While the site has been free, it has been made clear from the start it would become a paid service in January 2021. Because of some delays this was eventually postponed till March 2021. There are now two memberships: the free (look around) membership and the paid (full access) membership that costs ‘one piece of cake a month’. Most of you already know the reasoning behind the paid membership, but for those who are new here I would like to explain why the paid membership has been put into place.
A safe space
In order to make this community as safe as possible, with as little harassment as possible, viewing individual profiles and groups is not possible in the free ‘look around’ membership. This way private messages and comments can no longer be sent to users by just anyone.
On other similar sites people used to put their contact info in their profiles, resulting in harassing messages. This is why I have decided to not simply block the ability to send private messages for the free membership, but to also block viewing users individual profiles. This harassment is happening on other sites, as well as on social media. An example of this is the apathetic attitude Twitter has towards aphobic behavior on their platform. This is one of the reasons why I feel very strongly about offering a safe space for asexuals.
Note: This will be further enforced with a block function for users. If you come across of someone who bothers you in any way or you simply do not feel comfortable talking to, you can block an individual. You can read more about this function and how it works, in the FAQ.
Less spam and fake accounts
One of the main benefits of a paid membership is little to no spamming messages and fake accounts. Something that has been a well known problem on free asexual sites and (dating)apps.
Where does the money go specifically?
I put a lot of my time into this website because I really want this to be THE place for aces to meet. I work about 20 to 25 hours a week on asexuals.net. From administration, support, website maintenance, writing blog and social media content to engagement, online marketing (SEO) and more. Therefor, some of the money goes towards paying my hours. That way I can keep putting the same hours in, to maintain and improve the site and work on new exciting plans. I would love to organize events, giveaways, do collaborations, as well as looking into the possibilities of an asexuals.net app in the future if enough people sign up.
Another part of the money goes into the costs of this website. Think of costs such as the server, security and the system used to manage the accounts and memberships. Then an accountant needs to be paid. Finally, of the money made from this site, over 50% goes to taxes.
In the end, you pay either 10 euro for 3 months or 30 euro for a full year of access. This is the price of a coffee (or cake) a month. I hope most of you will find this reasonable. And as requested and promised: this membership will not automatically renew.
I hope this gives you a better idea of what happens with your money.
How do I join?
It would be great to have you join us. Click the link to join our asexual dating community.
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