My Vidster! Youtube completely altered the course of the internet when it first launched on Valentine’s Day of 2005. It established the precedent for how video sites would be designed from that point forward. This is important for us pornoholics to recognize and respect because so many of our favorite sites are based on the Youtube model. I mean, think about it, even the most popular porn sites on the web are referred to as porn “tube” sites and are designed to emulate Youtube.
Youtube was the first site to successfully merge social media with videos. Now sites like Porn Hub, Red Tube, and xHamster have taken that same formula and provided amazing porn experiences with it. It is no longer enough for a site to simply host or link videos. People expect, partly because of Youtube, to be able to comment on videos, “like” or “dislike” videos, compile playlists, and easily share their favorite porn with the rest of the world.
I have my own opinions on Youtube based on certain policies of theirs in terms of censorship and copyright enforcement, but I’m just saying, I have to give credit where credit’s due. Youtube has contributed greatly to the world of online porn, regardless of how inadvertent that contribution may have been. So, thank you, Youtube, for raising the bar and changing the porn game for the better.
There are so many Youtube knockoff sites out there that it gives me a headache to even think about trying to list them all. Some of them, though, have stood out. And the best of the Youtube knockoff sites, of course, prominently feature porn alongside regular videos with all of the same capabilities Youtube offers, just none of the bullshit censorship that comes with it.
Myvidster.com is one such site that was smart enough to create a social video sharing and bookmarking site with porn. They have plenty of other content to browse as well. But who the fuck cares about that? We’re all here for one reason and one reason only, so let’s cut the bullshit, right?
As a matter of fact, you are going to have to literally cut through the bullshit when you arrive at My Vidster. As soon as you land on the site’s homepage, you will see that there is absolutely no porn to be found. It won’t even vaguely resemble a porn site. It will look much more like, as I said earlier, an off-brand Youtube. But don’t worry, that is easily remedied.
What you’re going to want to do it look up in the top right-hand corner of the page. There, you should find text with a blue hyperlink next to it. It will read, “Safe browsing: On.” Just click “On” to turn safe browsing off and watch as all the stupid meme-inspired, trendy bullshit videos magically transform into hardcore porn before your very eyes.
Alright, now that’s more like it. Now you are free to browse all the porn videos that My Vidster users have deemed good enough to bookmark and share. Most of them seem to come from pretty familiar sources (Porn Hub and xHamster are two really popular ones here), but every once in a while, you might even find a new free porn site to check out while browsing.
That is one of the biggest perks of sites like this in my opinion, the ease with which you can find new sources and studios without having to go out of your way to seek them out. This is why every porn site should be social.
Cool Idea, Sloppy Execution
The site itself is a bit cluttered and messy, though, which I am not a huge fan of. It’s one of those sites that has definitely tried to pack way too many things onto every page, you know what I mean? There’s just not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to how or where things appear.
I mean, the videos are where they should be, in the middle of the page and in a list form, but the list kind of just bleeds into the site description text, which is not as discernably separated from the banner and search bar up top as I would like. I never understood why people design sites like this. Why wouldn’t you just clearly designate spots for each individual part of the page?
So, I don’t love the presentation, but, whatever, it’s easy enough to figure out what’s what, even if it takes a minute or two. Above your search results list of videos, as I just touched upon, comes a brief overview of how to use the site: “Collect your favorite videos from any website, social network, or blog … Share and discuss your video collection with your friends and the world … Explore and follow your friends’ and other users’ video collections.”
So, unlike Youtube, it seems as if on My Vidster, you are simply publicly bookmarking embedded links to videos, as opposed to actually uploading content. So, that’s cool … less commitment and energy. Have you ever uploaded a video to Youtube? It takes fucking forever.
To the right of the list of videos, you will see a few lists to help you browse the site. First, you will find “Featured Collections,” which, for the most part, looks to be comprised of collections of videos from various popular porn studios.
Below that is a list of “Featured Groups,” where you’ll find fun opportunities to socialize, such as “Taboo: Keep it in the Fucking Family,” “Skype Jerk Off Group,” and “Military Manlusters.” Huh, apparently this site attracts a lot of homos. You’ll fit right in.
Next, you will see a list of “Power User Collections,” collections from highly active users I presume. Finally, there will be a list of popular tags. Note: my suspicions have been confirmed. “Gay” is, by far, the most popular tag on the site. But, don’t worry, there is plenty of hetero porn. In fact, My Vidster allows you to easily toggle content between gay only, straight only, or both … whatever you’re into you’ll find; whatever you’re not into you won’t have to see.
Plenty of Video Information and Features
The media player on My Vidster is okay. Well, I should say it varies since we’re dealing with embedded links. So, if someone bookmarks and shares a video that they found on Porn Hub, the Porn Hub media player will be used for it. Below the video, you will find a list of other videos from the same collection, a download button, a comments section, and a few reactions to choose from: upvote, funny, love, surprised, angry, or sad. I kind of wish that I could filter videos by reaction because I am so curious to see what kind of porn to which people have reacted “sad.”
My Vidster will also provide all of the relevant information on the video. This appears down and to the side. Here, you can choose between clicking on the collection it is from, the direct source link, and the user’s profile who shared it. You can also see the date that it was added to My Vidster, read a description if it’s available, and copy either an embed link or a URL (in case you are a true scumbag and you want to share your porn with your friends and family on Facebook … in which case you probably don’t have friends or family who talk to you in the first place, which is probably why you spend so much time watching porn and jacking off … it’s a vicious cycle).
In addition to sharing the video, you can add it to a collection of your own if you so desire or follow the collection it came from. Clicking on the user’s name who shared it will bring you to their profile, where you will be able to see all of the videos they have collected or choose to follow the user directly. It looks like users can earn points (but how those points are earned remains a mystery), as well as earn badges over time.
It would seem as if My Vidster also took inspiration from Youtube in one other critical way that I have not mentioned yet: fucking ads. They are everywhere on this site. And, what’s worse, there is no escaping them. If you have an ad blocker on, they won’t even let you watch videos. It is really fucking bad, though. I’m talking like a significant portion of the page space, not just an ad in the margin here and there.
This is obviously really fucking annoying, but far from a surprise in the world of online porn. You do, however, offer a premium subscription service to get rid of ads. It wouldn’t appear as if you get much else out of it though, so I doubt it’s extremely worth the money.
All in all, I like that MyVidster (often misspelled as “myvister”) is reclaiming the Youtube model in order to help create a more open, less censored internet. I think it’s a solid idea and it appears to have an active user-base, which is crucial when it comes to sites like this. I’m not sold on the design, however, or the ads.
Also, it seems like gay content is pretty unavoidable (lots of collections feature it alongside straight content), so that doesn’t make for the best porn experience if you’re a straight dude. I don’t know, I would check it out if you don’t mind that stuff, see for yourself.