Read the instructions, Kink Talk edition.

[Doctor Pervert]

Something that I've realised is missing here are a set of instructions for use. So much of life comes without any instructions and often times that sucks, you just have to bumble your way through it hoping for the best. I think we can do better here.
Scattered around the site there are several "how to's" for new members but nowhere that simply spells out the basics, how does this all work?

So lets start at the start and work our way through so you don't get too confused, throw your phone across the room and yell "Fuck this!!"

Kink Talk is a discussion forum, that means it is designed for people to share knowledge, ideas and opinions by "posting" messages in "threads" that follow specific topics.
You'll find that we have a whole bunch of top level topics such as BDSM, Femdom, Clothing Kinks and so on. Under these you can also find related sub-topics that help to organise things further. There are also some specialised forum spaces for personal ads where you can find others to connect to.
A thread is a series of messages, or posts following a common theme. The first post, often referred to as the original post or OP starts the thread off, from then on you can reply to either the OP or subsequent replies by using the appropriate "reply" button on those posts.

The best way to get started here is to spend some time reading threads that you find interesting and when you feel ready you can reply and join in the thread. You can also start your own thread by using the "Post thread" button at the top of the forum you are interested in.
Now at this juncture it's worth pointing out that you should try your best to find the most appropriate forum topic to post your thread in. A common mistake is to post personal ads in discussion forums, this won't improve your chance of ad getting more attention, in fact your post will often get moved or deleted anyway. Another common mistake is multiple posting the same thing in several forums, aside from being borderline spam it dilutes your ad by spreading attention out. Popular posts will keep moving to the top of the "What's new" list, if you have many posts they will slide downwards.

Being a good member means participating, this doesn't mean you have to post a lot or even at all, but if you read something you like or enjoy then hit the "like" button to encourage the poster to keep going. Otherwise they have no way of knowing if what they do is appreciated and may stop posting entirely. The only way the site can work is if the members contribute, there are exactly zero paid staff here, all content is user created. The moderators work hard to keep spam and malicious posts to a minimum as well as keeping things neat and tidy. If you have a problem ask them first, we want your feedback and will do whatever we can to fix anything causing trouble.

Finally make sure you read the rules as well as checking the "sticky" threads at the top of most forums, take special note of the picture posting rules you'll find at the top of the Show and Tell forum before you include or post any photos.

That's it for this installment, in my next post I'll go into some more details especially with regard to photos but also some posting etiquette.

 

[Doctor Pervert]

Continuing on our discussion of the basics of navigating Kink Talk lets focus on photos and their place in this forum.

In general posting photos is not a problem, but as this is a discussion forum please remember that photos are an adjunct to our discussion and not the main point. So in general photos can be used to support and enhance your profile as well to add an extra dimension to discussions. As such the forum is not really designed to display photos, so the "Media" section is somewhat lacking in features and options. If all you want to do is show off your photos you will get a better experience on plenty of other site designed for that.

For the most part you should only be posting photos of yourself, if they are of someone else they must never show a face. Regardless of what consent they give you "exposing" someone here is prohibited and will result in your account being banned. If you want to include photos of yourself that show your face then you need to become verified so we know it is you posting. Details for verification can be found in the Show and Tell section under the sticky thread title Verify me. You will also see two more threads detailing the forum rules on face photos and our stance on exposure.

This brings us on to one more closely related topic and that is our policies around user identity. Kink Talk uses an anonymous user account system, your real identity is never required and should not be revealed in any posts by anyone including yourself. Posting details of any persons real names, addresses, phone numbers or links social media accounts is strictly prohibited and will result in an instant ban. This included photos that show identity documents etc.

This policy allows you to mask your kinky activity from nosy people and keep your work and/or social life unaffected. However it also results in the opportunity for some people to masquerade as someone they are not. In other words faking their gender and/or age to fool others into interacting with them. This practice, often referred to as catfishing after the movie Catfish that centers on this behavior.

So how do you know if the person you are chatting to is really male of female? Unless they have a Verified title under their username you don't. What does that mean? Ok, take a look at this key.



When you look at post you will see this ID panel beside it, you avatar (photo image) is at the top. Under that is your username and below that your title.
New members will see their title is "Not so kinky", it will stay like this until you post something when it will change automatically to "Kinky Newbie". You can progress up the user ladder as it is known by posting more, at 30 posts you'll become "Kink Talk Member" and at 100 "Senior Kink Talk Member". There are higher levels still and you will see some of these around. Some members will have a special title to show they are verified, this process is explained above.

Next is the users chosen identity, both their gender and kink. As mentioned before this how the user has described themselves, Kink Talk does not require this information be checked in any way. Staff members will also have an extra banner indicating that fact. If anyone tries to tell you they are staff and they don't have this banner do not disclose any sensitive information to them.

One final thing to look out for in the title area are the titles "catfish" or "suspected fake", sometimes both. This indicates the person holding this user account has been shown to be deceiving people in some way and as such there is doubt about their actual gender.
Catfish as mentioned previously are people posing as a different identity to deceive others into interacting with them. Due to the nature of our identity policy this not prohibited however we believe you should be informed about the deception. If you then choose to proceed that is your decision.
The "Suspected fake" title is applied where a user has been proven to be using photos of other people and claiming them as their own. Often these are old web found photos and reverse image search will confirm this.
Again these accounts have been tagged so you can make an informed choice on whether to interact with them or not. Be aware that quite often these people will offer to share photos with you sometimes encouraging you to post them on other sites. Occasionally this can be someone trying to spread revenge porn of an ex so be very cautious or you may be implicated in this crime.

Phew! That was a lot to get through but hopefully you now understand the why's and how's of some of the more hidden facets of how Kink Talk runs.

If you have any questions about this please leave a comment below or message me directly.