanted to see them again.

So I think this new way will be a good way to clear out the debris... So to speak. Heck, with an app, we could theoretically have pictures slots for the guy and the girl and have them required to be filled... no more endless parade of tits and ass.

So I'm willing to see how this plays out.

We have found other solutions and will be focused on them even though we are lifetime members here. Having a lifetime membership does nothing if everyone is connecting on other sites. We would be happy to discuss more derail for anyone interested

I agree with everyone here... I also build, and mostly TEST FOR USER ACCEPTANCE, web sites. Been doing it professionally (as in, paid career, not side gig with a personal web presence) for over 20 years. I know what I am talking about, and this IM system is a horrible, useless piece of ... well, I have to watch my languge. Don't want to get my account deleted for the second time in a week.

Which brings me to...

Stop complaining. They don't care. They are too busy shutting down accounts to respond anyway. My account was shut down literally 60 seconds after I insinuated that perhaps lifetime members were no longer getting what they paid for originally (since "providing email services" was in fact one of the member benefits, called out seperately from IM) , and I have asked three times why. Other than being told my request was "Elevated to customer support"... Nothing.

Let me say this in a slightly different way... They...Don't ...Care...

At this point, I truly have no idea what a proper response would be. I have never seen any online company piss on their customer base with such flagrant disregard. And while I suspect there really is a legal case here given we no longer get what we contracted for, since we are "alternative" and "fringe" and "value our privacy", I doubt any court or lawyer would want to honestly get involved. And we lifetime members cannot hurt them by leaving, they already have our money. So, yes, an eroding customer base MAY hurt... but probly not that much.

I will say, the inbound stream of messages in our box has gone from several a day to one... ONE... as in "1"... in the last week. That right there tells you what is really going to happen next. Just sit by and watch this entire site now die the slow death of atrition.

As communication falls off, customers will go somewhere else looking for better usability and effectiveness. As customers fall off, reputation will suffer. As reputation suffers, new customers will trail off as well. Ultimately, SLS will be a relevant as AOL is today.

As I said, i have been testing websites for customer usability for 20 years. Software, incluing websites, exists to solve a problem. In this case, the problem is connecting with other swingers. When the software does not sufficiently solve the problem, natural selection resolves the disconnect. Time to start googling, before they just shutter the site and leave us all hanging.

Another rotten 'feature' to the new message system, which we haven't seen mentioned in here: In our laptop Chrome browser the old message system made it easy to view a profile that sent you a message, click once and it open a little window on the same page with the profile, click away from the opened profile and it disappeared - easy and functional.**BUT*DRUM ROLL*****: The 'improved' message system opens a brand new window if you want to view the profile of someone who's messaged you. So you have to click more/work more just to do something that was routine and easy before.

Thanks again for your craptastic 'enhancement' SLS.

Yet another problem with the new system is that you can't attach a pic to a message. With e-mail you could attach 1 pic without opening a whole gallery. We used it with questionable profiles who contacted us.

HORRIBLE NEW FEATURE...
TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE THAT WE CAN NOT SEND OR RECEIVE A NORMAL EMAIL...
HATE THE NEW SYSTEM

Here's another (new) kludge. If you respond to a Hot Date it now uses Message. When it was using Email it would reference the Hot Date (in the Subject as I recall). Now, it just sends a message, so you have to indicate in the message that it is in reference to the Hot Date. Look!!! Another nail ;-)

You hit the nail on the head Mayhem. (Pun intended, LOL!) The continuity of messages & format are very lacking. E-mail worked so much better.

So we just had a new couple reach out to us on IM. They were not there for it to be interactive. What would have been 1 email is now literally 11 messages. One of them split before the end and one of the messages was an apology for the short comings of the new system.

It remains to be seen if we will actually meet and it looks and sounds hopeful, but it clearly drove the point home about how inadequate the new system is for that initial interaction. If we do meet, SLS staff would likely say, "See, it still works just fine", since that has essentially been the response so far regarding the new IM system.

When you think of it, SLS has always been a kludge in one way or another. The fact that you have to enter in 4 lines between the first and second paragraph for forum entries to properly format is an example of that. Format has never been there strong suit and unfortunately, either is fixing these kludges.

While I can probably bang a nail in with a pair of pliers, it just isn't the right tool for the job. In this case, SLS has a hammer and everything looks like a nail to them ;-)

I can’t even figure out how to view someone’s profile that your messaging with. I miss the fly over birdie, this new system is awful

I sent a support ticket and the reply said that there's nothing wrong with the new IM system and suggested that I must be at fault. As it also asked what problems I was having, here's my copy/pasted response...

So you're genuinely clueless and have never used the IM system to contact people? Wow.

What a terrible response.

Issues...

The bottom text reply box does not usually show in a cell phone screen.

Adding photos is not an obvious option.

There are no notifications of replies. Email notifications in the old system were vital.

Longer text is broken into smaller pieces, often mid-word.

It's not obvious there's been a reply - the stupid little dot does not always show.

Filtering into viewed, replied etc is now gone.

Quick replies are gone.

There's probably more I'm missing. But in short, you're talking to me as if I'm a clueless idiot that knows nothing. I very literally build and write web interfaces and online chat systems for a living.

This is terrible and NO replacement for the mail system. Please stop with defending something that makes SLS now almost useless. Instead, take this for what it is, a complaint from a loyal customer that's disgusted with the incompetence and total lack of regard for existing users, as the site is now almost pointless.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I HATE the IM only feature. Both my husband and I primarily used email. With email you can actually send a well crafted introduction, check over what you're writing and give people more of a sense of who you are. I personally like receiving a nicely worded email from someone who actually has something to say and can carry on a conversation, with IM I get hey there and how are you? Bring back email!

Agreed. We're 11 year members and hate the new messaging system. Please restore mail services as the primary communication method.

I don't think there wasn't a profile of a couple that I didn't see which asked not be IM'd especially by the dreaded single male. Something I always respected but now what do I do!

I have no idea why everything has to conform to the new app. Having an app doesn't mean you can't have different features between that and desktop. Know plenty of other sites which have varying platforms for each but work together. Please bring back the birds!

I'm doubly annoyed that I had to find it and tell the group, rather than management, who apparently don't know how to use their own website.

@sorillo - Good catch? That helps with one annoying "feature". Just wish it was a sticky setting so you could set it once. Every time you go back into Message you have to reset it.

Gee, E-mail must be back for some ???
We get those SLS Events e-mails all the time, and just got another one today.
Wondering why they can e-mail and the rest of us can't ??
We had noticed in the past that there also is no BLOCK icon on their profile if you want to make clear you not interested ??

That's on a PC, not on the phone. After sending out that tip, I realized that it might not work on phones. Which if you think about it, is high-larious. Because the whole point of this new IM system is to make it app/phone friendly.

Bring back the bird. 'Send the Green Dot' def has no cache. Besides, I keep track of my pervy friends through the old email. As granny would have said;
"Wow! Looks like those guys really pulled a boner! "

But at least we still get the bulk messages......

Hey R&K no worries, Sandy the help support said that they are still working on it. I am still working on getting in your wife's panties :D

Hey Sorillo 1000, I can't make the box larger on my phone. Are you on a Phone or PC?

No, I am still complaining to the site administrator. The box is too small so we can't see what we are typing. We sent a pic. and it deleted the text, "what the hell". When I selected the pic. it took forever to load.