Given the conversations around board deterioration, I thought I would post a top 10 list on why I think this board is great:

10 ) It is a great community for exchange of ideas, experiences and beliefs

9)  The bond with others who have a strong attraction to transsexual gals ( sorry about having to prefix gals with transsexual, but I needed to point out the extra features for the attraction ! )

8) It is very well moderated – where fairness to all is a major factor in decisions

7)   It is a place I can turn for questions

6) I have had personal conversations with some of the gals posting … and look forward to future meetings, if timing and business allows.  And don’t ask me how I missed an oppty to meet any of my fantasies when visiting Chicago a while back.  Drat !

5) When board participating gals visit, I feel we already have been introduced.

4)  I have been able to spend time with a few a of gals in various cities – both social and the other  (smile), which would not have happened without this board.

3) I love watching the exchange’s across difference of opinions and appreciate diversity in thought

2)  The ability to turn fantasy into reality ( a three some would be a dream ! )

1)   The photos ( okay – I am kidding on that one LOL )

10. It is very dysfunctional. Ho's pick on Johns.  Johns pick on ho's!

9. Stop being so politically correct. They want our money, we want their stiff cock on a females body.  No more complex than that.

8. If it is moderated any further, there will be no post left to moderate!  WAY over moderated IMO.

7. People lie and reviews are embellished. You get answers that are quasi truthful.

6. Have no fear pretty boy, as long as you have cash in your pocket, there will always be a ho to show you a good time.

5. Yup, kinda why sex with your next door neighbor feels so good.

4. Amen and amen.  The old dog TER does pull through for us some times.

3. If you only knew how many posts do not make it to the board and how much better the exchange of thoughts would be if they did......

2. dreams do come true with the help of TER.

1. you sure?!

JH1

You mention, "If it is moderated any further, there will be no post left to moderate!   WAY over moderated IMO."

Also, "If you only knew how many posts do not make it to the board and how much better the exchange of thoughts would be if they did......"

I can't see what is being moderated, but if your existing posts are an indication, my guess is that the moderated ones would be pretty rough.

I define free speech as the freedom for people to express themselves freely. It also means listeners are free to shout you down or not listen to you. TER fortunately does not like shouting.

Free speech also means you can say whatever you want on your dime or in a public place. This board is open to the public but is owned by private citizens. So one has to adhere to the rules of this board.

You see TER would say, "You are welcome to the party, but please don't show up in muddy boots." To put it differently, we can all disagree without being disagreeable.

ChiTown - if you ever had opportunity to post and read posts of a board that gave you 100% freedom to write ANYTHING you wanted with perhaps the only rules of no outing, no physical threats and nothing that involves any one under the age of 18, you would feel and see the great freedom that exists and anything short of that is weak, pathetic and filtered reality.

As an example, let StealthyTG 100% express herself and her frustrations in life and 100% express her mind. IF John Holmes says of ChiTownTSLover "where the hell are your reviews?  Some TS lover you are!  Chicago is only good for hot dogs and mafia killings, otherwise it's a city of shit" So what!  Via moderating posts, TER curtails a true expression of what is on a persons mind.  Even the self promotion of escorts who start threads bringing attention to themselves. IMO, it is boring and tacky, but as a whole, if the rule was no outing and no physical threats, those self promoting posts would be OK too.  I know of such a board that does have this freedom.  It is NOT a whole bunch of cowboys running wild, but they do have the freedom to do so if they so choose.  That is a good thing.

Of the reviews posted in the review section.  Do you know how many of them contain lies and embellishments because moderators rejected the review for "lack of explicit details"?  I know of many posters who had to make their date sound like a gymnastic event with hard cocks and cum shots that never happened, just to satisfy TER's desire for explicit details.  In one area, they want you to lie and embellish and in the discussion forums, they want you to be 100% civil.

Muddy boots in literature is so much fun and has meaning.  Every one having to wear a tuxedo, might look better, but it is stuffy and not real.

IMO, if the current ratio was 60% of posts make it to being posted and 40% do not. I think with TRUE freedom of speech, it would be more like 95% of posts make it to the board and 5% do not.  Those 5% would contain physical threats, outing of personal info or reference to an under age 18 experience.

If ever you experienced total freedom in a writing environment, you know it is a good thing.

JH1

this board has certian rules to maintain civility in discussions. My guess is that some of your posts may not be passing the test of decorum.

My suggestion would be try tone down your posts, make your points in an agreeable manner and see if your posts go through. One of the reasons, I am here is because of the civility on the board.

If I wanted drama, I would go to CL.

By the way, IMO, the CL TS forum is absolute useless bull shit.  Why is that?  Simple.  CL is self moderated via the posters in the forum.  All that it takes is 4 or 5 posters who do not like what one poster is saying and those 4 or 5 posters will flag the post, making it disappear.

Months ago I used to be a regular poster there.  The TER TS forum consists of Johns and TS escorts primarily.  The CL TS forum consists of t-girls who desire SRS (sexual reassignment surgery), taking hormones and HATE if any one looks upon them as a sex object or an escort.  The TS posters in CL look upon TS escorts as a blemish and an insult to the transgendered community as a whole.  On CL, they HATE when a man is interested in the t-girl for her penis.

What is ironically funny is that the CL Erotic classified section has the sleaziest TS hook ups known to Man Kind, yet the TS forum is controlled via TS posters who are ONLY interested in discussing SRS, hormones and issues that a t-girl experiences in her transition.  Bring out the  violins!!  The whole segment of TS hobbyists and TS escorts are flagged and not allowed to express themselves in the CL TS forum.  Know what that means?  The CL TS forum is 100% useless to any John or TS escort, who IMO make up 50% or more of the whole TS community.

Those TS's who post in the CL TS forum do not believe that ANY t-girl who tops men is REALLY a transsexual.  They would define her as a she-male, who is really a man with tits and not a real transsexual.  They would define EVERY Eros TS escort as a man with tits and not a true transsexual.  IMO, the posters in the CL TS forum are so far from reality of the TS community, that it really makes no sense to even observe what they are chatting about.  Like they are in their own little world.

IMO, in writing, drama is good.  In writing scientific statistical medical journals, drama is not good. Writing that makes a readers blood boil and causes them to immediately passionately express their thoughts, is good IMO.

JH1

John, I think what sets TER apart is the good moderation - otherwise you have the anarchy of CL or HA.  Which is fine if that's what clicks one's interest.

But I think TER is seen as a place of moderation where guys know they will find girls who will do their very best to give them what they seek and expect.

Amazingly enough I didn't know there was a TS forum on CL until reading this thread.  I took a look and gee, you are right.  It looks like the CL version of "TransFamily" which excommunicated me for being a whore...

But you are right with the percentages - but the "other half" of the TS community - the non-passable, a-sexual, "gender dysphoric" crowd - those who want acceptance the most, are often the most unaccepting of trans girls in the sex industry.  And that's why the TS community is split down the middle.

BTW - does anyone know that only about 15% of TS's actually have any kind of genital surgery.  That includes the gender dysphoric crowd - in fact probably more former escorts have SRS that the other group simply because they have the money to do it.  But for those girls who happen to like having a penis who is it to disrespect them - being transgender doesn't have to be just a transitional period between binary genders.

But John I disagree about your comment that causing blood to boil is good.  Lively discussion is good, but there's a fine line between that and slinging insults.  And too often the unmoderated forums turn into a blood bath of hurt feelings and hate.  And ultimately the site suffers.  This is why TER has been the King for so long.

OK I gotta go to bed - see ya in a few days.

Hugs,
TS Jamie

-- Modified on 4/11/2008 8:22:24 AM

Jamie Honey - I am glad you took a look at the CL transgender forum.  You came to the quick and accurate conclusion just via that first look too.

There is only ONE TS poster in the entire CL TG forum who is a "provider" and her screen name is Mica.  She is a TS professional massage girl who the other forum members allow her to post because she keeps a low profile.  CL has a numbering system of green and red points.  The posts that objectify TS's as sex objects will get red points.  The posts that offer positive comments that is helpful to TS's will get green points.  If you were to scan down the posts and see any poster who has lots of red points added up, that is a poster who is disliked by many other posters on the forum. (notice HeartofGold always gets lots of red points).

It goes with out saying that I was the most hated poster to EVER post in the CL TG forums!! ha ha ha  As a matter of fact, I think they had to re-vamp their entire screening system because of me!! If I mentioned what my screen name was there, every one there would recognise it.

In a nut shell. TER TS forums are sex positive.  CL TS forums are sex negative. On TER it is 100% accepted that Johns and ho's interact with each other.  As you mentioned of your and Jessica's non ability to participate in San Diego's TG events, you would equally be shunned from posting in CL TS forums.

When massage girl Mica included a link to her new massage studio which has 12' high ceilings, all the other TS posters made fun of her saying she needed high ceilings so her Johns cum shots would not hit the ceiling!  Mica keeps a low profile there but posts now and then with a link to her site so that Johns have a way to contact her.

The bottom line is, no John is welcome to post and no TS who is part of the sex industry is welcome to post.  You will immediately get red points on your posts and most of your posts will be flagged, so they will disappear.  The controlling forces at CL TS forum are all sex negative and they 100% intend to keep it that way.  Even if 30 or 40 Johns and TS ho's congregated and posted in CL TS forums, there would be a blood bath between the sex positives and sex negatives.

It is interesting how the TS community is divided.  Fact of the matter is those TS's of the CL TS community would not consider you or any sex worker a "true TS".  They only consider TS's who are on hormones and who ignore their penis and have SRS as a goal, to be true TS's.  Also, no TS who is objectified or looked upon as a sex object is considered a "true TS".  The CL TS forum really is a strange place.
JH1

Nobody is abrogating your right to free speech here.  TER is not punishing you, jailing you, or stripping you of liberties when you post something against their wishes.  They are in essence telling you, "Not in my house."  If I come knocking on your door carrying bibles in an effort to proselytize, vacuums to sell, or encyclopedias to peddle and you close the door in my face or say, "not interested", by your reasoning you just violated my right to free speech.  TER doesn't want to listen to or promote what banned posts say.  Our right to free speech is also our right not to listen as speech is not a public soap box exclusively for loud mouths.  Speech is a two way process.  Freedom of speech is really about freedom to transfer information and to think.  If you think forcing someone to post whatever you want to say doesn't violate freedom of speech, you are incorrect.  If you've found your utopia board where posting rules do not exist and that is your preffered format, I do not see how your freedom to speech is limited.  You just admitted your ideal format for expression exists, so go express yourself there if what you want to say is against board posting rules.  Is it your contention that TER will hunt you down at that board, judge your posts according to TER's board posting rules, then  delete your post on that board if it doesn't fit TER's posting criterion?  If no, then TER is in no way violating your right to free speech.

If you've ever moderated a board or read a lot of posts on a board, you will find a lot of people's posts are ineloquent, off topic, spam, and nonsensical.  Most people's writing abilities stink in my experience.  Give a lousy writer freedom in a writing environment and he produces lousy writing.  He is free to be lousy, he is free to write, but I do not have to listen as that is my choice and my freedom in the two way process.

You are correct in saying that TER has the final say in what is posted on their board.  It's a little interesting to me that in the review section, TER entices a poster to write more detailed and explicitly and will reject a review if you do not. (believe it or not, I have a few reviews at this moment which are rejected because I need to write more explicit details)

I DO have almost 100% freedom to write whatever my heart desires on the other board.  The reason for that is ALL posts get immediately posted the moment you click "post message".  The ONLY way a questionable post gets removed or moderated is if a member clicks the "report" button and reports the post to the moderator to look it over.  That site is more of a local 16,000 member site though and not a national one.  IMO, it is a much better format solely for the reason there is really NO moderation. It is a pure unadulterated exchange of what ever any one wants to write.  The readers decide what they feel is valuable info and what is not.  In a very rare case, a post is brought to the attention of a moderator.  To tell you how infrequent that is, in a 6 month period of time, the moderator NEVER looked at even ONE post in the TS section until there was some bickering between two members and the moderator needed to step in and sort things out.  That was about 4 months ago and in the past 4 months, the moderator has vanished from the TS section.

There are lousy writers in every medium.  You have the freedom to not read their posts.  On the board I am referring to are posters who have tens of thousands of posts.  I rarely ever read any of them because as you mention it is like "bibles in an effort to proselytize, vacuums to sell, or encyclopedias to peddle".  But they still had the freedom to post those tens of thousands of boring posts.  

IMO, in the long run, the board that allows the most unfiltered, unmoderated freedom of speech, will be the board that attracts more of the masses of people to participate in. It is best for ALL involved in the long run IMO.
JH1

"The ONLY way a questionable post gets removed or moderated is if a member clicks the "report" button and reports the post to the moderator to look it over."

"The readers decide what they feel is valuable info and what is not.  In a very rare case, a post is brought to the attention of a moderator."

You just described a moderated board where the posts are moderated.  You are not free to post whatever you want there, you are free to post whatever the readers do not want moderated.  Whatever I type on this board gets uploaded to the board immediately, so similar privileges exist here.

At that board you mention, lack of moderation is more likely a lack of attentiveness to the board, not a statement for free speech.  The moderators rely on the watchful eye of the posters to keep the workload of pouring over posts to a minimum.

In my experience, allowing unfiltered posts leads to spam and turns away potential posters.  One need only to look at usenet to see the fate of unmoderated boards.