Skinbook was a short lived nudist social site which exploded on the scene over two years ago, its popularity seeded by worldwide press coverage. Its young founder soon found it was more than he could handle and became disillusioned, abandoning both the web site and nudism. Recently, Dario Western, an Australian nudist-activist decided to take over where Skinbook left off, determined to make it work this time. We asked Western a few questions and he provided very insightful answers which we print verbatim below…
On the topic of what he thinks went wrong with the first incarnation of Skinbook:
There was nothing wrong with the whole idea behind Skinbook. At the time, there wasn’t any sophisticated social network that catered for naturists and nudists in the same league as sites like Friendster, Bebo, MySpace and Facebook were doing with the general public. As you said before, Maddocks was not the right kind of person to run the site. He was very young, very inexperienced, and still trying to find his feet with the world. Plus the fact he was condescending towards the very kind of people who put the most capital into nudist ventures in the English-speaking world – a la the “creepy old people” and single men. He wanted his site to be focused mainly on women and male/female couples in the 18 – 35 age group (he was 23 years old when he started Skinbook, along with some university friends). Plus, he trusted in the wrong types of people to help moderate the site. There was a couple called Dan & Vicky whom he chose as forum mods who would routinely ban anybody who disagreed with them, and another guy called Andrew who was also chosen as a forum mod who was rude, condescending and bullyish towards certain people (including me). Eventually, Dan & Vicky were deposed and banished from the site and Andrew stepped down after numerous complaints from the members about the way they treated them. That was a contributing factor as to why Maddocks’ patience with nudism started to run out eventually.
About his use of the same name (Skinbook):
Photo by Hughesdarren
I tried to track down Karl Maddocks through numerous internet searches, but to no avail. The Skinbook logo that is being used for the new one is the first one that was used for it’s original MySpace site and then was replaced with the more fancy logo when he took the site to Ning. I don’t see why it should cause much concern for him anyway, seeing as he no longer wishes to be associated with naturism and nudism in any shape or form. When he originally closed down the site and wrote the angry resignation letter, I did try to contact him originally to point him to another network that I’m on which mostly focuses on the under 40′s, but even so I did not receive any response from him.
On how he plans to reach out to the old Skinbook users as well as recruiting new members:
I don’t have the original database for Skinbook. Only network admins and mods on Ning are allowed access to them. Fortunately, I do have a number of nudist friends, acquaintances and net-mates whom I have invited to the new network as well as commented on it on old web pages which refer to it.
On what are his goals with this project:
I hope to be able to put naturists and nudists back in touch with each other and make some new naturist friends in the event that I would like to travel to places like Europe, UK, America, Canada, and New Zealand. I have a few relatives and nudist friends in Canada, which tends to be a bit more open and laid-back with nudity than most people in my country are.
About some of the things that will be different in the new site:
The difference between the old Skinbook and the new one is that I am hoping this one will be better run. I have been a nudist since 1990 at the age of 19, and have also worked in customer service and done a bit of counselling work with studies in Aromatherapy and natural medicine, so I tend to be open to listen to other people’s problems and concerns a bit more. As a bout of my interest in natural therapies, I want to be taking naturism back to its original roots which put a very strong emphasis on exercise, leisure, vegetarianism/veganism, environmentalism, spirituality, communality, and family values. Naturism tends to have a very bad rap today to be associated with pornography, swinging, drunken orgies, and child abuse at the worst, and at best something that only lonely, sexually desperate old people tend to want to do. These are very limiting paradigms to live with, and I want to help normalise the lifestyle and make it a valid and healthy one again that anybody of either gender and any age can participate in (although for safety reasons, I do not allow anybody under the age of 13 to join Skinbook).
On how he will avoid the pitfalls of any nudist social site, namely its misuse for sexual purposes:
I am known to be a bit of a whistle-blower on inappropriate behaviour that I have encountered in my local nudist scene, and am mostly hated for it by the Australian nudist community. Many tend to want to deny that such behaviour exists and just paint nudism as a happy-smiley lollipops and roses thing as you see in the magazines. I think that this does a dis-service to naturism, and does turn off a lot of newbies to the scene when they find that there are some people in it for the wrong reasons. Having said that, I am objectively politically and sexually liberal myself – what consenting and responsible parties do with their sex lives is fine. However, naturism by default is a family orientated lifestyle that is based on mainstream community values. If there is behaviour that is not tolerated in the textile world and mainstream social networking sites, then it will not be tolerated on Skinbook either. I won’t put up with flame-wars, divulging of private information, or imagery that is not allowed on other networks. Basically, I want naturism to become a mainstream lifestyle the same as it is in many parts of Europe, so I need to tread with caution as to what is allowed on the network. Besides that, Ning does not allow full-frontal nudity on its networks anymore. Topless is okay, but no showing ‘private’ parts. Then again, I believe that naturists and nudists need to have some common sense and not surf onto nudist or porn sites whilst at work or in certain public places where other people are not yet ready to handle full-frontal nude images. It’s best to ‘err on the side of caution’. There is also a group on Yahoo! called North West Naturists which does not allow any nudity in its photo album, and it has plenty of members and people posting to it. If people want to see nude photos to get their rocks off, then go to a porn site for that, not a naturist one. There is a time and place for everything.
About how he might one day profit from this venture:
Naturism is my passion, not my profession. However, I would definitely love to be making some money from naturism sometime soon. I’m also a musician and I’m working on a co-ed band to promote awareness of naturism to a contemporary rock and pop music market, so once the band gets to a point where it’s ready to record I’d like to invest my earnings into a 5-star nudist property. I can but hope (grins!). Where Ning is concerned, they now charge between $19.95 per year for a basic network of up to 150 members, to $59.95 per year for a more sophisticated network with an unlimited amount of members and more features such as events calendars, the ability to form groups, create apps, and many more features that were originally free. Initially I was irked when Ning became a pay-only site, but with hindsight I can see why they chose to go that way. In the real world there is no such reality as “something for nothing” and “no such thing as a free lunch”. You want class, you want efficiency, you want sophistication – you pay for it. And I am definitely willing to put my money where my mouth is! 
If you’re interested in knowing more about Dario, here’s his bio:
Dario Western is a nudist activist originally from Manchester in the UK, now living in Brisbane, Australia. He first became aware of naturism at the age of 8 when viewing the BBC documentary “Let’s Go Naked” in January 1979. He has contributed several articles and letters for the magazines Australian Sun & Health, and The Australian Naturist, as well as created and running several nudist and naturist social groups and forums on platforms like MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Yahoo!, and formerly MSN. He has also done interviews with the local media and appeared twice on TalkBack radio host Richard Fidler’s show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as having organised the World Naked Bike Ride in Brisbane three times between 2007 – 2009.
Of course, you should visit the site, and better still, join-up! The URL is: http://skinbook1.ning.com/
Here’s a link to a May, 2010 article in Time magazine about the original SkinBook.
Related Articles:
Tags: dario western, skinbook, social network
Loading ...
We run a naturist campsite and no one can answer the question that is being asked by Skinbook in the sign up process, and these are English people, never mind the Europeans and other areas of the world. Unless Dario Western removes the question he will not get many people signing up.
Hopefully mr. Western will see your comment soon enough!
I agree with richard, I do not see any purpose to the Question. If perchance there is a logical reason, I would love to hear it.
The reason why I put the question up is to see who is genuinely serious about naturism and nudism and the community, rather than somebody who just wants to get into it for kicks.
I have now signed up 19 members to the network since launching it last night, although I might relent and put a different question up which is a bit more easier.
We wish Dario luck with this endeavor. It will be hard to keep it focused on strictly nudist activity due to the number of sexually active folks who tend to mix nudism and sex somewhat indiscriminately.
The reality of the situation is that most people who would consider themselves nudists do not spend much time online visiting nudist websites, let alone joining groups like this. Surfing the Web for naked pics and nudist chats is not a mainstream activity and attracts those who stand to gain something from such contact, and that gain is usually sexual in nature.
That, and the varying viewpoints as to what constitutes ‘nudism/naturism’ makes it extremely difficult for the serious nudist to find a legitimate group to join. If anyone can create and maintain such an entity, Dario can. He’s dedicated, experienced, and an honest-to-god heartfelt nudist with the vision and determination to carry it through.
A valid nudist social network would be of good use in sharing ideas, news and information between naturists worldwide – something which is now being done haphazardly through numerous websites, blogs and social pages. Again, we wish Dario luck!
if it is not “cap D’agde” i do not have any idea … I’m getting frustrated and about ready to say to hell with it … I was a member of the olde SB way back in the day
Dario, just tried to sign up and the correct answer to the question is being refused! This is rediculous!
For those who are having difficulty answering the capcha question, it’s been sorted out now so you should be able to get into the network with no problems.
I also got a call from a friend today who advised me to be vigilant about Ning’s no nudity policy, so I have now got special groups on Flickr and Dailymotion for anybody who wants to share full-frontal nude pictures and video clips.
The Flickr group also allows videos for up to 90 seconds and is at:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/skinbook
The Dailymotion group is at: http://www.dailymotion.com/group/skinbook
good luck Dario hope it all go well for you but “y” question .
it used to be a nice site seems a long time ago now though
will try and sign up latter GGA
ı wish Dario luck!
I have never met you but find your comment that being a whistleblower has resulted in Australian nudists hating you as being absolutely ridiculous. As the Internet has a global audience, i cannot understand why you would choose to be aggressive toward a majority being the Australian nudist community when surely it is a select few you have had issues or incidents with before. As mentioned at the start of my comment, I do not know you or have never had any dealings with you but I hardly feel like I would want to reach out to you if our paths were to cross having read this interview.
Furthermore, you have slandered the original creator and taken his intellectual property ie based on your comments for using the logo etc. which without his authorisatin does infringe in his original work. If your passion is really for nudism, why haven’t you decided to start from scratch and leave all aspects of the previous Skinbook in the past.
I recently read on a different forum on TN that you reacted without any background to a persons comments on there and after your aggressive post , and their need to feel they had to justify what they meant, you suddenly retract your words after the damage is already done.
If you want to create another nudist group online then perhaps you should do it with original ideas and mould it into what you believe is how a nudist online presents should be. That way people know off the bat its your way or nothing.
Well good luck Dario with the new Skinbook. I really hope it does work out a success and I feel your move to disallow full nudity pictures might oddly be the best move you can make to keep the site for the types of nudist you are aiming to attract.
Without wanting to be too pessimistic however, I think you will still run into many of the problems that the old skin book faced. Wherever you state that something gives access to naked people – men women, young, old, straight, bi, gay – some people out there will want to be in that space regardless of its desired intention purely for their own gratification.
This means that members will get approached by people who sign up for motives of their own and there will be occasions (many I would imagine) where people on the site will get upset, call for banning and generally get uptight and annoyed. Sorry but I just can’t see it not happening.
Within the nudist community there are those who believe it is only about the feeling of freedom, self expression, gently enjoyment of their surroundings etc etc
There are nudists who understand all of the above but still also feel that there is some eroticism to nudism and gain pleasure from the ability to see others undressed but make no big deal of it.
Then there are the nudists who use getting naked as a conduit to sexual conduct and little else.
This is perhaps an over simplification but it is true to say that ALL of these types would consider themselves nudists, so if you run a site for nudists ALL of these people will ultimately sign up. And try to contact each other. And seeing as their interpretation of what makes a nudist are so different there will be disagreements.
You can moderate a site all you want and be as inclusive or exclusive as you like but you will still get people creating fake profiles, pushing their own agenda, and generally doing as they please. As a user you either sign up to a public site knowing this and just accept that it happens and simply ignore those who don’t match your own beliefs OR you really shouldn’t sign up at all.
If you really want to create a space for nudists who broadly have the same outlook on nudism and get on with ‘some’ kind of harmony then I would like to make a few recommendations:
1. Give everyone the opportunity to sign up, create a profile, post in the forum, chat, post pictures, and generally interact. If the site host allows it, let them do/say whatever they please as long as it is legal but point out that for the right ‘sort’ of nudist there is an opportunity to move away from the open access area if they want to.
2. Create a second area to the site that is ONLY accessible by invitation from other members who are of the same/desired outlook. i.e. make it like a golf or other members club, where you have to be nominated by your peers to gain access. Once nominated, the club members can review the posts, pictures and activity by the nominee to determine if they will fit in – set up an admissions board of members who judge entry against a certain number of set criteria.
3. For those who DO get invited to join the members area and pass the criteria – attach a subscription charge. Charging to get in alone won’t weed out undesirable members but invitation by peers and a subs charge will ensure you are getting only those who are serious about your vision for the site and will play by the rules so to speak.
4. Set up a process for throwing out members who break the rules. Make it clear and give the member a proper opportunity to put forward their case.
If you don’t have the resources, time or simply cannot be bothered to introduce something that resembles these steps the I’m afraid all the old complaints about skin book (and other nudist sites/forums etc) will come back to haunt you.
In effect the site should be run as both a business and a club. As anyone who has ever been involved in running either will tell you, this takes a huge amount of time and effort.
Thankyou for bringing back Skinbook.
sorry but I much prefer http://naturally-nude.net now and it’s being run very well and I feel safe on there unlike many other sites. I also know that skinbook is a copyright name and why do people have to copy other peoples work and ideas, can’t they think of a sites name for them self lol and not be copy cats.
We are totally happy with the NaturallyNude (www.naturally-nude.net)site and will remain there.
Here’s hoping the comments about naturallynude are authentic and not just meant to create “back links”…