Past and Future of the TMF

[Skatergirl]

So, while I've been into tickling for a lot of my life, I never went to any online forums until about 2 or 3 years ago. So. I don't know much about the TMF and how tickling as a fetish stands today versus years ago. Do people think the amount of posting members is going up or down? is the fetish getting more popular or less?

 

[Gothika]

The forum is nothing like it used to be,a lot of members that were avid posters back in the day hardly post these days,i miss all that insanity but things change and so do people,

 

[desdemona]

I think newer members are coming all the time and that's exciting. Older members make room, find other ways to connect (social media, Fetlife, etc) and let the newer members make a name for themselves rather than dominate things. I think the TMF has evolved - it's more mature in some ways, more stable in others. But we can't have those "old days" back again - and honestly, who wants to live in the past?

 

[TXDFW90]

I think as a fetish in general, its expanding. I haven't been active at all on TMF until recently. Definitely seems like it expanding.

 

[a7hgsir4h3jk]

I've read that the TMF is more accepting now than it was, say, ten years ago. I feel that's probably the case; I've seen more LGBTQIA+ members and non-binary members recently, and people aren't "vomiting" to */M content so much anymore.

 

[chicago]

Was more of a close knit community with a couple handfuls of active posters. There was bickering but mostly people got to know everyone's personality so it seemed to me to be minor arguing. Many of the active posters then do not post much now.

There are more young people than there ever were and less anxiety overall it seems about "being different" also there's more acceptance of m/m and f/m

 

[Bohemianne]

The traffic is quite slow nowadays around here, but after letting it pass by in a few weeks, I see it moves forward. After the forum's great "crash" and a lot of images/art disappeared, I see that any circumstance could happen. We simply just hang on and take it as it is.

 

[maniactickler]

I'm still here. that's all that matters.

 

[kered]

I slip in to say hi to a few folks and see how things are doing. This is still a great place. Maniac's here!!

 

[unclebill]

I slip in to say hi to a few folks and see how things are doing. This is still a great place. Maniac's here!!

As long as you are growing award winning tomatoes the world is a better place, my friend.

 

[Soda Bobinski]

I think the TMF has evolved - it's more mature in some ways ...

Are you saying this because I don't post on here very much anymore? Don't you MAKE me bring back immaturity , now!

 

[Sandrock74]

Are you saying this because I don't post on here very much anymore? Don't you MAKE me bring back immaturity , now!

Was someone talking about maturity? Clearly they didn't have us in mind!

 

[venray]

Some of us older and more immature folks are still around.....ready to strike

 

[milagros317]

Some of us older and more immature folks are still around.....ready to strike

Well said, my friend.

 

[kered]

As long as you are growing award winning tomatoes the world is a better place, my friend.

I still dabble in gardening with award winning broccoli too....LOL

 

[Nedstacey2]

As long as you are growing award winning tomatoes the world is a better place, my friend.

I still dabble in gardening with award winning broccoli too....LOL

@kered, by chance do you take mail orders for those blue-ribbon tomatoes? 'sben too long since I last tried to make more of my God-awesome pasta sauce.

 

[EcEu]

Someone got it right up there. I keep in touch with most of the people I met at nest 2009(?) through social media, for me, nest was my first kink related meeting. Since then I've noticed a few started really getting into their own local communities, or finding good partners, and we've all just kept together as friends, even from other sides of the country.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

Here's my opinion for whatever it's worth.

In the latter 1990s, Newsgroups were where most tickling enthusiasts interacted with each other. It was also unmoderated. Most didn't care, but a significant portion couldn't seem to learn how to use the filters or to just plain ignore the trolls.

At the turn of the century, the TMF was born and heralded as the "Flame Free" forum. Unlike the Usenet Newsgroups, the TMF was a web based HTML forum, which allowed for Administrators and Moderators to exert control over spam, flames, and trolls. But over the years, it became clear that while the level of flames, bickering, and the expression of negative feelings were significantly curtailed, they couldn't be altogether expunged. The nature of the forum was that virtually anybody could join. There was no screening process for new members. Hence, banned members could simply return and sign up with a different alias, and continue to annoy those who didn't have the stomach to simply ignore them.

Enter Facebook, Twitter and Fetlife. Social media sites allowed individual members to tailor their audiences. If they didn't like someone, they could block, unfriend, unfollow, or simply not let them in their circle to begin with. I would say that this, more than anything else is why social activity on the TMF is significantly reduced from what it used to be.

 

[b0xr]

I've been on TMF for about 10 years and I've seen alot of people come and go. I believe some people get bored on here with the same subjects and questions. Others, I guess, leave for other forums or sites they may enjoy more than TMF. I still get a kick out of the site and will always check in from time to time. I think it's still the best site for Ticklephiles.

 

[TMF Jeff]

What's interesting is that our traffic actually doesn't move very much. Our average vistitor total has been 850-1050 during the day for a very long time. And our "unique hits" total has been around 12-20,000 depending on time of year, for ages too. People seem to browse for content still, but participate less.

It's probably, as has already been observed, because of better suited social platforms. As DAJT pointed out, you can either talk about your interests exclusively with your friends on facebook, or you can throw them to the wolves on a more open platforum, which is sort of socially riskier.

 

[Bohemianne]

I see... It's alright.

 

[Sandrock74]

I know I post a lot less than I used to in the past. For me, personally, I guess I kind of feel "I've said it all before", so I don't feel much of a need to post as much nowadays. It's just my guess, but other longtimers may feel similar. Also, facebook keeps me in touch with friends I've made here, so there's that.

 

[Soda Bobinski]

Was someone talking about maturity? Clearly they didn't have us in mind!

Ain't that the truth.

Some of us older and more immature folks are still around.....ready to strike

 

[Dussicar]

At the turn of the century, the TMF was born and heralded as the "Flame Free" forum. Unlike the Usenet Newsgroups, the TMF was a web based HTML forum, which allowed for Administrators and Moderators to exert control over spam, flames, and trolls. But over the years, it became clear that while the level of flames, bickering, and the expression of negative feelings were significantly curtailed, they couldn't be altogether expunged. The nature of the forum was that virtually anybody could join. There was no screening process for new members. Hence, banned members could simply return and sign up with a different alias, and continue to annoy those who didn't have the stomach to simply ignore them.

Just when I think you can't get hit-and-run nyeah-nyeah enough...

Is it any wonder I keep imagining you in a beanie propeller hat when you post?

A simple solution is to adhere to TT's mentality of one username one person. You haven't explained that in your attempt to sound intellectual. And it's not an impossible task.

Something that seems to "drift over the administration's heads here."

 

[Dussicar]

What's interesting is that our traffic actually doesn't move very much. Our average vistitor total has been 850-1050 during the day for a very long time. And our "unique hits" total has been around 12-20,000 depending on time of year, for ages too. People seem to browse for content still, but participate less.

It's probably, as has already been observed, because of better suited social platforms. As DAJT pointed out, you can either talk about your interests exclusively with your friends on facebook, or you can throw them to the wolves on a more open platforum, which is sort of socially riskier.

You are suggesting this site can be inherantantly dangerous? Why?