Social Networks

There are various social networking sites for naturists on the Internet. Some eventually fall into the hands of pornographers, while others manage to stay clean. One of those sites, which I visit often, is truenudists.com. Others are hosted by a common social web service called “Ning.”
Being curious, I tried to find out more about how some of those groups worked. The first thing I learned was that to even see what they’re all about, you have to join. No introductory page, no perusing forum and group pages... just a sign-up page with virtually no information whatsoever. Indeed, if I hadn’t been told about them, I may never have even thought of signing up.

The different services certainly strive to maintain high naturist standards, i.e., no erection or crotch shots, no sexual banter, no swinging, no alternative communities, etc. Indeed, one of the services says right on the sign-up page that perverts and people looking to hook up need not apply. Another site spells out the rules, but they must have a difficult time maintaining the rules as some pictures and comments looked questionable to me. There are periodic cleanups, and perhaps the questionable ones I came upon have since been removed.

Some of the sites only require a profile pic. Others insist that up to three nude pictures in "naturist settings" be posted. One site specifically disqualifies pictures taken through the use of a mirror. “That’s not naturist,” it says. This can discourage people who are there for the wrong reasons, but it can also discourage nudists who, for whatever reason, just don’t make a habit of taking pictures.

A strange phenomenon: In some cases, I asked someone to be my friend on one site, and when he or she accepted, they wound up on two or more of those sites at the same time. This happened more than once. Theoretically, if I was a member of all sites at once and were to get a friend who was also a member of all sites, the friendship would be automatically extended to all sites. On at least one site where I made absolutely NO friendship requests and where I approved none, I still wound up with friends which I had first found on one of the other sites. This must have something to do with the way the host social web service is organised to support all these different sites.

Finally, like True Nudists, people can be banned for breaking the rules. Unlike True Nudists, there was a time where moderators at one site could ban people. Usually, this is exclusively the owner’s prerogative. Some who were banned on one of those sites later complained on True Nudists that the ban at that other site was for something that would not be considered an offense here. Since then, the powers of moderators have reportedly been curtailed somewhat, but it’s still too early to say how, or whether, things will change.

Generally, I prefer the approach at True Nudists. Even a non-member can peruse the site and learn more about naturism in the process, and the standards seem to be applied more reasonably, though in a somewhat tardy manner in some more serious cases. This isn’t meant as a criticism. It’s a one-person show, and the best the rest of us can do is flag and report.

At last report, it seemed Bare Friends International might go through a metamorphosis as the current administrators are considering moving it to a platform of their own. The creators have backed out of operating the site due to illness, and Ning refuses to deal with anyone besides the creators, which leaves the administrators’ hands tied on certain issues. Moving away from Ning would allow them to gain full control. At this point, they are seeking comment from members as to whether they would follow the administrators to their new site. The downside is they would have to start charging membership fees.

Most recently, I tried joining another Ning site. One member who was on one of the nudist Ning sites is already my friend on that new Ning site, and I didn’t even ask her yet. No objection, but... weird.