Hmm. It's not often I am the first to comment to one of my own posts, but shortly after this was published, I tried to share it on Twitter with limited success. Twitter allowed me to post the url, but it didn't expand beyond that.
On May 21, I'll be walking naked across San Francisco in the annual Bay to Breakers celebration. I expect to see a few other nudies as well. How many may depend on the weather and whether nudists are going to let the tradition die. It will be my first real nude activity of the year. I futzed out on going to Olive Dell and doing anything significant at Joshua Tree NP because of a bum knee. Hope to have a write up with photos.
Personally I feel as though Twitter is done--maybe not today, but soon. I also believe that naturists are never going to find one big central platform that is a unifying space to us to express ourselves as nudely as many would like to. There will always be misconception, misinformation and misunderstanding. The platforms are so designed as to algorithmically amplify the most popular content, resulting in an online space that is accepting primarily of majoritarian values, and nullifies or subversive or contrarian values such as the social nudity we often espouse. Ultimately, I believe being nude on the big corporate online platforms will be like being nude in Disneyland—a no go (it already is that way on most). There will probably always be niche online spaces like naturist hub and the like. I think spaces like this newsletter become ever more important as a place for nudists to find one another.
I don't think there are enough naturists for any social medium to really "fit." Most social media groups end up having about 1% of the membership actually contributing. They will always suffer from too little content. Then this small population divides itself between several social media platforms and forums.
A newsletter site like this generally has a much higher response rate because it tends to accumulate smaller number of subscribers with a much higher interest level.
Jillian — I always look forward to the monthly open forums. Like a blank slate. This month, you’ve definitely hit on a topic that is being frequently discussed in naturist social media and blog (do we still call them that?) circles.
I deactivated my Naturist Twitter account about…I don’t know, 6-8 months ago. Mind you, I don’t have any other Twitter accounts. But I used the account solely for Naturism — to connect, to stay up on the latest, and as an outlet for sharing my own thoughts on one of my favorite subjects.
I found Twitter’s format to be very limiting. I get it, thats how it was built, short thoughts that people can share rapidly. I knew this going in. But I nearly always have more to say than i could fit into a Twitter post. So, I tried the linked posts thing. It doesn’t work very well. So…as someone who likes to write and storytell, it was exhausting.
Second, the porn. Oh, good god. The daily onslaught of people who figured that since I was talking about naturism and had posted a nude photo, I must want to talk about, droll on about, and see people having sex. It was endless. I eventually locked down my account in an attempt to control it. It worked. But then I limited who I was talking to, all but turned off the ability to gain new connections, and was myself looked at as suspect since I had a locked account. “Ah….what’s this guy up to”.
Finally, while I had links to many tremendous naturist advocates through Twitter, there were others who “changed clothes”. They went from naturist advocates to someone teasing me with content, but wanting me to go to some other site to pay for it. Then it became, that’s all they talked about. I view social media as a conversation. I don’t pay to talk to people. So, that was disheartening.
When I saw some of the best pages and profiles being shutdown — Naked Age, Naturist Living Show among others, I left. That was that.
I’m on Tumblr now. naturist4life54. I like it much better. Gradually trying to build up the community through meaningful naturist content. It’s slow but sure. Yes, there are lots of nude photos and memes. That’s ok. I get “bot” or fake followers daily. But they are very easy to screen. No character limits so I can say what I want to say without too many mental gymnastics. Very easy to link articles and such. Very little porn. Nudity is ok on Tumblr. Porn is not. Also, easy to report and block, keeping all that off my feed. I find it much much easier, and very enjoyable. A nice outlet. Unfortunately, not all the great naturist voices are on it. So encourage all, you included, to join the Naturist Tumblshpere today!
Jillian said, "I am seeing so much hate on Twitter these days, and a lot fewer tweets by naturists extolling the virtues of naturism. I think Twitter is almost a lost cause,"
I don't see the problem. It seems to me that Twitter is a lot more open and tolerant now than it was a year ago. I post nudist pictures every day and never get any complaints. I read postings from a long list of other nudists who also post images and discussion.
Perhaps you are focusing on a particular political agenda and not a nudist advocacy. Twitter no longer censors and removes political opinions because someone may disagree with other readers. You don't have to subscribe to their posts. You can block writers you don't want to see. They can block you, or they can block me too if they don't want to see pictures of an old nudist. But Twitter doesn't censor or block my daily nudist advocacy.
Social networking options on line have proliferated since Twitter and others emerged. Often, they are differentiated by generation, Tik Tik appeals to young teens for example. Facebook is for boomers, mostly. True Nudists, although not entirely reflective of mainstream social nudity, nevertheless has the largest number of nudist/naturist participants. Lately, some younger naturists have suggested Telegram or Kik, whatever that is. And yes, for those who are looking simply to communicate with other nudists, Twitter and other platforms are too full of extraneous matters to warrant much attention.
I think I tweeted something about a month ago. It isn't because of anything Elon has done. I never noticed any impact from him when I was tweeting. I just don't have much use for it. Friends and family are on Facebook and aside from that, I have little use for short form social media.
Naturism in the UK seems to be thriving and as for posts on Twitter there are quite a few between genuine naturist that go on, i have only had one that called us all perverts but the you just have to ignore them.
Naturists are not done with Twitter yet despite Twitter's campaign to weed out naturist accounts. I'll tell you why we all haven't left Twitter. There is no other social media site that has the critical mass of naturist accounts and tolerance for the naturist movement. I know this because I have been trying for over a year to cultivate a naturist group on various Mastodon (Fediverse) instances (servers). I am mostly shunned. So are most other naturists. Discord does have some naturist/nudist channels though most are no more true naturist than a pg-rated movie is to a porn shoot. Same with MeWe but that's always the fault of the owners/admins just as it is with Discord. I've also tried some some smaller sites purported to be for the naturist lifestyle. Lots of explicit non-naturist pix there too.
If anyone has some ideas of where we Twitter refugees can migrate to en masse without being ostracized or banned, that would be very helpful.
It sounds like you must be on the same jet-stream path as Minnesota. July weather, then cool again. Our apple trees are just beginning to leaf out. It would be nice if we could tend the garden in our birthday suits, but we chose to live in the city. I feel like social media are practice venues for the real thing. Maybe I'm suffering from cabin fever, but I'm hankering for Even Nicks' "third space."
I've said here before that I'm no fan of Twitter, or much of the other social media platforms, for anything. I get that some have offered means for news often ignored by the mainstream media outlets to get wider publicity, which is generally a good thing. More specifically, since Twitter has acquired a certain muskiness it has been set on a path aimed towards gaining more controversy than a bunch of people discussing ideas and experiences about our lives that don't involve clothing in typical naturist style generally provide. His muskiness is confrontational and pig-headed; his new ego-toy saw key departments cleared of staff. Most of the coders were shown the door while he himself was saying that the site needs new coding from the ground upwards. Approach Twitter for comments in response to the latest Musk-mess and look at the usual response, a brown steaming emoji. None of this strikes me as either grown-up behaviour or welcoming.
I've participated in numerous online nudist forums since before the internet was created, while dial-up and BBcode are long left behind I'm not sure that any platform has managed to consistently keep nudists interested enough in them to make the site/format feel like somewhere that I want to be for 5 years or more. The online world is constantly evolving, I hear of new sites, check them out, keep on going straight to the exit sometimes, occasionally lingering. Its been like this for me in my search for interesting online nudist interaction from the start. I didn't use Twitter much for nudist contacts, I had a passive presence there, much like I have had on other 'popular' platforms.
I've still got accounts on some of the longer running nudist websites, I rarely use them. I like to engage more fully than the minimalist dialogues that seem to exist in large quantities on them. I keep the accounts mostly as a means to stay in touch with a few online nudist friends that I've had for years, because that is how they prefer to message, and occasionally pick up on a bit of interesting naked news on them.
Currently I'm more interested in reading articles on nudism on places like Substack, there tends to be more thought involved in them, interesting thoughts too and there is that engagement. I don't have tons of free time but I'd rather engage in the online nudist world where people have the equivalent of conversations, than face one word replies three weeks later in chatrooms. There are some thoughtful blogs etc shared by nudists who obviously care about our way of life. There are also some who don't seem to have thought through their posts very well, ignorant, andnarrow-minded (IMO!) and some who seek controversy. But which street doesn't have someone in it who has at least one of those traits? One blogger recently posted something about the public nudity laws in my country, which was wrong, supposedly written by AI. I politely asked them to correct it, providing links for the real position here, they ignored this, came up with diversionary comments, fairly aggressively and continue to spread fake news about the nudity laws. Why should people take anything else they publish as worthy of reading, or true, when they have this attitude? As with much online you have to read between the lines, get confirmation elsewhere etc etc before making your own mind up, but sometimes those who are supposedly in the same boat are not helpful to the wider cause at times.
Most subscribers to blogs/newsletters like this seem to want to engage, I think this is where we'll find more actual sharing of tips, ideas and experiences about nudism. Within the bigger picture nudists are a minority, within the naked world nudists with interesting things to say and the inclination to do so are an even smaller number, finding an exclusively engaged online community of nudists is a hope that I haven't given up on, but realistically we're as likely to have year round outdoor nude friendly weather in the UK.
As for the weather, the UK is still frequently grey, it has warmed up though and the really cold easterly winds we get in spring seem to have gone. Its a long weekend here, Monday is a public holiday, connected to a ceremony that celebrates entitlement that took place in London. I was hoping that we'd finally get some decent naked weather, but it looks like more grey and frequent wetness of varying quantities :-(
Thank you Jillian for creating and running The Naturism Community. I won't be surprised for this substack to overtake Twitter in terms of engagement and meaningful interactions. May be that's already happened.
Hmm. It's not often I am the first to comment to one of my own posts, but shortly after this was published, I tried to share it on Twitter with limited success. Twitter allowed me to post the url, but it didn't expand beyond that.
On May 21, I'll be walking naked across San Francisco in the annual Bay to Breakers celebration. I expect to see a few other nudies as well. How many may depend on the weather and whether nudists are going to let the tradition die. It will be my first real nude activity of the year. I futzed out on going to Olive Dell and doing anything significant at Joshua Tree NP because of a bum knee. Hope to have a write up with photos.
https://www.sftravel.com/article/everything-you-need-know-about-bay-breakers
Personally I feel as though Twitter is done--maybe not today, but soon. I also believe that naturists are never going to find one big central platform that is a unifying space to us to express ourselves as nudely as many would like to. There will always be misconception, misinformation and misunderstanding. The platforms are so designed as to algorithmically amplify the most popular content, resulting in an online space that is accepting primarily of majoritarian values, and nullifies or subversive or contrarian values such as the social nudity we often espouse. Ultimately, I believe being nude on the big corporate online platforms will be like being nude in Disneyland—a no go (it already is that way on most). There will probably always be niche online spaces like naturist hub and the like. I think spaces like this newsletter become ever more important as a place for nudists to find one another.
I don't think there are enough naturists for any social medium to really "fit." Most social media groups end up having about 1% of the membership actually contributing. They will always suffer from too little content. Then this small population divides itself between several social media platforms and forums.
A newsletter site like this generally has a much higher response rate because it tends to accumulate smaller number of subscribers with a much higher interest level.
Jillian — I always look forward to the monthly open forums. Like a blank slate. This month, you’ve definitely hit on a topic that is being frequently discussed in naturist social media and blog (do we still call them that?) circles.
I deactivated my Naturist Twitter account about…I don’t know, 6-8 months ago. Mind you, I don’t have any other Twitter accounts. But I used the account solely for Naturism — to connect, to stay up on the latest, and as an outlet for sharing my own thoughts on one of my favorite subjects.
I found Twitter’s format to be very limiting. I get it, thats how it was built, short thoughts that people can share rapidly. I knew this going in. But I nearly always have more to say than i could fit into a Twitter post. So, I tried the linked posts thing. It doesn’t work very well. So…as someone who likes to write and storytell, it was exhausting.
Second, the porn. Oh, good god. The daily onslaught of people who figured that since I was talking about naturism and had posted a nude photo, I must want to talk about, droll on about, and see people having sex. It was endless. I eventually locked down my account in an attempt to control it. It worked. But then I limited who I was talking to, all but turned off the ability to gain new connections, and was myself looked at as suspect since I had a locked account. “Ah….what’s this guy up to”.
Finally, while I had links to many tremendous naturist advocates through Twitter, there were others who “changed clothes”. They went from naturist advocates to someone teasing me with content, but wanting me to go to some other site to pay for it. Then it became, that’s all they talked about. I view social media as a conversation. I don’t pay to talk to people. So, that was disheartening.
When I saw some of the best pages and profiles being shutdown — Naked Age, Naturist Living Show among others, I left. That was that.
I’m on Tumblr now. naturist4life54. I like it much better. Gradually trying to build up the community through meaningful naturist content. It’s slow but sure. Yes, there are lots of nude photos and memes. That’s ok. I get “bot” or fake followers daily. But they are very easy to screen. No character limits so I can say what I want to say without too many mental gymnastics. Very easy to link articles and such. Very little porn. Nudity is ok on Tumblr. Porn is not. Also, easy to report and block, keeping all that off my feed. I find it much much easier, and very enjoyable. A nice outlet. Unfortunately, not all the great naturist voices are on it. So encourage all, you included, to join the Naturist Tumblshpere today!
Thanks for listening
I like Twitter because I can post with much less censorship than on FB or insta.
I'm also on Mewe & Oh!_Naturist which allows me to exchange freely with my nudist friends.
Let's live well, let's live naked.
Jillian said, "I am seeing so much hate on Twitter these days, and a lot fewer tweets by naturists extolling the virtues of naturism. I think Twitter is almost a lost cause,"
I don't see the problem. It seems to me that Twitter is a lot more open and tolerant now than it was a year ago. I post nudist pictures every day and never get any complaints. I read postings from a long list of other nudists who also post images and discussion.
Perhaps you are focusing on a particular political agenda and not a nudist advocacy. Twitter no longer censors and removes political opinions because someone may disagree with other readers. You don't have to subscribe to their posts. You can block writers you don't want to see. They can block you, or they can block me too if they don't want to see pictures of an old nudist. But Twitter doesn't censor or block my daily nudist advocacy.
Social networking options on line have proliferated since Twitter and others emerged. Often, they are differentiated by generation, Tik Tik appeals to young teens for example. Facebook is for boomers, mostly. True Nudists, although not entirely reflective of mainstream social nudity, nevertheless has the largest number of nudist/naturist participants. Lately, some younger naturists have suggested Telegram or Kik, whatever that is. And yes, for those who are looking simply to communicate with other nudists, Twitter and other platforms are too full of extraneous matters to warrant much attention.
I think I tweeted something about a month ago. It isn't because of anything Elon has done. I never noticed any impact from him when I was tweeting. I just don't have much use for it. Friends and family are on Facebook and aside from that, I have little use for short form social media.
Twitter is clearly getting more hostile and extreme.
I prefer Mastodon and MeWe lately. It's difficult to get more naturists together, because they all have their preferred 'best place'.
For mastodon, I can recommend the 'pl.nudie.social' and 'body.social' servers, which are specifically set up for naturist-minded people.
Naturism in the UK seems to be thriving and as for posts on Twitter there are quite a few between genuine naturist that go on, i have only had one that called us all perverts but the you just have to ignore them.
Naturists are not done with Twitter yet despite Twitter's campaign to weed out naturist accounts. I'll tell you why we all haven't left Twitter. There is no other social media site that has the critical mass of naturist accounts and tolerance for the naturist movement. I know this because I have been trying for over a year to cultivate a naturist group on various Mastodon (Fediverse) instances (servers). I am mostly shunned. So are most other naturists. Discord does have some naturist/nudist channels though most are no more true naturist than a pg-rated movie is to a porn shoot. Same with MeWe but that's always the fault of the owners/admins just as it is with Discord. I've also tried some some smaller sites purported to be for the naturist lifestyle. Lots of explicit non-naturist pix there too.
If anyone has some ideas of where we Twitter refugees can migrate to en masse without being ostracized or banned, that would be very helpful.
Move to Mastodon, the decentralized social network.
Here's a link to a naturist-friendly Mastodon server: https://body.social/home
It sounds like you must be on the same jet-stream path as Minnesota. July weather, then cool again. Our apple trees are just beginning to leaf out. It would be nice if we could tend the garden in our birthday suits, but we chose to live in the city. I feel like social media are practice venues for the real thing. Maybe I'm suffering from cabin fever, but I'm hankering for Even Nicks' "third space."
I've said here before that I'm no fan of Twitter, or much of the other social media platforms, for anything. I get that some have offered means for news often ignored by the mainstream media outlets to get wider publicity, which is generally a good thing. More specifically, since Twitter has acquired a certain muskiness it has been set on a path aimed towards gaining more controversy than a bunch of people discussing ideas and experiences about our lives that don't involve clothing in typical naturist style generally provide. His muskiness is confrontational and pig-headed; his new ego-toy saw key departments cleared of staff. Most of the coders were shown the door while he himself was saying that the site needs new coding from the ground upwards. Approach Twitter for comments in response to the latest Musk-mess and look at the usual response, a brown steaming emoji. None of this strikes me as either grown-up behaviour or welcoming.
I've participated in numerous online nudist forums since before the internet was created, while dial-up and BBcode are long left behind I'm not sure that any platform has managed to consistently keep nudists interested enough in them to make the site/format feel like somewhere that I want to be for 5 years or more. The online world is constantly evolving, I hear of new sites, check them out, keep on going straight to the exit sometimes, occasionally lingering. Its been like this for me in my search for interesting online nudist interaction from the start. I didn't use Twitter much for nudist contacts, I had a passive presence there, much like I have had on other 'popular' platforms.
I've still got accounts on some of the longer running nudist websites, I rarely use them. I like to engage more fully than the minimalist dialogues that seem to exist in large quantities on them. I keep the accounts mostly as a means to stay in touch with a few online nudist friends that I've had for years, because that is how they prefer to message, and occasionally pick up on a bit of interesting naked news on them.
Currently I'm more interested in reading articles on nudism on places like Substack, there tends to be more thought involved in them, interesting thoughts too and there is that engagement. I don't have tons of free time but I'd rather engage in the online nudist world where people have the equivalent of conversations, than face one word replies three weeks later in chatrooms. There are some thoughtful blogs etc shared by nudists who obviously care about our way of life. There are also some who don't seem to have thought through their posts very well, ignorant, andnarrow-minded (IMO!) and some who seek controversy. But which street doesn't have someone in it who has at least one of those traits? One blogger recently posted something about the public nudity laws in my country, which was wrong, supposedly written by AI. I politely asked them to correct it, providing links for the real position here, they ignored this, came up with diversionary comments, fairly aggressively and continue to spread fake news about the nudity laws. Why should people take anything else they publish as worthy of reading, or true, when they have this attitude? As with much online you have to read between the lines, get confirmation elsewhere etc etc before making your own mind up, but sometimes those who are supposedly in the same boat are not helpful to the wider cause at times.
Most subscribers to blogs/newsletters like this seem to want to engage, I think this is where we'll find more actual sharing of tips, ideas and experiences about nudism. Within the bigger picture nudists are a minority, within the naked world nudists with interesting things to say and the inclination to do so are an even smaller number, finding an exclusively engaged online community of nudists is a hope that I haven't given up on, but realistically we're as likely to have year round outdoor nude friendly weather in the UK.
As for the weather, the UK is still frequently grey, it has warmed up though and the really cold easterly winds we get in spring seem to have gone. Its a long weekend here, Monday is a public holiday, connected to a ceremony that celebrates entitlement that took place in London. I was hoping that we'd finally get some decent naked weather, but it looks like more grey and frequent wetness of varying quantities :-(
Thank you Jillian for creating and running The Naturism Community. I won't be surprised for this substack to overtake Twitter in terms of engagement and meaningful interactions. May be that's already happened.