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Wednesday Sep 26, 2007

Whistle while you work

Hi everyone,

Exciting news - we've just added a fantastic new area to one of our most impressive services.

askTheSite has been going for a few years now, providing free confidential advice on sex, drugs, relationships, legal issues, health and more.

The feedback we've had certain shows how useful people have found the service up till now -

'I'm am amazed at how helpful this has been.'

'I feel much better. I will recommend your site to others. Thanks so much!!'

'It was a very good reply, I felt as if someone were actually speaking to me. I'll come here whenever I've got questions to be answered.'

Well now there's some good news - for the first time askTheSite is now able to answer questions about work and study issues. So any bother about Uni? Any issues about homework? Want advice on dealing with problems at work? Our experts will be available to answer any question within three working days.

So feel free take a look at the archive of questions that have been answered already and if you ever need to just head on over and ask a question.

And just to show how comprehensive askTheSite is these days you can all now ask questions on -

Drugs & Alcohol
General Health
Housing
Legal & Rights issues
Mental Health
Money
Relationships
Sexual Health
Work & Study

So basically everything other than the answers to the crossword (though we've had people try that as well )

Okay dokey - spam over and feel free to let us know what you think of the service.

Posted by Jim ( 10:38 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[1]

Tuesday Sep 25, 2007

Is there any such thing as a free mobile deal?

Want to get loads of free minutes and texts every month? If you can cope with being bombarded with advertising then a new service called Blyk could be just your thing.

In exchange for 217 texts and 43 minutes a month you'll get sent up to six branded messages each day. Beyond that you can top up at 10p a text or 15p a minute.

On one hand it sounds like a plum deal. You're skint, you need to use a mobile and, really, what harm can six targeted messages each day do? If you sign up, you understand the terms, the corporates get to reach a notoriously difficult group, and everyone's happy.

On the other, I can't help but see this as exploitation. Blyk openly says it's targeting universities to get people to join and we all know how hard-up students are now the top-up fees are in force. Is this really such a good deal? Look at some of the mobile deals that are around nowadays, and think about how much you use your mobile each month – 43 minutes a month doesn't exactly cut the mustard. One long phone call and it's all gone.

Plus, I'm sure if you work out the equivalent ad spend it would cost the likes L'Oreal or STA to directly reach this many young people, it would equate to a great deal more than a few free phone minutes each month. And they've got a guarantee that the audience will see the ad – even if they just delete it – it's a much more captive audience than a traditional ad placed in a magazine or web banner. I can't help but feel that the big boys have more to gain here.

I guess it's got me so wound-up because it's the exact opposite approach we took with TheSite.org on mobile. Like these advertisers, we want as many of you to see our content as possible, but not so we can benefit – so you can. We figured that loads of 16-25 year-olds have better access to mobiles than a computer, so by creating a special site with mobile-friendly articles and services, we hope that more young people will get the help they need. Oh yeah – it's at our expense too

Maybe I'm over-reacting? Will you be signing up for a Blyk sim? I guess the proof will be in the popularity...

Posted by Hannah ( 3:23 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Thursday Sep 20, 2007

Smiley like you mean it

This week marks the 25th anniversary of emoticons, those cheeky communication symbols that we wouldn't be without when chatting online. Some bloke called Professor Scott Fahlman claims to be the inventor - and I thought it was one of my mates in the mid 1990s.

I remember the first time someone poked their electronic tongue out at me - we were flirting via email and I was smitten. But obviously that's one of the most basic smileys and from there the guy:

sent me a rose ---->----->--@

laughed with me

and then cried when I dumped him :'-(

OK, well that's how I like to remember the story anyway .

These days emoticons on websites and mobile phones can look really garish. Indeed, some of the smileys in TheSite.org chat room are just downright hilarious. I'm also not digging the facebook emotions application. A little subtlety in style doesn't go amiss and the emoticons available on our discussion boards (see image) are easily my favourite. 


Smaller is definitely better.

 

Posted by Helen ( 1:24 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Monday Sep 10, 2007

Sex and disability

This week we've published a brand new section in the Having sex area of the website: Sex and disability. It's become increasingly obvious that people with disabilities are often ignored by a large section of society that doesn't see disabled people as sexual beings. One big thing that we found out is that many disabled people don't feel their needs are being discussed or explored. We've created four new fact sheets that aim to answer more specific questions on sex and disability; whether you're physically disabled or have a learning disability.

You may want to take a peek at our two articles on dating and disabilities, written by well-known sex writer, Emily Dubberley. I've also been in touch with various organisations and have spoken at length to Dr Tuppy Owens, founder of Outsiders and a well-known activist for sexual expression and disability, who gave guidance on the two articles Having sex with a disability and Disability and sexual confidence. We've also been talking to 23 year-old Natalie who has found short-term relief from her illness through her sex life.

We hope the articles are of interest not only to people with a disability, but for anyone who may not know how to deal with disability and relationships and want some reassurance, information and advice, and sign-posting to useful organisations.

Posted by Julia ( 4:41 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]