Cypher Avenue is building some new monumental shit, fam….again.
Ever since we started this blogging and website thing back in 2011 we’ve been constantly changing and trying new things. In addition to rebranding our entire web presence in 2013 to more accurately represent our “gay hip hop and gaming nerds with swagger” niche, we stepped up the quality and creativity of our articles, reviews and podcasts.
The one nut we haven’t been able to crack is the social media side of things. I’ll admit without hesitation that we suck at being active on Facebook and Twitter. We actually have an Instagram account but there are no photos in sight on it.
One reason for this is we’ve been too busy interacting with our Squad Members on this very website…we’d rather stay here and clown around with our brothers than jump on Twitter and constantly have to Mute profiles retweeting erect penis photos and open bung holes in our timeline. And Facebook isn’t much better.
So many of the fellas here have had really good discussions on what we call The Activity Stream. It’s basically a poor-man’s Facebook. People can post photos, videos, links and status updates and the other members can respond to them…and hundreds of Lurkers shyly read along without ever commenting.
Regardless…if you come to Cypher Avenue on the regular, you’re on the Squad:
From the beginning, the problem with people commenting on the Activity Stream has always been limitations in what they could post and how easily they could do it. It made our Squad Members very frustrated on more than one occasion (I have the inbox messages to prove it).
This has NEVER satisfied me.
So now its time to build some new shit from scratch.
So now we’re ready to put in the work to create a better alternative.
A full fledged graphic-heavy message board forum for the fellas (and ladies) to have greater control over the Cyphers they create themselves here on the site.
New Features Will Include:
- New Articles will simultaneously post to the Forum as a New Topic
- Article Comments automatically post to corresponding forum thread and vice versa
- Members can easily post their own Cyphers for discussion
- Dedicated Advice Column Section for asking questions
- Quickly add photos, videos and links to replies
- Better Squad Member profiles
- Private Messaging and Private Groups
- Mobile friendly alerts when someone replies to your comment
- Create Sub-threads and private groups for side discussions
- Rewards and Badges for heavy posters and helpful members
- Better system to “Like” posts by Dapping them
- Add or take away “Props Points” for good and bad commenters
- Sign up manually or connect with Facebook Accounts
- Photo albums and Galleries….and much more
Just to be clear, the blogging, articles, reviews and podcasts will continue.
The Activity Stream, unfortunately, may become phased out over time in exchange for the updated social media forum system.
Admittedly, building a forum community from scratch is going to be hard, patient work…
We going to need all heads on deck to keep the place active and lively to attract more and more people to contribute.
For this reason, I want you all to be involved from the start on deciding what Main Categories should populate the forum.
Shoot us any ideas you have…What general topics and sections would you like to see the most?
A section dedicated to Gayming?
An area for discussing Dating and Relationships?
Any music headz out there want to share opinions on new albums and artists?
Want an entire area dedicated to the complete filmography of Patrick Ian Polk?
You want it, we got it!
Let us know what subjects matter most to you and we’ll find a way to incorporate them?
The launch date for the new features should be within the next 30 days so drop us a line sooner than later!
Nick Delmacy
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I would’ve suggested an easier way to add images to comments would be great for those of us who are less than tech savvy,but it looks like you’ve got that covered in the list already. It all sounds good.Looking forward to it.
Definitely Gayming, music, and dating/relationship advice. I’d also be interested in seeing a section on health and fitness.
Great ideas!!
Long time lurker fam here. I’m IN that shit sounds tight (fam, I’m struggling to stifle that inner YAAASSS!)
Music-wise I stan for my dude Frank (about to bless us all! Or not :?) but also Death Grips and alternative stuff like that.
A dedicated bisexual sxn would be niiiice. Need that advice. And somewhere we could post lady bits without Kinsey Sixers fainting away LOL
Podcasts are GOAT
LOVE the gayming idea. I’m getting a PS4 next week and I’m getting Mortal Kombat X (I LOOOOOVE me some Mortal Kombat) and then the new Madden when it comes out too. With the idea of being able to put picture comments in replies, I think you should also have it to where we can put gifs in it as well. But whatever changes you make, I’m always gonna be down.
I LOOOOVE me some Mortal Kombat too! Was upset my girl Jade didn’t make the game ? however, I’m happy to see my girl Tanya return badder than ever ☺
And Tanya is a BAAAAD BITCH in this game too! But I think Kitana’s Mournful variation was a tasteful representation of Jade though,even though she’s not in the game. They gave Kitana the boomerang and that pole that Jade uses. I was SOOO hyped when this game first came out. Four months later and it’s still my favorite right now.
The BADDEST BITCH on the game hands down! ? I’m soooo freakin’ HAPPY they brought Tanya back! Not only did they bring her back, they gave her some badass fighting variations as well.
Honestly, Tanya saved MKX for me because I’m a HUGE Jade fan, and as a Jade fan, once I heard she wouldn’t be in the game, I was too through.
Don’t get me wrong, even though they gave Kitana Jade’s moveset, it still ain’t MY Jade tho lol
But knowing how things work in the MK universe, I’m pretty sure they’ll find some way to bring my favorite character back. Hopefully ? *fingers crossed*
I like the ideas!
I would love to see a section about urban pop culture (Hip-Hop, R&B, etc) whether it is talking about beefs in the rap game, new singles/EPs/albums dropping, etc.
Creativity section for budding writers, musicians, visual artists and general aspiring gay excellence. I’d love to hear members post snippets of music projects (I’m Logic based) possibly with a view to collabs. Hopefully Soundcloud will be embeddable. I’m also big on digital art particularly concept art and character design and would love to see other’s work. Wow so hyped for this next level shit.
That would actually be cool b/c I enjoy creating stories and character concept designs.
The changes sound amazing! If you need any help, please let me know. I do this for a living. A couple of quick questions @Nick. 1) When signing in with facebook account will users profile information be seen or are the user information going to be shown as with like apps. Users unique experience on your site seems to have a certain selling point. 2) With user account, will be able to change our handle (ex: @thatGuy) more easily and will it be able to vet out double accounts. Found out somebody else has the same name as my account 3) How can you assure with private groups people that users will not feel excluded. Right now there is an open community platform. When thinking about the current site, it’s a selling point. 4) If you need assistance in the process, please let me know. I deal with user experience both on and offline. Message me if you need any help along the way. Super excited about the changes!!!
Still in the infancy stages but I can answer these questions (things may easily change so don’t take them as gospel):
1) If a person doesn’t want to share their Facebook information there’s no reason for them to log in through their Facebook account. If privacy is a concern then creating a whole new profile and valid email address makes the most sense.
2) User ability to change the account name would create all kinds of havoc for websites. Think of your account name like a social security number, its linked to everything else created for your account. So while users can change their displayed name and profile photos with ease, their account name must to remain the same…so choose wisely when setting up accounts on sites.
3) Private groups might not happen for this reason, we won’t have a large enough initial user base to pull it off. I thought it would be good for people who wanted to discuss certain topics without fear revealing embarrassing details about themselves but the “private messaging” feature may be better for that.
4) I’ll be recruiting a handful of people for beta testing to see if there are any issues, will def let you know