Mar 20, 2009

Guys4Men: the end of an era

So Guys4Men, possibly the most popular PLU personals website for the Philippines ever, bid goodbye to cyberspace last Wednesday without so much as a bang, having migrated its hundreds of thousands of user profiles to PlanetRomeo, also known as GayRomeo. In an announcement posted on the home page last month, admins of Guys4Men, which is popular in Asia and North America, said that they would be joining forces with PlanetRomeo, which has a strong following in Europe. I didn’t think that this was “joining forces” as much as Guys4Men throwing in the towel and letting itself be “acquired” by the other website.

I once tried GayRomeo last year but I find its interface too cluttered and its overall look too conspicuous. I preferred Guys4Men’s simplistic and almost bare-bones interface much better. Plus all that white makes the website less likely to attract attention from people around you in an Internet café or a coffee shop than PlanetRomeo’s blue-filled I-am-not-surfing-at-a-serious-website screen. (Then again, PLUs have learned to recognize G4M’s screen from a mile away.) One thing from G4M that I will particularly miss is the calendar. That’s where I primarily get my info about upcoming events and movie screenings. PlanetRomeo has no easy equivalent.

Guys4Men will be much missed.

26 comments:

Anonymous wrote on March 20, 2009 at 5:19 AM:

Planet Romeo is several notches down G4M. You're right, the beauty of G4M lies in its minimal design and simple interface. We should start an online petition for the former g4m to be resurrected (if there isn't one already).

 
. wrote on March 20, 2009 at 7:01 AM:

Surprisingly, even if G4M did play a vital role in my gay upbringing, I don't miss its presence anymore. Perhaps I've outgrown it.

 
Tristan Tan wrote on March 20, 2009 at 8:26 AM:

There's a pinoyg4m site now. I tried it and it feels like a bastardized version of facebook; i.e. looks cheap. I miss G4M.

 
Unknown wrote on March 20, 2009 at 5:47 PM:

I feel sad, almost like crying when G4M merged with PlanetRomeo. I agree with the other people; G4M was the most user-friendly dating site there was. Although I think we should give PlanetRomeo a chance to match up to the standards of the old G4M that we were all accustomed to.

 
Soul Yaoi wrote on March 20, 2009 at 7:38 PM:

I like the new planetromeo side. But i do miss the forum feature of g4m.

 
parteeboi wrote on March 21, 2009 at 1:03 AM:

oh! so i don't have to argue with him why i still not delete my G4M account. ahehe...

yeah, pano na ang other social life ko. ahehehe.... sad...

 
Gram Math wrote on March 21, 2009 at 6:04 AM:

i'm not a fan of these sites though i just created profile last month so i could not really compare the difference that much, my friends who were used of G4M doesn't like the new page layout though

 
Joaqui wrote on March 21, 2009 at 1:55 PM:

I would love to share my thoughts on this however, I don't have any accounts on eaither sites. :(

 
Anonymous wrote on March 21, 2009 at 5:51 PM:

I must one of the 10 people who never made an account on G4M... I prefer a more personal introduction rather that in cyberspace. :P

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 22, 2009 at 2:15 AM:

Anon, I doubt a petition would change anything. Besides, G4M is a free service (well, except for the guys who paid for sitepoints).

Mugen, I'm not surprised. Your blog shows your love-hate relationship with the site. :-P

Tristan, hmmm, capitalizing on the brand?

hannsen, I'm using it now and seeing how things go.

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 22, 2009 at 2:19 AM:

Knoxxy, I didn't really miss the G4M forums since I never did participate there. I just read the threads. :-)

parteeboi, now you two will be arguing on why you're not deleting your Romeo account. Hehehe.

Gram, websites like G4M are just communication tools and I agree that its not for everyone.

Joaqui, good for you! If you don't feel the need to have an account, then you shouldn't feel pressured to open one.

Tony, well, you don't really need an account given your status. And I agree that face-to-face networking is much better.

 
Pedro Penduko wrote on March 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM:

corny nga ng planetromeo... ang gulo

 
Anonymous wrote on March 22, 2009 at 12:33 PM:

omg!!! where do we go for camchat now??? this is a fuckin disaster - planetromeo is crap - and it has not cam chat..

billy3000

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 23, 2009 at 1:37 AM:

Pedro, yup!

Anon, I never did try cam chats so I could not commiserate with you. :-P

 
Anonymous wrote on March 27, 2009 at 7:42 PM:

i tried it, and was confused as hell

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 29, 2009 at 2:58 PM:

Reijiro, why couldn't it have been that PlanetRomeo is the one to merge into G4M, right?

 
red wrote on March 29, 2009 at 4:25 PM:

hey there! I so love your site! the contents and the layout is great! Im a new follower. Found you at google search and top gay blogs. :-)

id like to invite you to check our newly created online community for single gay and bisexual guys. it's @ http://singleguysmanila.ning.com

the members of our community bonded over the changes in g4m and have thought of putting up an alternative and hopefully a better one that more gay guys would want to come to. it's in its humble stages. :-)

We are hoping to interact with you soon. see you around!;-)

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 31, 2009 at 10:36 PM:

red, thanks, and I'm happy you like my blog! Ok, I'll check your site out. :-)

 
Anonymous wrote on May 28, 2009 at 3:50 AM:

just opened an account at pinoyg4m.com

suprisingly, im enjoying my stay there. not bad.

 
Anonymous wrote on May 29, 2009 at 2:55 PM:

i love g4m than planet romeo..... how can we bring back our site... help

 
Anonymous wrote on November 3, 2010 at 11:36 PM:

try pinoyhunt.com

 
Anonymous wrote on January 11, 2011 at 10:48 PM:

hi,,i m alex,,im,just new here in manila,,i am from angeles,,im looking for freinds here!!!

 
Anonymous wrote on October 5, 2012 at 11:00 PM:

I was only 16 when I joined G4M and I became quite known. I'm a grown up now and has been quite sensational in all the other sites that I've joined like Twitter. Guess who I am! :)

 
Anonymous wrote on January 25, 2013 at 2:25 PM:

marcus

 
Anonymous wrote on January 25, 2013 at 2:27 PM:

im new here,,

 
Anonymous wrote on January 25, 2013 at 2:31 PM:

im also new hr alex. a warm welcome to you. marcus hr