Skinbook has called it quits

Replies

• LO

  

  Louis33705

  Sep 14, 2010

  Quoting the original message sent by Skinbook to all members including myself,

  "After

  all the effort (and money) we have put into saving the Skinbook

  network; the complaining, negativity, abuse and general lack of support

  we have recieved from our users has been quite frankly, disgusting... I

  am no longer prepared to provide the Skinbook network to any members

  past or present."

  I am not surpirsed they came to this decision so soon.  I belong to several nudist sites which were Ning including one I moderated.  Many have switched to different servers and have continued to serve their members deligently.  Yes, with new servers there are always changes to confront and get accustomed to.  Someone mentioned in a post above that this was Skinbook's Karma and I truly believe that.  As I mentioned I have moderated two such sites and there is always a lot of time involved to Admin and Moderate these sites.

  Too bad Skinbook is gone.  However, there are still many new sites that are serving our community with pride and respect.

  Louis

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• RE

  

  RedGater

  Sep 14, 2010

  Sad to see another nudist group go. Maybe some of the people who did not finacialy support that site might join this one, and not finacialy support it either. I haven't given any money, but I don't use up a tonne of bandwidth either. My profile is no more fancy than my Facebook profile... which also has no pictures. I'm here to text and converse occasionally with people.

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• DO

  

  dozer25

  Sep 15, 2010

  Skinbook closing has sincerely disappointed me too. I hope that it will be an example of this poor outcome where those people who are rude and not into the naturist lifestyle and principles have ruined it for the rest of us, and this might allow them to wake up to themselves and live and let live. We are all individuals with different bodies, perspectives and personalities, we need to be open to others, not be critical and above all respectful, particularly to those who are working hard to unite us in an online social setting, if True Nudists goes the way of Skinbook our ability to network online will be severely diminished.

  Take care everyone, stay peaceful and respectful to keep TN going.
  -Adam

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• JO

  

  John

  Sep 15, 2010

  You could see that it was going to go bad earlier this year. I used to admin a large naturist site many years ago. I had several conversations with the mods on Skinbook and it was easy to see that they didn't have much of a clue about naturism in general, let alone running a site like that. My overwhelming feeling was that Karl and his uni mates thought that this might a quick way to make a few quid by building up thousands of members in a niche group and then selling it on.  When he suddenly realised that it was going to start costing him a whole heap of money, he decided to get out. Hence his epiphany-like 'distancing himselve from the lifestyle.  Or maybe I'm just getting way too cynical in my old age!

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• BB

  

  Balazs B. J.

  Sep 15, 2010

  Guess it makes more sense now why we haven't received a notification about the new site being up and running. Too bad that the old site was taken off line so abruptly before we had time to write down all the e-mail addresses our friends have sent us to keep in touch with.
  Sue & B. J.

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• JA

  

  jason

  Sep 15, 2010

  notices were sent out,i received several about the staus of the group and the direction it was going. the ning site was left up and running for several weeks after the mods announced that the ning version would be closing and a version elsewhere could be set up.
  from the message sent about the demise of the group, it sounds like it was more to do with some of the members than not being a naturist or trying to make a "few quid" the message stated that many members were complaining or had some kind of negative attitude.

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• NA

  

  Naked-Houston

  Sep 15, 2010

  [quote]NIM,  Actually, there is at least one Ning site that is nudist.  We just have some good discussions and information sharing.  [/quote] I don't belong to your site, but I agree, you don't have to have pictures to be a nudist site.  Very few of the threads on this forum contain pictures.

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• NA

  

  nakedColin

  Sep 15, 2010

  [quote]Be found, and find your old mates,   by joining this group.Skinbook Memorial[/quote]  I for one will miss skinbook.  It may not have been perfect, but it was still a good place to network with other nudists.  I hope that the same thing doesn't happen again here.

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• MC

  

  Mary ClareOriginal Poster

  Sep 17, 2010

  I agree with your statement Chrissy Jack,
  "I had several
  conversations with the mods on Skinbook and it was easy to see that they
  didn't have much of a clue about naturism in general, let alone running
  a site like that. My overwhelming feeling was that Karl and his uni
  mates thought that this might a quick way to make a few quid by building
  up thousands of members in a niche group and then selling it on.  When
  he suddenly realised that it was going to start costing him a whole heap
  of money, he decided to get out. Hence his epiphany-like 'distancing
  himselve from the lifestyle."
  Karl had said to Time Magazine, "We couldn't communicate on MySpace and Facebook about nudism since we were all kind of embarrassed." He wasn't into nudism or naturism. He wanted a quick score as he was clueless. Anyone who is embarrassed to say they are a nudist on facebook, should not start a nudist social networking site.
  Karl was good at PR. My feelings to was it was always about the money. If he had spent even 10 minutes investigating nudism, he would have learned this is NOT an industry for the get rich quick business flippers. You have to have a passion for nudism. if you don't, you will be like Karl and out of business real soon.
  I hope the skinbook episode makes everyone appreciate TN here more.
  MC
  Terra Cotta Inn, Palm Springs

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• RI

  

  richinud

  Sep 21, 2010

  [quote][quote][/quote] If the Skinbook mods did indeed have the power to ban, the site was doomed from the start.[/quote] Indeed, and that's a lesson learnt the hard way at Skinbooks expense. One of the reasons I never started my own forum on the http://www.naktiv.net site is because of the amount of potential hassle value associated with it.  However, I did like the skinbook format and once they started having problems with Ning I offered skinbook space and resources on my own server, but they never took me up on it.  It's tempting to think about starting something along these lines again though... Rich.

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• GB

  

  Greg Brannan

  Sep 21, 2010

  [quote]I can see why Karl is frustrated, but the problem with nudism is that it is too fragmented instead of being a united movement like it was when it first started in Germany.  The original nudists and naturists were all vegetarians, teetotallers, and environmentalists and it ought to have stayed that way.  Instead it's devolved into hedonism, separation and corruption.[/quote]   Actually, IMHO the problem with nudism is the fact that people want to attach things that have nothing to do with the state of dress to what it means to be a "true nudist".  It means that you enjoy to be nude, nothing less, nothing more.  It has nothing inherently to do with sexuality, consumption of alcohol, the kind of food ingested, the environment, politics, or religion.  While there are logistical and societal considerations (such as separation) due to the culture in which we live, they aren't inherent to nudism itself, just necessary evils for being able to practice nudism in today's day and age.

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• CD

  

  Cheri Donna Dawson

  Sep 26, 2010

  [quote]Wow, that is a harsh email to receive. I have recently started up a Naturist Network http://www.naturistcommunity.com I'm hoping that it will grow and develop into a great society and be a great resource. Please join and invite as many people as you can. Kindest regards Ed Clarke[/quote]      Ed, not sure if you realize it but your post is against the TOS here.

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• ME

  Member

  Sep 26, 2010

  I too will miss Skinbook. May TN not make the same mistakes. This site deserves suppot

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• DA

  

  dansmithisnude

  Sep 26, 2010

  I don't know... I had a profile there, and while I was signed in..I was suddenly locked out. I did ask a mod in chat about and they thought it was technical glitch..but I could never get back in.

  I sent several emails over the next week or so asking about it but I never received a single reply back. I finally told them to delete my profile if it was still there and received no response.

  That was a lousy way to treat someone in my opinion

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• MA

  

  magoo1900

  Oct 2, 2010

  Although the old Skinbook has folded there is new site called MySkinbook which has started from the old. There is a yearly 10 GBP subscription but it seems to be working ok and certainly a lot faster than the old site

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• CO

  

  Curt, or Cowboy

  Oct 2, 2010

  [quote]strange that the owner of the new Skinbook doesn't have a photo or any details here on his profile ... [/quote] He's been spamming the forums pretty intensely lately, so I suspect he'll be deleted before long.

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• YO

  

  YogiBear1

  Oct 2, 2010

  I was really saddened to see this site go.  However, being someone that has worked with customers directly I can understand how they feel.   I too wish all of them well.  I hope they do not let the bad manners of some continue to be the representation of that of all the rest of us.
  I would like to add, I am a proud member of the AANR.

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• KR

  

  kramtrohs

  Oct 20, 2010

  It's a shame, they  were having some problems htere for a while.
  We need more sites like it!

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• DH

  

  DOUGLAS HARRIS LANE

  Dec 26, 2010

  You dont have to be a true nudist or a member of AANR to enjoy the true nude life style

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• VI

  

  Vix

  Dec 26, 2010

  [quote]Little boy, you had your peepee slapped for wagging it on camera in violation of the rules that you agreed to when you logged into the chatroom. STFU and live with it.[/quote]  What a sad person who writes such abuse about another but purports to be intelligent, even having to use abbreviation to use foul and abusive terminology, everyone is entitled to an opinion but surely admin should look at people such as this, does anyone know how i can block him so i only converse with adults?

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• ZM

  

  zman12769

  Dec 26, 2010

  I was a member of Skinbook and like the the site til the admin banned me because I only had a few pics up and no close-up with the face. Many people complain that with society some of us have to be careful to let it be know that we are nudists and I know it's sad. but there are people who think nudity is wrong. The Admin of Skinbook at the time were demanding face pics and nude pics. There are people here on this site that don't post nude pics because of society. They have pics in private view and you have to be certified member, which is good. I'm not surpised or sad to see Skinbook is closing.

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• JA

  

  jason

  Feb 10, 2011

  i don't think it was the admin, it was more than likely one of the over zealous moderators. some of the moderators took to running as they saw fit and not how the rules and regs were. there were several moderators that got into a power battle and things started downhill from there.

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• DW

  

  Dario Western

  Dec 25, 2011

  I thought I'd let you all know that I've taken it upon myself to revive the main Skinbook network, seeing as I already admin it on Flickr and Facebook alike.
  I tried to track down Karl Maddocks to let him know, but could not find him anywhere.  Anyway, I gather that he is no longer a naturist or a supporter of naturism and he'd probably just leave me to make of it what I will since the FB group has been sailing along nicely anyway with no problems whatsoever.
  With Ning, I could not use the exact URL that he used to start it, so I've set it up as:
  http://skinbook1.ning.com
  The question that most might ask is: how will/does it differ from TN?  Well, first up, Ning networks are very classy, funky and neat in their designs and one can toggle around with their profile designs and skins.  Secondly, Ning is a pay-site now (as mentioned before), but I think it'd be worth it once I get more than 150 people applying to join it and will need to upgrade it to a more fully-functional forum with events calendars and a few other bits and pieces that were free before their own CEO Jason Rosenthal made the changes that I think got Karl's gander up in the first place.  I was a bit cross as well, but looking at it with more hindsight, I realise that there is no such thing as "Something For Nothing" and "No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".  You want quality, you want class, you want to ring social changes - you gotta pay your dues for it!
  Secondly, I agree with SB's original policies of not allowing pornography or headless avatar photos.  Basically, if something is not tolerated on other social networks like MySpace, Facebook, or Bebo, then it sure as heck won't be tolerated on Skinbook either.  As I've put in the disclaimer it is "The Facebook Of Naturism".  ;-)
  Do I see myself in competition with TN by doing this?  Well, no, not really.  People have a choice as to where they want to meet others and if they like it they're going to join (or re-join if they were former members).  I like and respect this site and what TT1 is doing to keep it in good order.  It's hard work running a web community, but I think if one's heart is in the right place and you stick to it and give it what you've got the rewards are there.  I do not know Karl Maddocks in real life, but I think he did need to have a bit of stability and maturity to run a community like SB.  I've been running nudist cyber-communities since about 1999, and learned quite a lot along the way and still learning.

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• DW

  

  Dario Western

  Jun 15, 2012

  Yes.  Check it out: [a href="http://skinbook1.ning.com">http://skinbook1.ning.com[/a]
  
  

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