Sexy Labia: Love Your Sexy Labia

Cornball,

Yes. . .I was the one who invited you in the beginning. ;)

Well, nothing has changed here -- things are still fun, new, we have more members than ever, and we still remain an open-minded place to be for labia enthusiasts and those who possess them.

So let me explain each point you touched on one-by-one as I think you're misunderstanding the point of some of the things that have been put in place at this point (Moderators, Thread Closing, and Karma Points).

Moderators: First, you should know that moderators were chosen based on trust and experience.  People who were at the original sister site for a very long time, and/or have contributed largely to the success of this site in general.  This list right now is @himu, @PaulMApphart, @Eva, and @tempest_driver.  At the moment, the moderators are here to offer advice, and point new members in the right direction if and when they have questions.  Moderators also approve new member accounts based on the same criteria that I approve new member accounts for.  If new members had to always wait for me to approve their accounts, it would sometimes take days before they'd be approved, since I'm sometimes not on the site for a few days at a time.  Moderators also help enforce the general site rules, which were put in place before you became a member, and which I still expect you to follow since you are a member, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thread Closing: Presently, moderators can only close threads in specific categories.  Of course, I can close a thread in any category, and generally only do this, when I feel as if things are going off-topic, or getting exacerbated to the point that it's making other members uncomfortable.  Generally, as a rule of thumb, I don't close threads simply for going off-topic.  It would typically have to be something that is really egregious for me to close a thread.  Ironically, I've never made it a point to tell the other moderators this criteria, yet they seem to adhere to same policy as I do.  Even though they have the power to close certain threads, they mostly defer to me to close a thread, even though they have the power to do it.  Now there are threads that can be closed automatically, and that happens after a certain period of time has passed without any responses on the thread, and that only occurs in the Questions Category at the moment.  So that as questions are answered, they can be "bumped" down, allowing new questions from other members to take precedence.  Currently, this "auto-close" time frame is 90 days.  The reason I chose 90 days is because I figure that's a good period of time to get a question answered, while allowing new members to have their questions take precedence and get answers too, as I'm sure you'd agree. ;)

Karma Points:  I created the Karma Point system to reward members who contribute to the site and to encourage members to dialog with one another by asking and answering questions, sharing pictures, and just contributing in general, since at present, we have over 200 members, but most are largely silent, and simply only view pictures, or other content, but do not contribute in any other way.  And that isn't to say there is a problem with that -- there isn't, but some of our members as you well know need encouragement, and sometimes need other pertinent questions answered from this community whom they've grown to trust.  Karma Points were also created based on some members messaging me privately to ask if a specific member "can be trusted", or if I've "known them for awhile".  While the Karma Point system isn't a sure-fire way to gauge a member's trustworthiness, it does help to determine if a member has been here for awhile, is a frequent contributor to the site or not, etc.  Karma Points have served us very well in so far.  In fact, they only had to ever be subtracted from one member since inception of the system.  Based on her comments on the sister site, she is clearly someone we didn't want as part of this community anyway, as she was attempting to sell photos of her labia here, which is just unacceptable in this community.  Karma Points are also a good indicator for me of people who should be designated as "Senior Members" or who can become moderators in the future as the site grows.  In the daily course of a day, no member can really do anything to LOSE Karma Points, outside of harassing another member, making irresponsible/disrespectful comments towards another member, or basically not following the General Site Rules which already state the very things I've mentioned here.  Mostly it was created as a way to eliminate members who aren't abiding by the rules, while rewarding those who are.  I'd received complaints about specific members here and there, but noticed that the person got along fine with me, or with other members.  So I created this system as a way to allow those complaints to go "on record" so that with enough complaints, a member can be removed from our community in a fair fashion that is documented over the course of time.  Of course, members who are contributing and aren't being complained about develop Karma Points easily and naturally.  Take @Agatha, or @mrmarquis as examples.  I use them as examples, because in my opinion they both exemplify what I expect from members.  This isn't to say I'm singling them out as favorites, as there are other members who also exemplify what I expect.  I just used them as examples, since I see them on the site often.  But the overall point is, the Karma Points system doesn't encourage members to "fish for praise", because they won't get any points for simply praising a specific person of set of pictures for example.  It takes much more deliberate action to gain Karma Points, and I suggest you read up on it on the Karma Points System thread.  Based on your assertions, I think it's quite evident you have grossly misunderstood the purpose of the Karma Points system, and probably haven't read the thread. ;)

So I'm not sure how you ascertained that based on the Karma Point system the site would become an "endless loop of compliment fishing and praise because big brother is watching".

As most members who interact with me frequently will tell you. . .I basically allow members to say/do what they want, as long as they remain respectful of one another.  Your opinions are your opinions.  If you don't like the way a specific labia looks for example, you're welcome to say so (heck, ask anyone if I haven't pointed out when I think a woman is too thin for my taste for example).  Again, your opinion is your opinion.  Respect is what's important.  Or I guess a better word would be 'tact'.  Your tactfulness in describing what you may like or dislike is what's important.  No one will be upset about that.  Big brother isn't watching, because frankly as long as you remain respectful and exercise some tact in how you speak to other members, I could care less what you say or what your opinions are or aren't for that matter.  I have better things to do than be "big brother". ;)

Now in regards to your other comments:

You said: "It would be nice if under "Shared" there were only threads of MEMBERS
who have decided to share with the forum, and not lists, or requests and
the like."

That's exactly what the Shared Category is for, and what it contains.  Was there a specific thread you feel doesn't belong in that category??

In the Anonymous Category are those who have decided to post through an intermediary, or who have decided to share their pictures with the world, since those threads can be indexed by Google and seen by all who view the site, whether they are members or not.

Why not just make a "dedicated thread" room?  Well because the category Anonymous is for those who have sent me pictures to post but have not yet become members or are too shy to post their own images, but want to share them with everyone else, and get opinions, etc.  This isn't the same as the shared category where some members want their pics to remain privately viewable by other members only.  A "dedicated thread" room would have to be publicly available to everyone, or open only to members which would not allow those who send me their pics to share them in the way they would like (i.e. public or non-public).  Further to this, is that some members want their pics to be public, while others don't.  Your suggestion wouldn't allow for this, as it would simply relegate all "dedicated threads" to a completely private category, or a completely public category.

So in conclusion, if you choose not to share pics you've taken that is your prerogative, but I've done my best to explain what everything is, and to help you understand how and why these ideas and systems have gone into effect.  My actions are always based on feedback I receive from other members either publicly or privately.

If you want to share your pics in a separate category, you can do so, as @PaulMApphart has chosen to do, which will be unveiled to members shortly once he's done with setting things up the way he'd like.

Just let me know if you'd like to do something similar, and we can discuss it, and I'll help you set it up.

About your "negative" Karma Point. . .of course for simply sharing your ideas, and opinions, you wouldn't receive negative Karma Points as I explained already, but contributing the way you have in the past, would easily contribute to you receiving positive Karma Points going forward, since you get points for even the simplest things, like stating your opinion as you just did. ;)

Read more about the Karma Point System to understand how it works.

Anyway, hope this answers your questions. ;)

Sidenote: Funny you mention "gun oil". . .I'm a gun enthusiast myself.  Are you a gun enthusiast too?

No, I am not a gun enthusiast, I'm a libertarian, so I respect those that enjoy their guns, but fear their ignorance.

** Well, I'm certainly a gun enthusiast and own and shoot many guns, and love it.  However, I'd hardly call myself "ignorant" because I'm a gun enthusiast.  But that's another conversation. ;)

Onto your other points. . .

I 100% understand why it is in place, and in a Utopian society, it would
be a great idea, but as I stated in my original "bitch fit," while it
is not an issue now, it is something that I have personally seen
implemented (not exactly called "Karma system") on other sites as a
means of gauging participation and community building, and later turns
into the Giant Hand gripping the Iron...smoothing out the wrinkles so to
speak.

** Understood.  Still, I sense that you are simply lumping this site together with negative experiences you may have encountered elsewhere, which really in and of itself is a misnomer.  Consider that if the women who come to this site for advice after a negative experience sexually with a man or after hearing some kind of negative reference in regards to their labia were to take those words or experiences as "gospel" they'd be lumping everything into a single negative experience (or the possibility of such) much like you have done in this example.  So I'll have to politely disagree with your notion in that regard, misnomer or not.  This is quite obviously not the case on this site, since some of the very members of this site have stated that they respect my firm lead, and also intrinsically believe that I'm "very reasonable" (their own words) considering that in all actuality I do have the final say so on anything concerning this site.  Yet I would more closely resemble a "liberal" (like you) where this site is concerned, despite my personally being a Republican/Conservative. ;)

So sir, how did I ascertain (although deduce would be a better place
holder, as the word ascertain indicates a fact, while deduction is due
to logical reasoning or a conclusion based on a set of
perceptions...sorry, my brain tends to ramble at times) that this site
would become yada yada yada....  Well, because as you yourself stated "no member can really do anything to LOSE Karma Points, outside of
harassing another member, making irresponsible/disrespectful comments
towards another member."
(emphasis added)  So, let me elaborate and further deduce how I arrived
at that comment:  A while back a female member FINALLY (and I say
finally because I had been waiting too) decided to share a pick and
asked for "honest" opinions.  To her dissatisfaction, she only received
praise, because after all...this is a large labia loving community. 
When she pressed on about her dissatisfaction, members began to get a
bit violent (not physically, just that the comments were more negative
for the first time); and the comments were about her, but not at her, so
it was the classic bathroom bullying where you talk about somebody in
front of them yada yada yada.  NOW, I am going to reach a little into
the future some put on your glasses and come with me.  This community,
should strive to also educate, those who have large labia and are self
conscious about it, as well as those who tend to mock or make fun of
beautifully large smackers because they believe them to be indicative of
an unchaste woman; this will NEVER happen however, if those, who are
either hateful or just ignorant, are chilled from making comments for
fear of negative repercussions.  Truth is the new hate speech after
all...

** Ascertain, as per dictionary.com states: "to find out definitely; learn with certainty or assurance; determine: to ascertain the facts."  You asserted your position as if it was factual in nature.  Whether factual to you alone (subjectively) or factual in reality (objective), wasn't relevant.  And therefore, I used the word in the proper context. ;)  Now onto your points. . .the member you're referring to is @ECC22 who I personally spoke to at length about her perceptions of herself.  Yes, the thread became very "heated" so to speak, mostly because she has a negative perception of herself.  Still that thread was "unique" in that, most threads on this site do not have the person who is sharing the content asking for specific feedback (she wanted to know if her labia were larger than labia those commenting on her thread had seen in the past).  As the site administrator, it's my responsibility to ensure that she gets the feedback she is seeking -- nothing more, nothing less.  And this was given her already fragile perception about her labia already nonetheless.  So that thread is just a bad example at best.  Still I believe members can express their opinions without being outright disrespectful to one another.  Ask @Agatha if this is true or not.  She has disagreed with me on more than one thing specifically, but we always get on just fine, because neither of is disrespectful to the other person.  I firmly believe that members can express their opinions (even if they are perceived to be negative opinions by others, since opinions are subjective anyway) *WITHOUT* being disrespectful.  I'm almost under the impression that you don't believe this is true somehow.  I mean someone who is going to be negative can do exactly that here, and be "educated" as you put it, after they've made negative comments.  I have absolutely no problem with that.  What I do have a problem with is that person calling out a specific member and saying something that is distasteful.  I will not tolerate that under any circumstances.  If you consider this to be me "chilling" them from making comments, then so be it.  This community is here to celebrate the female form, and sexuality.  They can be as negative as they want, without "picking on" a specific member.  The women on this site have experienced enough of that in their lives and I created this community as the one place where they'd never have to be concerned about being "single out" or "picked on" for being themselves, and sharing their fears/concerns/sexuality with us.  Otherwise we may as well be any other site where "anything goes", irrespective of how distasteful it might be or how it might make a specific member feel about herself.  Truth may be the new hate speech, as you say, but then in this community, ignorance will be bliss in that case.  There is enough nonsense out there for women to feel terrible about already.  They can turn on their TV's and have the media in their faces telling them they weigh too much when they're perfectly healthy, or that they need to somehow change their bodies to be attractive to men, and so forth.  Not here.  No way, no how.  And overall I'm sorry, but actually disappointed if you disagree with this.

As for my other inquiries, I was definitely misunderstood when I looked
at the anonymous section and saw dedicated threads for Idoia Durante,
Faye Reagan, Dominika Chybova, Monika Trubkova, and Sofia A. (Himu, good
find, I dont mind the size of her labia), because I thought these were
all pulled from the internet and did not realize that they sent these
pics to you and wanted to remain anonymouse...apologies.  BUT, good sir
(twirling my fictitious monopoly style mustache), if those were in fact
just pulled from the internet, I think it would be awesome to have a
section just for "dedicated threads" so that we can post those ladies
found in the internet that have this lovely gift, like Nadia Styles,
Meagan Jones, Adrianna Leigh, and Ravishing Rebecca, just to name a
few.  So in the off chance this is the case, I would like to formally
submit that proposal and if you give me a minute I will log in under
another account and second said proposal.

** Now that is a very good point, and a very welcome proposal/suggestion.  I have been organizing the site recently to better reflect specific things (like I've moved the videos to the videos category for example).  This is something I will do, because it is after all, a very good suggestion.  Keep them coming. . . ;)

@Agatha: Yes honey, I only mentioned you specifically, because we have publicly had disagreements on here as you know, but the point I was trying to make to @cornball is that you and I *always* remain respectful to one another while expressing our opinions, even if we disagree.  And *that* in my opinion is what makes this site a good place for most everyone.

As a wise man once said though, you cannot please 100% of the people, 100% of the time, which is evident by @Cornball's thread here.  So I can only try my best to appeal to at least 80% of the people 80% of the time. :)