Nudist social media and "influencers."
I'll start with a disclaimer. Like many people born before 1980, my "appreciation" for the social media world is limited.
So if I say something that may sound ignorant, it's because I am.
A while back, while doing my usual online "nudist surfing", I noticed that images of the same naked "fun couple" seemed to keep popping up. At first I brushed them off due to their "backside and strategically-placed objects" pic sharing style (of which I am not a big fan).
But then I realized that there seemed more to it than just "big smiles and cute butts." So I investigated and found that they are:
https://www.nakedwanderings.com/
I didn't get too much into the bio but the gist of it are that they are a young Belgian couple named Nick and Lins; and at some point they decided to quit their jobs and go "nudist resort-hopping" all over the world.
I'm not sure if writing reviews of the resorts was always part of the plan; but they have effectively made themselves into the "Michelin guide" of nudist resorts.
I spoke before about my ignorance of the social media world; and I was speaking more specifically of monetization. All I know is that people can get quite rich from social media, based on numbers of "hits" and "subscribers". So what I'm wondering is to what degree Nick and Lins' "resort-hopping" and social media presence is financially motivated vs. nudism advocacy. But I guess they're not mutually exclusive; and after all: if you can make money doing something you enjoy, why the heck wouldn't you!? But it can make nudism look like a "project" more than an actual "life style choice."
But the thing that made me "tick" was when I read them being mentioned by a news outlet as the new "faces of nudism." And that just doesn't sound right to me. I'd be the first to say that nudism needs more "heroes"; but I'm not sure Nick and Lins are the "heroes" we need. It's not just the fact that they are not affiliated (to my knowledge) to any nudist organizations; but more so that the nudism they stand for is "globe-trotting recreational nudity." That's nothing something "average Joe and Jane" can aspire to or be inspired by. Most of us do not practice an "exotic brand" of nudism that looks good on Instagram and will get us many followers.
I'm not dissing "Naked Wanderings" here; as a matter of fact Nick and Lins are exactly like the type of people I would hang out with at a nudist resort. And maybe they are just a reflection of where nudism is headed. I was concerned a long time ago that nudism would turn strictly activity-oriented: with people going to the resort only to run 5k's, or going snorkeling nude for a week every year at some fancy exotic resort; or jumping from resort to resort on vacation without taking the time to get to know other nudists. Just so they're able to post pics on Instagram. And that would mean the death of the type of nudism I practice and love (not to be dramatic or anything.)
Thoughts?
I understand entirely to what your saying. I have followed Naked Wanderings on many social sites. Not opposed to what they do. Maybe jealous if anything . But I too don't really see theirs type of nudity to be as mine. But along time nudists we both know that nudity comes in many different forms
If you follow their site at all, they did a post on monetizing already. They found you can monetize pretty much anything EXCEPT nudity. Their site has a pretty good following, but the ad networks from the likes of Google and Facebook wont pay them for ad placements. So in addition to everything else they are doing, they have to do all of their own ad placements in the site. One positive is that as a visitor to their site you dont have to worry about Facebook and Google trackers, since Nick and Lins have zero incentive to work with those companies.
And those trackers are a real privacy threat... Ive been researching different Class B camper van rental options to try bringing our two Greyhounds with us to our local nudist camp to see if they would put up with it vs. staying with friends for the weekend when we go (we could go more often if we took them with us!). Different account on a different computer and Ive been staying off Facebook since October, but suddenly Mrs. J&C is getting Facebook ads about RV rentals. There is no way to tie her to RV rentals except for Facebook trackers on sites seeing the same IP address that is now logged into Facebook.
I can relate to this in another way. I belong to a Volkswagen camper club, and I admit to having been poor enough to have lived in such a van from time to time. In the past few years, there's been an upsurge in "Van Life" which usually involves a young couple (with perhaps kids and dogs) shucking their conventional life, traveling the country or the world in their van, and posting about it in blogs and social media. Some of them even try to make a living of this, and a few actually succeed.
They don't make money from most of the social media, but they use them to draw attention to their own web sites, which have ads or promotions that generate revenue.
My feeling is that if they can make this work on some level, more power to them. But they really don't have a lot in common with people like myself, who like to travel and camp in VW vans but aren't trying to make a life-style out of it. (For me, been there, done that, got the T-shirt). I might follow their travels with interest, and pick up a few clues about where to go next, though.
I've read many of their posts, they are often shared on Reddit, and they are great bloggers representing naturists and the lifestyle. Facebook and hence Instagram has always had a very strict no nudity policy, they still don't know how to categorise non-sexual nudity, so it's all bad in their book. Hopefully their hard work will pay off and more people will stumble upon their website.
Interestingly, just going through the general discussion topics and found this:
https://www.truenudists.com/forum/thread/185367/behind-the-scenes-of-naked-wanderings/
Basically, it asks people to join Patreon and I think it means subscribe to the couple mentioned in this thread. I can imagine that those relying on travel and writing reviews of places are having a hard time due to the pandemic, but in my case Im not going to provide money to people living a life most of us could never afford. Instead, Im already doing my best to do my bit for people closer to home who have lost their livelihood due to current conditions.
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