I'm starting this thread because I'm curious about the ladies of TFP. We used to be a lot stronger in both number of female members and in participation (number of posts)... and I've noticed that a lot of our once-significant female members have either dropped back to lurking status or just abandoned TFP altogether. It saddens me, because I think we really feel the diminished effect in all areas of the board. I want the female voice back on TFP!!!
So here are some questions, just to get a feel for how many of you are out there and participating, and are willing to share:
1) How did you find out about TFP, when you first joined? Did you lurk for a while, or jump right in with posting? What helped you open up and start posting?
2) From the beginning, how did you feel about the porn aspect of the board? (And the fact that as a result, there are far more male than female members here)? Has that ever made you hesitant to post more often here?
3) What kind of "female" board topics/forums might encourage you to post more often, if you could vote for something? (E.g. a "wedding" forum, or something for parenting, or any other topic that might be interesting to you?)
4) Can you think of anything we might be able to change on the boards, to make it more appealing to potential new members? What is it about TFP that has made you stick around this long?
Thanks, ladies!
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Here are my quick answers:
1) I found out about TFP from my husband ktsp (boyfriend at the time--we'd been together for less than a year). I jumped in right away to post, probably because it's my personality, but also because strong women like Shani and Malficent were very open and friendly towards me, and that drew me in quickly.
2) I didn't care that much about the porn aspect, since back then it was restricted to a certain # of posts and I was nowhere near that... so I couldn't even see it at first. Over time I came to really appreciate having the porn there, as I became more comfortable with it myself and in my relationship.
3) I really can't think of too many "female" topics, which is why I am hoping to get some feedback from y'all.
But I do frequent another forum at times (which I joined when I was getting married--it's mostly for brides, but has tons of people after they got married, too), and that's almost all women... so I was wondering if having female-specific topics might help us bring new people here.
4) I've personally stuck around this long because I just like it here, and ktsp and I have a "community" here that has gotten us through 2 years of long distance from each other, as well as moving abroad to a new country and not having a lot of local friends at first. We also got to meet some of you in real life, and that was important for us as well. I really missed having a "church" of some kind from my religious days, and this place is about as close as it gets to that kind of consistent community, with a lot of sex thrown in!!!
But I really miss people when they leave, and it takes time to get to know new personas on the internet... so I hope we can encourage you all to stick around and keep posting.