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RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/4/2011 10:40:47 PM   
CherryNeko


Posts: 330
Joined: 12/29/2010
From: Mexico City
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: WestBaySlave

I came to Collarme being brand new to the scene and still unsure of myself. I was extremely new to this on any number of levels. Yet, my experience has been that Collarme is the most friendly, helpful corner of the online BDSM scene I know, and the one most open to diverse viewpoints on a number of subjects.

For me, the Collarme forums were my oasis of sanity in an online world that had begun making me question mine. As Lady Pact's post points out, many people online act in ways they just never would in real life, and my thoughts on arriving to Collarme were "Wow, BDSM-types who are able to talk like normal people and hold an intelligent conversation."

Does that mean I like, agree, or even respect all of the regular posters? No, not at all. But it's certainly the best online place to discuss the subjects that bring us here.



Cute.

_____________________________

How many mornings do we have
Before this night ends?
I'm dying surrounded by white flowers
Which scatter in the sky...

(in reply to WestBaySlave)
Profile   Post #: 21
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/4/2011 10:57:30 PM   
InvisibleBlack


Posts: 865
Joined: 7/24/2009
Status: offline
-FR-

The other night, a couple of my friends who are -shall we say - "scenesters" invited me to come out with them. It wasn't to a BDSM club (I'm not really into the fetish club scene) they and a batch of their friends and the like were simply having a night out at a dance club. Sort of the D/s crew at a nightclub, if you follow. It seemed like a fun idea, so I went. As it turns out, it was a fun idea and I had a good time.

The night was getting late and I had to work the next day and so I was at the bar getting myself a final drink (I take my whiskey straight, btw) and this Asian girl I'd noticed now and then over the course of the night walked up next to me and struck a pose, one leg extended, the other high heel back against the bar, threw her long straight hair back and turned to look at me. She was gorgeous.

Fair enough. I took her out on the dance floor. It was late, the club wasn't empty but no one else was dancing at that moment. I didn't care and neither did she. She moved well. We worked well together. Things got ... intense. After a few songs, I took her back to the bar, picked up my drink and bought her one. We sat down and talked.

She knew I was a Dom. She was curious about being sub. She'd been flitting around all night talking to people and just kind of hanging around, trying to get a feel for things. She looked at me and said "I liked dancing with you. I liked the way you move. I liked the feel of your hands on me. I'd like to do it again." I knew what she was saying. We talked for what was I thought was likely an hour. My time sense was off. The owner came by and told us last call was done and he was shutting down. I looked up and the place was empty. Everyone else had gone home. They were turning the lights off. Neither of us had noticed.

So we're getting up to get our stuff and she says "Guess how old I am." I took a wild guess. I was way off. She told me she was eighteen. I told the owner I needed five more minutes and since he knows me, kind of, he nodded. I sat her back down. I told her I was over twice her age. I told her to take some time and seriously think about what she was looking for and what she wanted out of not only a D/s interaction but a relationship in general. We agreed to meet back at the same place in a week and talk some more. That should be later this week.

Later that week, I asked my friends about her and, while they know her kind of peripherally, they don't know much about her at all.

So it goes.

What's the point of this story?

That was real. That was interaction where words and intentions mattered. Depending on what I said and what I did, and what she said and what she did, significant consequences could have resulted - either positive or negative.

This is an anonymous forum on the internet. Things only have the value that you give them. You can block or ignore people. You can choose not to read their posts. They cannot prevent you from posting here nor from reading whatever you want to. Their words can only hurt you if you give them any credence.

I come here because there are some highly intelligent, brilliantly insightful and extremely witty people here and I enjoy reading their commentary and exchanging ideas with them. There are also some complete idiots and some total assholes. There are some drama whores and some attention divas. There are a handful of people I consider likely to be suffering from one or more mental disorders. This is not particularly different than any other online forum. I've been on ones (especially back in the day on usenet) which were much, much worse.

I read pretty much everything in any thread that catches my eye. After a while, there are a tiny minority of people whose posts I no longer read. I may skim through them. Nothing anyone ever says here offends or hurts me. There are a few people who if they told me I was way out of line or way off base, it would give me pause and make me reflect but that's because over time I've come to respect their opinion.

If someone unloads a pile of undeserved vitriol and it splashes your way, just ignore it. At the end of the day you can turn the computer off and that's that. If some nutjob pervs your profile and mails you some poorly written mostly misspelled bunch of insults - just delete them. A few months ago, I got some death threats in my mailbox on CM. I didn't start carrying a pistol under my jacket - I just laughed and deleted them.

If you let the idiots affect you, you are empowering them. Pay attention to the fine people on this site who have a vast reservoir of experience and knowledge to share. Don't even waste your time with the the little idiots who need to insult and degrade someone on an internet forum in order to validate their self-worth.

If you find someone, and it's real, and you dance - even if it's just for one night - that's a far more valid and powerful experience than a hundred angry ranting posts picking on your grammar or some topic you put up or your thoughts on something. If you find a couple of people on CM whom you like and admire, and you become friends, and you learn something from them or something they say helps you change or grow in some way, then that's worth dozens of stupid pointless inane rants.

The internet is full of stupid pointless inane rants. It's probably only going to get worse. The only place you can escape them is where no one is posting and things are dead. Mine the gold and throw away the dross. Those angry ranting people are still going to be online and angry and ranting ten years from now because that's all they've got. The only way they can ruin things for you is if you let them. If a six year old calls you a poopy-head, do you get angry and hurt and offended or do you just laugh it off because they're six years old? Why is an insult from some anyonymous pseudonym on the Internet more valid? Because you assign characteristics to that unknown cipher and in your head you assume there's someone worthwhile and intelligent on the other end. Don't.

I've gone on long enough. My apologies for that.

P.S. It's clique and not clic.
P.P.S. Just kidding.
P.P.P.S. Not kidding about the word, it is clique. I'm just letting you know I'm kidding you about it.
P.P.P.P.S. Sometimes, you just have to have fun with things. If they poke at you, poke back. If you're afraid to touch them, use an umbrella or a stick or something.

_____________________________

Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff.

(in reply to anniezz338)
Profile   Post #: 22
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/4/2011 11:45:12 PM   
GreedyTop


Posts: 52100
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Savannah, GA
Status: offline
great post, IB

_____________________________

polysnortatious
Supreme Goddess of Snark
CHARTER MEMBER: Lance's Fag Hags!
Waiting for my madman in a Blue Box.

(in reply to InvisibleBlack)
Profile   Post #: 23
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/4/2011 11:48:14 PM   
gungadin09


Posts: 3232
Joined: 3/19/2010
Status: offline
So did You get laid, or what?

pam

P.S.- If it weren't for the collarme forums, i would be even more ignorant than i am now.

< Message edited by gungadin09 -- 1/4/2011 11:52:16 PM >

(in reply to InvisibleBlack)
Profile   Post #: 24
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/4/2011 11:52:38 PM   
crazyml


Posts: 5568
Joined: 7/3/2007
Status: offline
Quite!

Talk about "unfinished symphony"

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Remember.... There's always somewhere on the planet where it's jackass o'clock.

(in reply to gungadin09)
Profile   Post #: 25
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 12:13:26 AM   
lilredsubmarine


Posts: 62
Joined: 6/17/2010
From: QLD, Australia
Status: offline
That, IB, was actually brilliant. Hooray!!

Please do let us know what happens?

Meanwhile, i have nothing but praise for cm. It has opened up a wealth of knowledge for me-- it's allowed me to google stuff i didn't even know i could google. And more importantly, it has paved the way for some wonderful friendships with people i would have never otherwise met. Yeah, there's assholes. There's douchebags. There's trolls and people with God-Complexes. There's people with penis-shots as their primary photo. But general society has loads of crazies, too. That's life. How fun is it?!

(in reply to CherryNeko)
Profile   Post #: 26
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 1:40:44 AM   
subinlife


Posts: 263
Joined: 5/20/2008
Status: offline
I have learned alot from these forums. Some of the posters I respect alot, for their wisedom. Some not so much.
Everyone has their own opinion of how this all works and how they see new people.  I still consider myself new here.
 
I know I have said a few things I probably shouldn't have, but I'm human, I react to things.
Just as I would in the vanilla world. I find that I tolerate no more here then in that vanilla world.
 
Derailing a thread is sometimes a good thing, it can break up an arguement, it can cause a little laugh in an otherwise sad thread.
One poster may make a comment that brings up something that someone else wanted to talk to them about.
Being human we may not even think about it and just say what we are thinking, before we forget it.
 
 
 

_____________________________

Don't Live Faster Then Your Angels Can Fly

(in reply to lilredsubmarine)
Profile   Post #: 27
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 2:47:46 AM   
LadyConstanze


Posts: 9722
Joined: 2/18/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: anniezz338


I see newcomers get blasted for things in their profiles with postings that are 20 times worse than the things said in the profile. I see intolerance, sarcasm, people being ganged up on, people saying the same thing over and over and over again, like it will never end. I see threads getting derailed that I would have liked to have read more opinions on.(I expect this one to get derailed...lol)

I'm actually saddened this is about all I can take away from this. Yes, there are the good threads with great wisdom and insight, but they get buried in the BS in the paragraph above. In a lifestyle that should scream tolerance, I'm not seeing alot of it here. If you don't fit with a certain clic of people, you might as well not exist, unless you word something incorrectly, then they are on you like lions.

Is this a public forum or is this a group with specific outlooks regarding the BDSM lifestyle?



I haven't seen people getting blasted for asking questions that showed interest, but it does piss me off when somebody makes a posting with an instant demand (be it money or sex), despite it being a kink site, we're humans, the guys aren't walking wallets and women aren't pieces of meat.

Can you imagine somebody walking into a pub and doing that? Like a guy shouting at the door "Hey I got a big cock!" or another going up to a woman and saying "I don't care about you, I just want you to <insert activity>". Just because we're kinky doesn't mean we're just a meat market.

Isn't it better if they get a wake-up knock, rethink their approach and actually have a better chance mingling with people? Sometimes it can be a bit rough, but it's a lot less rough than letting them think that this is the way that's accepted and then letting them get their knocks in real life.


_____________________________

There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary
Those who do and those who don't!

http://exdomme.blogspot.com/2012/07/public-service-announcement.html

(in reply to anniezz338)
Profile   Post #: 28
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 3:08:06 AM   
GeraldG


Posts: 2
Joined: 11/12/2009
Status: offline
Simple...

A small fraction of the readers will be moved enough to reply.

Some of them will be moved because you rubbed them the wrong way, and some because they are helpful, nice, tolerant or whatever.

Now ask yourself how easy it is to offend someone? Of all the thousand things about you that is your profile, the way you write, the topic of your post, the grammar, the tone, what you like, how you look like, how many of those things are "bad" in the closeminded world of any number of people out there?

Whatever we say we are always more likely to rub someone the wrong way than get any actual positive responses. On an anonymous forum where people only judge you based on the very limited information you present this becomes even more true. And of course having read the steady stream of toxic responses and indeed stupid questions and messages all day... do you think people are more or less likely to be in a good mood when they come to replying to the next one? A cursory glance is all the chance you are going to get.

And that is why I generally don't post to forums.

(in reply to LadyConstanze)
Profile   Post #: 29
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 4:33:52 AM   
VaguelyCurious


Posts: 5264
Joined: 12/2/2009
From: United Kingdom
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: WestBaySlave

Yet, my experience has been that Collarme is the most friendly, helpful corner of the online BDSM scene I know, and the one most open to diverse viewpoints on a number of subjects.

Let's take this statement as an example.

WestBaySlave is one of the nicest posters on these entire boards. I have never seen him lose his temper. He's always polite, he's always kind, he puts effort into his posts and is generally all-round sweet and awesome. If it weren't for that pesky incompatible-sexuality thing I would have kidnapped him months ago. And his experience of CM is that it's friendly and helpful.

My own experience of the forums isn't quite as sunshine-golden as his, but it's been pretty good. I tend to be shocked when people are rude to me, because it happens so rarely. Only one of my threads has ever been hijacked - and I blame myself for that, because I didn't post to tell them to knock it the fuck off (which is what you do in that situation if you're willing to actually take responsibility for your own threads). IMO this place is useful.

You get back exactly what you put in, Annie.


_____________________________

Sthetic on FetLife.




(in reply to WestBaySlave)
Profile   Post #: 30
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 4:41:31 AM   
DesFIP


Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline
I do find it ironic that the person who wrote a post about how much she hates, despises and is totally intolerant of men with an ounce over what she considered to be their ideal weight is now complaining about intolerance.

_____________________________

Slave to laundry

Cynical and proud of it!


(in reply to VaguelyCurious)
Profile   Post #: 31
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 4:44:55 AM   
kalikshama


Posts: 14805
Joined: 8/8/2010
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I do find it ironic that the person who wrote a post about how much she hates, despises and is totally intolerant of men with an ounce over what she considered to be their ideal weight is now complaining about intolerance.


You have proven her point by completely misrepresenting that thread.

< Message edited by kalikshama -- 1/5/2011 4:45:18 AM >

(in reply to DesFIP)
Profile   Post #: 32
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 4:48:43 AM   
gungadin09


Posts: 3232
Joined: 3/19/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: kalikshama

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I do find it ironic that the person who wrote a post about how much she hates, despises and is totally intolerant of men with an ounce over what she considered to be their ideal weight is now complaining about intolerance.


You have proven her point by completely misrepresenting that thread.


Sorry, DesFIP, but yes.

pam

(in reply to kalikshama)
Profile   Post #: 33
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 5:24:48 AM   
VaguelyCurious


Posts: 5264
Joined: 12/2/2009
From: United Kingdom
Status: offline
Really? From that thread (bearing in mind that none of the insults she lists were actually used):

quote:


Ok then, so far I have been called a judgemental cunt, a whore, stupid, a fat bitch, and all the other crap I'm not going to bother looking back for. Here's judgemental for you.

Bones, your weight isn't posted. I got your number. If you spent the time you did giving your opinion on this thread and instead got on a treadmill, you might not be so bitter. You protest too much to be valid.

Aquaticsub, if you are at work being PAID to work, maybe you should work instead of playing some kind of popularity contest. If I was your manager, I would kick your ass to the curb so hard, your fat ass would bounce all the way across the street.

Icarys, your an ass but your hot.

OMG...was I judgemental?!? Where's my 45...I'm going to blow my brains out....I'm not worthy.

You guys have a great day :)


http://www.collarchat.com/fb.asp?m=3487020


_____________________________

Sthetic on FetLife.




(in reply to gungadin09)
Profile   Post #: 34
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 5:32:01 AM   
BonesFromAsh


Posts: 1362
Joined: 6/17/2010
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: anniezz338

Is this a public forum or is this a group with specific outlooks regarding the BDSM lifestyle?


This is an online forum that has one very basic common interest for the majority of it's members....bdsm. Nothing more and nothing less.

I was sent to CM as a noob by a very good friend, a Dominant man I've always considered to be a mentor of sorts, because he thought it might be a good way for me to meet others without attending munches. You see, he wasn't a fan of his local lifestyle groups and was therefore a bit skepitical of the munch concept in general.

I've learned, through trial and error, that my time on CM was most beneficial the first year I was a member (and prior to my first post on the message boards). I met people offline, explored and experimented...I lived.

The messgae boards, for me, are nothing more than a place to offer my opinion/view on certain topics and engage in lively debate when a topic is truly of interest to me and is something I feel stongly about. I've been ignored, laughed at and belittled by various posters in the little over 2 yrs I've been on these forums under both my present and past screen name.
I've also made friends, been able to offer genuine advice and had more than a few laughs with some of the silly things that make their way onto these boards.

Do I recommend CM to "newcomers"? Generally, no.

I recommend, instead, that they attend a munch or find a partner (if they don't already have one) and explore with them. I recommend books to read and websites that might offer some interesting information...but I don't recommend they join an online forum to gain knowledge of bdsm activities. That's what living is for.

CM, like most other online forums, is clique-y and there is a type of hazing a person has to go through in order to be taken serious or seen as "real"...in my opinion, of course.
However, like the OP said herself... Sadly, it just is what it is....from the "infamous" fat thread.

OP, this is just an online message board with one somewhat common thread...bdsm. If you want Kumbaya and tolerance....be the change you wish to see.

(in reply to anniezz338)
Profile   Post #: 35
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 5:54:52 AM   
allthatjaz


Posts: 2878
Joined: 8/20/2008
Status: offline
If I didn't enjoy CM I wouldn't come here. Over a period of time I have got to know some people more personally and there are certainly some people, Lady P being one of them, that I would love to meet in rl. What I don't come here for is to specifically make friends. I'm not a girl gang sort of woman, never have been and so I would never join a clique, expect people to stick up for me because they know me or have my opinion tampered down just because I know the poster. The people who know me in rl know that I'm assertive and speak my mind but they also know that I would never deliberately hurt someone. Why should I be any different on here?
I think in general things are a lot better than they were a couple of years ago but perhaps that's just me. Back then you could guarantee if one particular person made a snide comment certain other people would quickly join in. I don't see too much of that now.
What you have to realize is, the sort of people that gang up and personally mock are the sort of people that couldn't do this to your face. The keyboard is the perfect cubby hole for those amongst us that are cowardly and unassertive people out there in the real world.
Think on, don't say anything on here that you wouldn't be prepared to say to someone face to face. There are very few people that would mock, snigger and become personally abusive if they were facing that person. On here some people will do that simply because they can be that person that in the real world they have never had the courage to be.
I disagree with those who say some people deserve it. I think they often deserve to get told off, put right, be dressed down or just simply ignored but I don't think getting deep down and personal or name calling is ever a good way to go. Oh I can think of one person but he rarely comes here nowadays!

Out there on the scene its all very civil but you still get people bitching behind other peoples backs.

_____________________________

S&M (Steve and Maria) persona libre de convencionalismos


Fan of edgeplay.co.uk

(in reply to gungadin09)
Profile   Post #: 36
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 5:58:22 AM   
GreedyTop


Posts: 52100
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Savannah, GA
Status: offline
MAria.. I hate to tell you.. you ARE part of the collective

*giggles*

_____________________________

polysnortatious
Supreme Goddess of Snark
CHARTER MEMBER: Lance's Fag Hags!
Waiting for my madman in a Blue Box.

(in reply to allthatjaz)
Profile   Post #: 37
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 6:20:24 AM   
allthatjaz


Posts: 2878
Joined: 8/20/2008
Status: offline
Collective what?

_____________________________

S&M (Steve and Maria) persona libre de convencionalismos


Fan of edgeplay.co.uk

(in reply to GreedyTop)
Profile   Post #: 38
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 6:21:19 AM   
gungadin09


Posts: 3232
Joined: 3/19/2010
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: VaguelyCurious

Really? From that thread (bearing in mind that none of the insults she lists were actually used):

quote:


Ok then, so far I have been called a judgemental cunt, a whore, stupid, a fat bitch, and all the other crap I'm not going to bother looking back for. Here's judgemental for you.

Bones, your weight isn't posted. I got your number. If you spent the time you did giving your opinion on this thread and instead got on a treadmill, you might not be so bitter. You protest too much to be valid.

Aquaticsub, if you are at work being PAID to work, maybe you should work instead of playing some kind of popularity contest. If I was your manager, I would kick your ass to the curb so hard, your fat ass would bounce all the way across the street.

Icarys, your an ass but your hot.

OMG...was I judgemental?!? Where's my 45...I'm going to blow my brains out....I'm not worthy.

You guys have a great day :)


http://www.collarchat.com/fb.asp?m=3487020



Yes, she said those things. That was after about ten pages of responding patiently to various posters on a thread gone out of control; she finally lost it. If you want to judge her for that, go right ahead.

What she did not say is that she hates, despises, or is totally intolerant of men with an ounce over what she considers to be their ideal weight. Nor did she say anything that could be reasonably mistaken for that.

i'm not asking you to like her. i'm not asking you to like her posts. i'm not even asking you to believe she is a tolerant or kind person. i think it is fair, however, to ask that you don't misrepresent her words. You have distorted them beyond all recognition. She said nothing of the kind.

pam

< Message edited by gungadin09 -- 1/5/2011 6:34:51 AM >

(in reply to VaguelyCurious)
Profile   Post #: 39
RE: Is CM really good for newcomers? - 1/5/2011 6:25:04 AM   
GreedyTop


Posts: 52100
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Savannah, GA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: allthatjaz

Collective what?


"resistance is futile"

you are one of the "in crowd"

IMO, anyway..

_____________________________

polysnortatious
Supreme Goddess of Snark
CHARTER MEMBER: Lance's Fag Hags!
Waiting for my madman in a Blue Box.

(in reply to allthatjaz)
Profile   Post #: 40
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