Needed: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Online Naturism"

Naturists don't even need to have a towel online

This is a fairly long post, but I hope you’ll find it worth your time. It’s about online places that cover naturism (at least to some extent), and it’s a complicated subject.

There are now a fair number of online places where naturists can meet and converse with other naturists. Some of these places are also useful to explain naturism to others who haven’t tried it but may be curious about it. The experience in cyberspace isn’t the same as in “real life”. But it’s still useful and enjoyable for many naturists.

Online naturist places can be categorized into various types.

1. General messaging sites, of which Twitter (now “X”) was the first significant example. Users with an account on a site like this can post messages that contain text, images, videos, or links. Such messages may be accessible to others, who sometimes may not even have an account, or they may be accessible only to selected others. Twitter/X is currently in a state of flux, but several similar sites are now available. The list includes Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads (which is offered by Meta, the company behind Facebook). In general, there are big problems with most sites like Twitter. For one thing, algorithms determine what you’ll see, unless you look only at one user’s feed. Even looking at one feed another serious problem is that you may have to scroll a lot to see earlier posts. There’s no simple way to select posts by topic or date. (It’s easier if the writer used “hashtags”, and Google might help if you know what you’re looking for.)

2. Traditional social media sites. Facebook is now the most-used example, but it follows predecessors like MySpace. Sites like this generally provide various features for account holders. Most commonly this allows users to post messages and accept comments on them from others. The messages may be visible to any other user or only to a selected list of users. Another common feature is subgroups, which can be accessible by anyone, or only by “members”. Messaging in subgroups is similar to how it works in the site’s public space. Other popular social media sites include Reddit, Tumblr, MeWe, Instagram, and Quora. All of those except Quora have a significant amount of naturist content.

3. Naturist social media. These are like the traditional type but are intended specifically for naturists. Some of these are operated by existing naturist organizations, such as AANR and British Naturism (BN). I know little about naturist organizations in countries other than the U.S. or England. But BN seems to stand out with a rather complete set of social media services (news, discussion forums, individual blogs, etc.). A few that still exist were created and are operated by small groups of naturists. Often they require some type of verification - just like landed and non-landed naturist clubs - to screen out non-naturists and underage users. They need to charge modest fees to pay the bills, and they’re time-consuming to operate, so many don’t last for long, especially if they don’t have enough users for financial viability. Current examples include ANW (A Naturist World), Naturist Hub, and True Nudists.

4. Blogs have been around since shortly after 2000 when systems like Blogspot (later acquired by Google) emerged. Blogs enable writers to distribute their work to readers online using a personal account. The blog may be the work of one individual or a group. Naturists began using the blog format soon after it emerged. (My Naturistplace blog began in 2005.) At one point there were hundreds of active naturist blogs, but the number has declined drastically. Comments by readers were usually possible, which allowed for discussions to occur. In many cases, interested readers could also be notified by email when new posts were made. A nice feature that used to be common in blogs is the “blogroll”, which allowed a blog to recommend other favored blogs. That’s very seldom used now, unfortunately. But Substack makes it easy for users to recommend other Substack newsletters.

5. Newsletters. Writers have for some time been able to distribute their work using email to readers who elected to read the work. In the past several years, newsletters have mostly replaced blogs as a means to distribute writing. One reason for this is that newsletters make it possible for writers to receive payment for their work, which was difficult or impossible with blogs, due to lack of a payment method. Newsletter writers who use Substack can choose to require payments for some or all of their work. If payments are required, only the beginning part of an item is shown to readers who haven’t paid. The work is archived online and so is available much as with a blog. Since the work is online, reader comments and discussions are possible. Other newsletter services, such as Beehiiv (whose interface is very similar to Substack), charge the author rather than the reader, in which case the newsletter may be supported by advertising. Most newsletter services, in effect, provide features like an individual blog, but with far fewer formatting and appearance choices.

6. Conversational mailing lists. Such services hold conversations using traditional email, but unlike newsletters, any participant can initiate a discussion, while others’ responses are also distributed through email. This isn’t a heavily used option at present. Google still offers this service (“Google Groups”), which can also be accessed online. The most significant naturist group there is simply named “Naturists”, but there’s little activity. An advantage of this service is that it’s free and easy to set up. A few companies besides Google still offer mailing list systems. One such is groups.io. The only active naturist groups I know of there are (1) Naturists Outdoors, a TNSF special interest group for outdoor recreation, and (2) BA-MEN, which is for male naturists in the Long Beach, California area, At one point Yahoo provided many such lists for naturists but abruptly terminated the service. (I had a popular naturist list on Yahoo starting in the late 1990s, but nothing of it is now left.) Some lists were “free” and didn’t contain ads, so providers had no incentive to continue them.

7. Conversational features in other services. Many online systems for specific purposes include conversational features like what is found in traditional social media. That is, the ability of users to post messages and allow other users to comment on them. Some such systems may have subgroups intended especially for naturists who are members of the service. One example is Meetup, whose main purpose is enabling groups of people sharing a specific interest to participate in relevant “real world” activities. Many naturist groups use Meetup to organize and announce their activities, but online conversations are also possible. Another example is Goodreads, whose main purpose is posting book reviews from its members. Members with specific reading interests can also have their own subgroups for online discussions of their interests, including naturism. A third example is Quora, which allows anyone to create a “space” for people interested in a particular topic. One of them is called “Nudist Around The World”, but unfortunately it subsumes exhibitionism and includes non-naturist images.

8. Discussion forums. Stand-alone forums are considerably less used than in past years, but a few are still active. They’re a lot like the bulletin boards that existed in the early days of personal computers and on early social media like Compuserve. Those that are still active are usually part of more general systems, such as the websites of naturist organizations like British Naturism. The boards may be divided into sections with specific topics. Users post comments and questions to which other users can respond anytime later. Facebook groups and other general or naturist-specific social media have a similar structure (as well as other features).

9. Real-time chat systems. The main example is Discord, which was originally for conversations among online gamers. There are currently at least two naturist sections (known in Discord as “servers”). Each server usually has various separate “channels”. Discussions take place in real time, so earlier remarks scroll off the screen (but remain accessible). The service has a very cluttered and confusing user interface (at least until one gets used to it), and it uses uncommon terminology rather than (for example) “posts” or “subgroups”. There’s also a user “verification” system to identify a user as a “real” naturist and/or at least 18 years of age.

What is the problem?

There are many ways online to learn about naturism and find others to enjoy naturist social nudity with. The problem is that there are too many of these, not too few. Having so many wouldn’t be a problem if there were also a small number of online places to turn to for a reasonably complete spectrum of information and services to address the needs of everyone from experienced naturists to people with no experience but at least some curiosity about naturism and potential interest in giving it a try.

Unfortunately, there are very few such online places. Modern countries often have naturist organizations of some sort that have been around for a relatively long time and are more than happy to provide information on naturism to anyone who enquires. Naturists of any level of experience beyond none at all will probably know what those organizations are in their country. Search engines now can list organizations to best provide the information. But the search results will also turn up many sources that provide only spotty or inaccurate information and advice.

However, in many countries that actually have national naturist organizations, the services they can provide are somewhat limited. They can give people looking for answers a list of naturist landed or non-landed clubs to visit. They can provide general information about naturism - such as proper naturist etiquette, the pleasures and benefits of naturism, and locations for enjoying naturism like clothing-optional beaches or safe places for naturist hiking and camping.

Another alternative for people knowing little or nothing about naturism is simply to visit a naturist park or resort and talk to people there. The first problem with that is (again) finding out what those places are. Search engines can help, but have shortcomings already mentioned. The second problem is that going someplace where most people are naked and may pressure newbies to get naked as well is usually daunting to most people. The third problem is that many established naturist places may require background checks, allow visits only at certain times, or ask embarrassing questions about a new person’s interest in naturism.

What neither national naturist organizations nor landed naturist places can’t easily provide is detailed information and answers to specific questions that people with any level of naturist experience will seek. This is exactly what all the many and varied online naturist places could provide. But that leaves the rather large problem of how to find the best - and most trustworthy - source for answers to specific questions or opportunities for finding naturist friends to enjoy social nudity with. Out of the myriad of possibilities, where should someone turn to get information on local naturist activities, advice on explaining naturism to others, assistance in connecting with other naturists having compatible interests, and so on?

In a nutshell, anyone looking for information of any kind on naturism confronts a building with only a few doors that can somewhat easily be entered - but many small windows that can be looked into to find the desired information or assistance.

How can this problem be solved?

The existence of the Internet and the resulting plethora of online sites where naturism can be discussed is a good thing for naturism in many respects. But the large number of naturist sites means that the typical naturist is faced with the difficult problem of deciding where to look for useful information and assistance.

This problem is a lot like that of planning a vacation and selecting where to go, learning about what’s available at promising destinations, and deciding what to do there upon arrival. This is exactly what any reasonable travel guide is expected to help with. Many guides cover much of the needed information. Guides provided by Frommer’s and the AAA, to name just two examples, have been very useful and therefore very popular for decades. They’re now available online as well as in printed form.

Lee Baxandall, who founded The Naturist Society (TNS) in 1980 was also responsible for the publication in the same year of the World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation. It was a high-quality paperback book, printed on glossy paper and full of useful information on hundreds of nude beaches and other outdoor places near water where clothesfree recreation was common and at least tolerated by local authorities. There was, however, no information on naturist clubs and resorts or other places that welcomed nudity (such as spas, saunas, guest houses, etc.).

Information in the initial World Guide covered places in the U.S. and the rest of the world about equally, even though such places outside the U.S. are far more numerous. That imbalance is understandable, since Baxandall lived in the U.S., and his research was based on five years of preceding effort by another Baxandall organization: the “Free Beaches Documentation Center”. Information on U.S. and foreign places often was provided by helpful contributors. That time period included the most rapid growth of naturism and naturist recreation in the U.S.

Several editions of that Guide and successors appeared. Most saw publication as a result of efforts by TNS (although Baxandall had to retire in 2002 for health reasons). In 1995 the title changed to World Guide to Nude Beaches and Resorts, reflecting the expansion of coverage to selected popular naturist resorts. The last edition appeared in 2007 with the new title: The World’s Best Nude Beaches and Resorts. Places in the U.S. continued to be over-represented, although only about a third of the total in that last edition. Similar printed guides have appeared in other countries where naturism is popular, such as England, Germany, France, and Spain.

Of course, as with travel guides in general, this kind of information about naturism and naturist places is now mostly on the Web. And it covers the whole spectrum of naturist activity - not just physical places like clubs, resorts, and beaches, but also online discussion forums of all kinds.

The main point here is that there needs to be extensive and accurate information about naturism so that individuals can enjoy it to the fullest. The information should be easy to find and of the highest quality. Additionally, for the benefit of people interested in or at least curious about naturism, the information should also include various topics like naturism’s history, benefits, varieties, and etiquette.

Traditional printed travel guides have usually covered such things. So naturist information on the Internet should do likewise. Unfortunately, this isn’t usually the case, because important information is often hard to find and of variable quality. And that’s why an online guidebook - “The Hitchhikers’s Guide to Online Naturism” - is so badly needed. (Many other names could be just as good or better.) Lacking that, naturism cannot possibly be as popular as it should be. People are usually pressed for time these days, so browsing around randomly may be an inefficient use of their time.

Such an informational guide will require plenty of effort by naturists who understand the need. Referring back to the types of online naturist places listed in the first section, there’s clearly a need for specific information about each of them. Of course, the details will differ somewhat among the different types of online naturist places. But here’s a list of some points that should be covered for each source type (if applicable).

• Is the place free to use, and if not, what is the price (or prices if there are different levels of service)?

• If a site requires payments, is there an easy way to decide whether it seems worthwhile to use it for a short time without paying?

• Does the site have many users or only a few? What is the level of activity - low, medium, or high?

• Is the site’s user interface easy to understand, or is much effort needed to understand the details? Is navigating around the site simple and easy?

• Is the site owned and maintained by one or a few people (like a newsletter), or is it a place where many people can contribute equally?

• Is information on the site usually accurate and up-to-date?

• Can non-naturists who are interested in naturism easily find helpful information and advice?

• How easy is it to find users who are knowledgeable about naturism and reliable about the information they provide?

• If a user’s objective is to find naturist friends - either online or in specific geographic locations - how easy is that to do?

• Is there a way to communicate privately with other users or site administrators?

• What level of knowledge about naturism do people who contribute have?

• Is content on the site lightly or heavily moderated, in either public or private communications? Is censorship common, rare, or nonexistent?

• Does the site allow content that violates naturist norms?

• Does the site stop users from harassing others?

• Is there much paid advertising on the site, and if so how much?

• Is anyone at all able to contribute to the site, or are there efforts to verify characteristics of the contributors, such as age and level of naturist experience?

• Does the site cover naturism in general, or is it more specific, such as for nude beaches, naturist travel, naturist clubs and resorts, naturist information and advice, etc.?

• Does the site send notices to users on things such as upcoming events, mentions of a user’s name, responses to posts a user has made, etc.?

• If a site is part of a larger social media platform (Facebook, Reddit, Twitter/X, Quora, etc.), how tolerant is the platform of naturist discussions and images containing nudity?

• Does a particular social media platform have subgroups or similar features for users having a specific interest (like naturism)?

• How easy is it for users to communicate with others on the platform or in subgroups?

• Is the site available dependably or are there excessive problems or outages?

• Is the site’s performance generally fast and new pages load quickly?

• Is a site mainly limited to a single language? Is translation to a preferred language easy? (Browsers may not translate text inside images.)

There could be many other questions for which answers are desired. No guidebook - printed or online - could realistically handle all. So generally one should explore a particular site (preferably for free) to decide whether it meets one’s needs. But the existence of a well-maintained guidebook for online naturist places should be a big help.

As many others have noted, naturism is currently in a fragmented state. Different individuals tend to prefer enjoying social nudity in different ways - naturist clubs, nude beaches, naked hiking and camping, nude dinner parties, or just being naked at home. This isn’t really a new development. However, with online naturism now, individual naturists tend to gravitate to a few places and not be aware of the many alternatives - with different people and different preferences. A guide to the diverse choices now available would be very helpful for naturism in general - and, most importantly - it should attract many new people to participate in naturism.

Online naturist sites can suggest creative ideas that are seldom (if ever) considered. How about naturist book clubs, where people can be clothesfree and discuss books with others? This is actually possible on Goodreads. Is there any site dealing with cooking and cuisine for naturists? I don’t know, but if one that hosted subgroups did then naturists living near each other could plan to cook and share a meal - naked. There must be many people who’re OK with nudity but aren’t very interested in traditional naturist activities. So a diverse collection of online naturist sites that revealed naturism needn’t be limited to sunbathing and pickleball should attract new participants.

If you know of significant other examples of online naturist places, please mention them in the comments.