It goes without saying that the world has rarely, if ever, been through what we are collectively experiencing right now. Global travel and industry have ground to a halt, citizens have been told to self isolate or even shelter in place, and work stoppages are unbound by industry type or location.
Slixa is not immune to any of this. We are experiencing profound changes in the way and frequency with which people engage with the site, and have enacted cost cutting measures to ensure that only the most crucial staff remains plugged in. While we have seen record increases in traffic, ad placement, and conversions this year, it would be naive to believe that our business will be untouched simply because we are an online space.
While we face great uncertainty (as we are all facing great uncertainty) about the ultimate severity and duration of the pandemic, we are taking proactive steps to both ensure that Slixa comes through on the other side of this, and to bend to be as useful to our community of advertisers and viewers as is possible. These are some of the changes and maneuvers we have made so far, and this post will continue to be updated as this event progresses:
- We've been doing our best, despite our account's unexpected suspension to keep our ear to the ground about the ways Sex Work Twitter is responding to COVID19. We believe it is important to be listening to the needs of this community, even when they are not speaking directly to us.
[Sex Work Twitter Reacts and Educates When it Comes to #Coronavirus]
- Our news reporter, Kate D'Adamo spoke early-on with several providers feeling the squeeze as travel plans shifted and many companies reduced business trips and travel to zero. While it is impossible to deny the unique impacts on Sex Workers, Kate came away with a sense of optimism about the resilience of this community.
[COVID-19 Could be Uniquely Serious for Sex Workers]
- Slixa was the first in our industry to issue an impact statement about the severity of this outbreak, the severity of how it could affect our advertisers, and the preliminary steps we were taking to ensure ads could stay live, and we could remain in operation.
[Slixa's Response to COVID19 and Our Commitment to Advertisers]
- We have started a running list of mutual aid funds and organizations currently serving this community, and soliciting donations. If you are in need of assistance, (or are in a position to make donations) please check here first for local resources that may be available:
[Resources for Providers Needing Emergency Help (and Where to Donate, If You Can)] - Slixa is super excited to announce our new Distance Dating profile upgrade. If you are someone who has made the temporary (or longer term) transition into online work, and you have a Slixa profile, our new Distance Dating filter is a free profile upgrade available to anyone with a Basic ad or higher, that displays your Slixa profile in every Slixa city: online means worldwide! Find out how:
[Slixa's New Distance Dating Feature]
There is no doubt that we will be making additional changes and announcements in the time ahead. Please bookmark this post, as we will be updating to reflect any new information. You can also follow along with news and experience posts collected under the COVID-19 tag.
The Slixa Team.