Navigating the Online World
Recorded October 2017
This is Kuldrin’s Krypt season 1 episode 32
Welcome to Kuldrin’s Krypt I’m your host Master Kuldrin. If you are new to the show we use our combined 30 years of experience to dispel myths, get rid of stereotypes, and answer your questions about BDSM. You can call in at 865-268-4005 to leave your question or visit the Krypt at kudrinskrypt.com
Rules to Love by:
Safe, sane, consensual, and informed
KNKI: Knowledge, No Intolerence, Kindness, Integrity
“Submission is not about authority and it’s not about obedience; it is all about relationships of love and respect.” -Wm. Paul Young
On this episode of the Krypt we are going to talk about navigating the online world of BDSM but first, I have to welcome my amazing co-host, Funsize.
This week we’re discussing how to navigate some of the more prominent lifestyle websites out there. This is a listener requested episode, all the way from Germany (?) I believe. Now because there are so many websites out there we’ve chosen to expand on those that have lasted the test of time, bring something unique to our community, or have the largest base of users. So while we are talking about these websites, remember this is by far not every website and quite frankly not even one tenth of what is out there.
History
Before we dive into what each of these websites are, what they offer, and how to best make use of them, we would like to touch just shortly on the history of the online community. So 1990 the internet as we know it is created, then in 1991 the word “BDSM” first appeared on a usenet group. Soon after alt.sex.bondage, a group on usenet, found the community expanding further into the online world. A decade later bdsmlibrary.org was founded, and Fetlife popped up seven years after. Today there hundreds more active websites for our community. Some are social networks, some dating apps, some pornographic sites, others are shops which cater to the implements, dress codes, and novelties associated with BDSM culture. The internet opened the lines of communication, for knowledge, connection, and experience in ways that our community simply didn’t have up until that point.
Now we’re going to go one site at a time and give you ideas of how best to utilize these resources.
Fetlife- starting with the most popular and well known social site is fairly obvious.
Created by John Baku Fetlife is essentially the Facebook of the fetish community. There is a feed from people you know, and groups you follow just like on Facebook. However, it’s not pictures of your friend from fourth grade’s puppy (or at least not that kind of puppy)…. It’s going to be posts on things within the lifestyle. That’s not to say that there aren’t vanilla things happening on Fetlife, there are of course, but the majority is all about the kink.
Kuldrin and I are both on Fetlife, so are our spouses. Along with us there are another 6,230,112 members to date. (https://fetlife.com) There are over 100,000 active groups discussing every possible subject you could think of at any given time. To be a member on Fetlife you must be 18 years of age. Within these 6,000,000 plus users there are people from all walks of life. You can definitely get a broad scope of what we mean when we talk about your kink is okay, by looking at the lists of fetishes alone on Fetlife, and understanding that for each one, there are probably at least 1,000 users who can relate to it at any time.
Groups are just as diverse as the individual users. We of course have our group Kuldrin’s Krypt, where you can join or start a conversation. There are groups for fetishes, groups for local communities, there are groups for fans of certain book series. I myself am part of groups that offer tutorials, or just give advice. There is so much out there where you can...