WOW, today marks the 15th anniversary of UNB. It seems just like yesterday. I started this little blog. It has grown into something much bigger than I ever would have dreamt. My six-month project became a significant part of my life, opening me to new friendships and business opportunities.

I started the blog as a way for me to share my love of underwear; it grew and grew. I’m still amazed it became one of the big underwear blogs on the net. Even today, I keep thinking only a few friends read what I write on the blog. I have pulled back from posting as much just due to my own bandwidth. I went from a staff at the greatest of 9 guys to just me. The world of blogs changed, and most guys went to social media. Many of you still read us, but I thought of the future. That future was the podcast and the store.

The podcast has already surpassed my wildest dreams. It’s become the heart of the blog. You get to hear real guys talk about their love of underwear, the insecurities they have, and the journeys that made them the men they are today. I have to thank Erik and Andy for all their hard work and for being two amazing friends. They are the OGs and will always be a part of the podcast cause they are two of my favorite people in the world. Without them, I never would have kept doing the podcast before it took off. Now I get messages, “When are we getting a new episode?” Which I love getting. It lets me know I’m doing something good in the community. I have so much planned for the podcast; stay tuned! BTW you can join our Patreon as a follower to be part of the community; go to www.patreon.com/unbblog and hit follow. I plan on doing a lot over there since they are doing things for content creators.

Since the last Anniversary, I launched the UNB Store. I said I would never do a store, but life changes, and you do what you have to do. I enjoy doing it and offering some amazing undies, and I plan on growing the store this year to more brands. I get questions about why I started the store. The main reason is that to continue doing UNB, I needed a new source of Income to fund the site. Advertising is going down on blogs, and I knew I would end up with few advertisers over this decade. And so far, that has been the case. I made enough money to pay all the expenses, go to Vegas 2x a year, and do other things. But now, I’m just paying expenses and not much more, and in the next year, I think advertising revenue will go below that level. Just this month, we had another end, and it’s a business decision for them, and I give no ill will towards anyone for that. If you aren’t getting the traffic you used to, then it’s time to try something new. The store allows me more flexibility and a chance of income that the blog would never give me. It’s a win-win

Where will the next anniversary lead me? The 20th? I have no clue, but I don’t plan on stopping UNB. I’m going to go with the flow. Media and social media will change, and we will change with the times. I am excited to see what the next five years will be like.

Love you guys!!!

In the last week, a certain social media company CEO said that his service will start charging a monthly fee to all users. Will this happen? IDK, he has expressed so much that came to pass and was immediately reversed or never happened at all. It’s time to start looking at alternatives for our community. 

The service I am advocating for is BlueSky. However, there appears to be a thriving community on Threads as well. I will focus on both of these services and what is going on with these services. 

 BlueSky

First, some issues with BlueSky are stopping it from being a much more extensive service. I got on the service in the last two weeks (Thanks to one of my favorite thongers) and found many underwear/gear lovers. Here are my issues with the service. 

1. It’s still basically in beta and is invite-only. To join, you need to get on the wait list or get an invite code from someone already a member. 
2. There are no DMs – Currently, there is no way to DM another member. There are workarounds, such as directing people to another social media site or Telegram. 
3. Can’t Post Videos – You can only post pictures and no videos. It surprised me that it was just static images. 

These are minor issues, and videos and DMs are on the roadmap for development. It’s still rough around the edges but will improve as the service matures. Remember Twitter back in the day? We didn’t have Hashtags, couldn’t host images natively, and the search was horrible. Also, the service will open up to more people. The floodgates will likely open once it is open to the public, and we will see more of our guys on the site. 

What I like about BlueSky

First, the service allows you to post NSFW content. There aren’t any rules against a VPL, showing a bulge, or even full-on nudity or sex. The key areas we all get dinged on are Meta services. All you have to do on BlueSky is click a button and choose what kind of “NSFW” content it is, and you are done. I hope they change this in settings sometime soon because sometimes I forget to tag it as “NSFW” and have to delete and repost it. 

Next, there is a lovely and interactive community on the service. Many of the guys I follow on Twitter still need to be added to the service, but the number of guys on the site has surprised me. Some of the guys have already left Twitter, and it was good to see them again. I have only had a few convos, but I have connected with guys I never got to chat with on Twitter because it’s still a small community. 

I would like to know if there is an algorithm for the feed. But I can see the people I follow and interact with them. Twitter’s feed seems jumbled to me and too busy. BlueSky has a more streamlined and minimal design for its site. 

I want to get more guys on the site and build a robust underwear/gear community on BlueSky. It’s my personal choice of where we should go and have conversations. 

Threads by Meta

Threads is a site that surprised me by the number of guys on the site and sharing underwear/gear content. When it launched, we all went and got our names and were skeptical due to the Mega rules that have hit so many guys. 

I went on the service for the first time in about two weeks and looked around. I noticed many guys with 1,000 followers, whereas on BlueSky, most guys are still in their 100s, with the rare exception. The like numbers were higher per post, as were the shares. 

The service has improved since its launch, and they have also added a web interface. I prefer to do my social for the site and store it through the computer because my workflow creates content. The web interface was a welcome addition for me. 

I have been posting more the past week and noticed I have good engagement. I am getting likes and reposts of my content. I am focusing all my effort on the store and blog through my UNB Tim account. It is pleasantly surprising that the jury is still out for clicks and traffic. 

The biggest issue is the rules for Threads are the same for Instagram. You will get in trouble for posting guys who have a bulge that is too big, a VPL, erections under underwear, nudity of the male form, and the list goes on and on. I have seen NSFW stuff on there, but if you lose your Threads account, you will also lose your Instagram account since they are tied together. 

Where should you go if you are tired of Twitter? 

I suggest you go to BlueSky if you can get on the wait list or an invite code. I like it, and the potential is there, and it will eventually tie into more social sites. However, if you can’t get on BlueSky, Threads is an option. Just run your images very PG-rated. Keep it very safe for work. 

As for other sites, Hive for underwear is dead. I log on now and then, but the exodus from Twitter, when it was sold, died down, and not many posts there anymore. Whereas Mastodon never took off for underwear. It needs to be simpler to set up and find people to follow. 

If you have a favorite service, let me know. I would love to hear about how people are using other services.