The Cybersocket Directory, which is produced annually, was founded in January 1997 by Morgan Sommer and Tim Lutz. The following year, the innovative duo created the Cybersocket website, and in 1999, launched Cybersocket magazine, the nation’s largest freely distributed gay publication.
Sommer, the president and advertising director of Cybersocket, spoke with XBIZ about the site changes.
“We are, in essence, changing what the Cybersocket site is,” Sommer said. “It basically has been a search directory for the last 10 years — and we’ve had many changes done to the site in that time — but this is a comprehensive change. The new site is now an editorially driven website where the main features are comprehensive reviews of the best websites, affiliate sites and videos that the GLBT community has to offer.”
Sommer contacted New York-based Envisionext, a provider of adult web design and development solutions, a little over a year ago to design the site.
“I don’t want to go any further without giving credit where credit is due,” Sommer said. “Ian Klein, one of the owners of Envisionext, and his staff did a great job giving us what we needed. We are really happy with the site — he gave us that comprehensive design we asked for.”
Surfers could literally spend hours on the new site, with new morsels of information presented at every click. In addition to the main Cybersocket site, readers can peruse Cybersocket-powered message board The Gay Board, visit The Cybersocket Web Awards site and read the latest edition of Gay Pornucopia, a GLBT-oriented blog.
“The most exciting feature on the site — well, there are so many,” Sommer said. “First, I love the look of the site. It’s easier to navigate. But I think the best feature is that when surfers hit that front page, content just falls into their laps. We immediately link [them] to good content.
“Most of the editorial stuff is new,” Sommer said. “My main goal is to give surfers as much information as possible.”
The Cybersocket site was last redesigned five years ago. “I’m glad we finally did this,” Sommer said. “I was getting tired of looking at the same front page and the same images.”
The new version of the site still reflects everything Cybersocket stands for.
“The site still has search components, but the new features on the site — the blogs, the movie reviews, the extensive site reviews — but what I’m very excited about are the more than 300 videos that surfers will find,” Sommer said. “Those video clips are added daily.”
The topics on the site encompass the entire GLBT community, and feature everything from fetish and BDSM to cartoons and games to activities and practices to video and DVD. Virtually every cross-section of the community is represented on the new site.
“You know, about 90 percent of our readership is the consumer,” Sommer said. “But the important thing for the B2B industry to understand is that by improving this website, we are doing everything we can to be a better affiliate of your products.”
For more information, visit the new Cybersocket website.
