How to find others you can enjoy social nudity with.

It's all about understanding how to use social networks to meet other naturists and promote naturism.

You’ve probably heard or learned from experience that the best way to find a new and better job is through information and referrals you get with the help of your existing social network. In just the same way you can find other people, who already - or potentially - share your interest in social nudity.

Of course, perhaps you’re satisfied with being naked in your own home - provided others you live with don’t object. If there are objections, you don’t have much choice except to look elsewhere for opportunities to be naked. But in any case, there’s so much more enjoyment to be had if you can experience a wider range of naturist activities with others who also enjoy social nudity.

Would you be satisfied pursuing your favorite hobbies or interests entirely by yourself? Probably not. Suppose you enjoy photography, hiking, arts and crafts, horseback riding, cooking, or whatever. There are usually many others out there who have interests like one or more of yours, and are at a similar level of experience and expertise. Such others may be happy to pursue a particular interest with you, if convenient. Many of them probably know things about these interests you don’t and would gladly share their knowledge with you. Quite likely you can also share your own knowledge and experience with them. There’s exactly the same situation with naturism.

So for such reasons, finding other naturists to add to your existing circle of friends offers many potential benefits. That should be a clear incentive for you. But it’s even better if you can identify others in your immediate and extended social network who may also consider trying social nudity themselves - if they haven’t already. In that case, naturism itself benefits from new participants - and you’ll share those benefits yourself. Not only will you have more people to enjoy social nudity with, but naturism itself is strengthened by having more people patronize naturist clubs and resorts, support naturist organizations, and even persuade their own friends and acquaintances to try naturism.

Many different interests and hobbies benefit from an increasing number of participants. For example, new participants can join an existing club or help start a new one. Then can help persuade local officials to expand opportunities in a particular area for participating in the activity. Some others may establish a business catering to those interests. And, most of all, they can invite and encourage others to participate in their activities.

All of this is equally true for people interested in social nudity. But it doesn’t just happen. Some effort is necessary to make it happen.

There’s one obvious way to find other active naturists: locate, visit, and join existing landed or non-landed naturist clubs, or join organizations that promote naturism. Most clubs and organizations always want new members, because (as already noted) the more participants with the same values and interests the better, at least up to a point.

If you join and participate in something like that, everyone benefits. One of the most significant benefits is that other participants probably have naturist friends who may share one or more of your non-naturist interests. Most importantly, some may live close to you, which makes naturist socializing more convenient. It also helps with the common problem that established naturist clubs and resorts aren’t located close enough for frequent visits. If you’re fortunate there’s a good place nearby, that’s great. But often that’s not the case.

You may know that many members and visitors at established places tend to be somewhat older. There are various reasons for that. Some of them may have been naturists for many years, beginning several decades ago, when naturism, at least in the U.S., was more popular and had younger participants. Also, older people often have more economic security and free time for naturist activities. And they no longer have parental responsibilities if their children are adults themselves.

However, even if you’re younger, getting to know older naturists can be worthwhile. Some reasons: (1) They’re more experienced and probably know of various opportunities for enjoying social nudity you weren’t aware of. (2) They may have children (or grandchildren!) who are also naturists, possibly grew up in a naturist family, or at least know something about it. (3) They probably know active naturists who are closer to your age, live closer to you, and could have non-naturist interests in common with you. (4) They may have people in their social network who are open to trying naturism and would be compatible with you and your interests.

But if it’s inconvenient for you to visit a naturist club or resort, or you have visited one or more that didn’t satisfy you, the remaining option is to use your own existing social network. Of course, that means you shouldn’t be very reluctant to talk about naturism with at least some of them. You’ll have to discuss your interest in naturism with one or more of them. If you don’t think that’s possible, then you should consider enlarging your social network somehow.

For instance, you could get to know friends of your current friends, take adult education classes where you’ll make new acquaintances, or join a club or organization that corresponds to some interest of yours other than naturism. The more new friends you make, the better the chance that you’ll find someone who’s at least open-minded about naturism, or maybe even curious about it.

So let’s assume you’re not entirely opposed to discussing naturism with others, if you think that will be “safe”. In this earlier newsletter, I suggested a number of ways to bring up the subject of naturism with someone who you think will be open-minded about it. For instance, you could simply leave naturist magazines or books out in the open where you live (if you live alone or won’t embarrass others you live with). If you don’t want others you live with to know of your naturist interest, you’ll need to think of other possibilities away from home, such as modeling naked for art classes.

In the best case, you’ll already have at least one or two people in your existing (or expanded) social network with whom you feel comfortable bringing up the subject of social nudity. You can’t be sure that initiating such a conversation won’t have negative consequences for your relationship with them. But maybe it’s a risk worth taking. You could start with people who’re less important in your social network than others you’re closer to. And the more you expand your social network in other ways, the more likely you’ll find a sympathetic ear.

You’d probably best start talking about naturism with someone you expect to be open-minded. It’s fine if they aren’t interested in naturism, even after you’ve explained something about it. They just should accept that naturism in general and your interest in it aren’t something “bad”. The point is that there almost certainly are people in this other person’s social network who are not in your network. Most social networks don’t overlap nearly 100%.

OK, so you have a good conversation about naturism with one or more people. You can ask them to mention your interest in naturism to others who they know - but you don’t. Since these others aren’t in your social network, there’s less chance they’ll reveal your naturist interest to others you do know. In fact, it would be good to meet some of these “friends of friends”. You can then discuss naturism with them directly and explain what you like about it. So they’ll be more likely to tell some of their friends (outside your network) about your interest. That shouldn’t be a big problem, because they can explain they’re only mentioning it because a friend of yours (or you yourself) asked them to.

So these friends of friends themselves have friends to whom they can mention your naturist interest. These others - friends of friends of a friend of yours - can repeat the process with others they know, and so on. Of course, there’s a possibility that somewhere along the way a person in your network will learn of your interest. You may not want that risk. But you can minimize it by letting others know approximately where you live, so they can be cautious about discussing the matter with someone who lives near you.

In the long run, though, it’s best if you don’t have to worry a lot about who knows you enjoy social nudity. Worrying about who may ”find out” takes much of the fun out of it. With any luck, if that happens, people you know won’t be especially put off by learning of your interest in naturism. Some might actually become interested themselves.

Sociologists know a lot about how social networks function. In particular, research shows that even friends of friends of your friends can have an influence. This is how ideas and opinions often spread from person to person. There’s a good book on the subject entitled Connected, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler. I wrote a review of it here, which you might want to take a look at for a further explanation. Note that this book is about "real-world" social networks, not online networks. The latter can be useful for connecting with naturists (as well as others) around the world. Naturists you connect with online can be valuable sources of information and ideas. But they may not be especially helpful in connecting with naturists near you if most of the people in your online network don't live anywhere nearby.

Also consider people you know and respect who aren’t in your current social network. These might be friends from high school or college, people who used to live nearby but they (or you) have moved elsewhere, former colleagues at a previous place of employment, or relatives like cousins who’re living somewhere else. Even if they don’t currently live near you, they still may be able to put you in touch with people in your area who could be helpful. There’s somewhat less risk of problems with people like this, since they probably have few if any friends in your current network. But some friends of theirs who live closer to you might be able to help. And it would be good if some also get interested in naturism.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the notion that nearly everyone is connected with everyone else (at least in the same country) by at most 6 “degrees of separation”. Supposedly, for example, many Hollywood actors are “directly” connected with actor Kevin Bacon if they’ve acted in at least one movie with him. Those not directly connected may be directly connected with someone who is. Such connections are almost always much less than “6 degrees”. From my university days and other experiences, I have short connections with famous people like scientists and politicians.

Could such connections actually be useful in terms of naturism? I’ve met and interacted with various prominent naturists, although that shouldn’t be especially surprising. But everyone in my social network is only one further step removed - through me - from those prominent naturists. Although somebody you roomed with in college may not be a naturist, he or she may have a second or third degree connection with an active naturist, perhaps someone who leads a local naturist group or manages a naturist resort. It’s worth checking out this possibility, since you could quickly get in touch with other active naturists this way.