Once a lurker?

This is a spin off of "Social Groups." I lurked for several years, and when I was finally in the position to join, I did so to find out more about myself as a CDer, to gain from the experience of others, to offer my experience, to be able to reach out to individuals and to hopefully meet sisters in my general area. My successes have been overwhelmingly awesome!

If you were once a lurker on this CD / Trans forum, why did you finally join? Perhaps other lurkers truly in 'need' will benefit from your answers.

Hi Jenny :hugs:, I too was a lurker for about 4yrs. and one day I just pulled
the pin and signed up about 11yrs. ago and the rest is history. >Orchid ..O:hugs:O..

I joined soon after I found this wonderful site. I always had the idea that I was the only pebble on the beach.
I new there where plenty of Trans Gender people, but not just people who liked to wear woman's clothes.
So I found a bit of heaven; at least my confidence grew a lot. I now under dress all the time, I wear only
Fem Jeans, I dress at home every chance I get.
In Short, I am glad to be here.
Rader

I joined to find out more and friends. I lived in the country, in an area were the locals were not very comfortably with non-conformists. that was ten years ago.

I lurked for around a month! I wanted to gain more knowledge about all of this! It has been very educational! I now have more friends than I ever had before! I have moved along on my journey with the help of members on this forum and am very glad I joined! OMG, I sound like an ad for the forum! Join and see what you are missing! Hugs Lana Mae

I stumbled across this site nearly ten years ago. I knew some things about myself, but had no idea that a more self accepting and open life was possible. The resulting journey has had more than its share of peaks and valleys. I do have regrets, but I don’t regret gaining a better understanding of myself and being more able to carve out a niche in this big, complicated world.

I lurked for about a week before joining. Never regretted it. Billie Jean

I had a friend from another site tell me about this wonderful site. I checked it out and joined immediately. Thanks Veronica!

Generally not a social being or vocal group participant and happy to lurk here for years as a consumer of information. Joined years ago, but still never posted until recently. And often not signed in after joining. So for all intents still viewed as a lurker.

But, I think it is important to appreciate that just because someone is reading as a guest, a so called lurker, that does not mean they do not have legitimate interest in the subject.

Not everyone can create beautiful music but musicians appreciate an audience. A forum has no benefit without both posters and readers. Not every reader needs to post. And posters do not need to concern themselves with every other post.

Thanks to all for their more public participation. I am a member here specifically because of the high-quality and respectful participation. So many sites are rendered useless because of inane comments. I would rather a thousand lurk in the background than make detrimental contributions.

I was looking for a new online community (had tried several) and joined this one almost the first day I found it. This group seemed to have the right focus for me and I stayed here (and stopped going to the other sites)

I saved the site URL a long time ago in a file in which I made of list of cross dressing sites/blogs. But I only recently looked at the site properly and joined, because I forgot about it. But I’m glad I’ve come back to it.

Hi
I forgot how I found the site.
I lurked for several months.
Then, when for various reasons I decided I needed to either .... or get off the pot, as the old saying goes, I decided to join and see what's what. I've found the site to be therapeutic in its own way, helping me be satisfied with what I am.

Fran

I lurked for a month or so before I joined. I still lurk everyday. As a matter of fact, I was lurking when I saw this post lol.
Even though I mostly read, rather than post, I always log in.

I didn't do much lurking even after I joined. I pretty much forgot that I joined for a couple of years. And I still do some lurking. I don't feel a need to respond to every thread that I take a look at.

Being a loner single man that has a strong compulsion to dress up as the tall ladies i have been strongly interested in, but failed to attract, i found this site on a search, and am glad it is not a sex site, like almost all others, and many views on CDing are allowed on here, pro and con, and everything in between. There is far more support for gays out there, and transexuals, than for men who just love to dress up in certain clothes designed for women.

I feel like I came across this site a few years ago, but I never really looked at it. It wasn't until I started fully crosdressing that I found it again and thought that it was a great place to discuss things. I've been on the forum for about a year now and am more engaged than ever. It's so inspiring to see how long this place has been a positive community.

I found this site in a search for more like-minded people, read some threads for a day or two, then joined up. Like Samm and Ressie, I am not posting as much as I did before, but I always login and read a lot of posts in almost all the forums here.

I was looking for more information on crossdressing and stumbled upon this site was a lurker for about a year the decided what coud it hurt and joined And never looked back. Made friends and gained alot of information.

Lurked for about 4 months last year. At first I didn't think I would join but then slowly as everything snowballed I began to want to interact with others. Just the act of giving myself my feminine name was
such a revelation and it changed my perspective of who and what I am.

Highly recommend testing the waters.

I lurked for a couple of years. I did not join because I am closeted to all that know my male persona (except my wife) and I was afraid of leaving a trail of bits and bytes that might lead to me. After a couple of years of learning so much from the people here and gaining a lot of respect for all of you on this site, I finally joined and have never regretted that decision.

I too lurked for approximately 3 years before joining in 2013

Jenny,
I was in a dreadful state mentally and felt I had little to lose .

I had to look up the date I joined. It put me at two years into retirement. My wife was still working. I had plenty of time on my hands to be en femme and peruse the internet. I probably stumbled across this site. I do not remember how long it took to join. I probably wanted to see what was posted in the other areas of the forum. I was not too literate when it came to computers. I actually was terrified back then because my wife and I used the same browser. It wasn't until I started using Firefox I became comfortable with the entire idea of enrolling. Recently I walked away from a session and left this site open. My wife saw it. All she said was I should be more mindful to close out a session. Her tone was matter of fact and not at all hostile. I think it was more in line with me not wanting it open if someone had dropped in unexpectedly.

What I have found myself doing on this site is trying to counteract some advice, if followed, may have unintended consequences. Life is not a one size fits all thing.

I found this forum by chance whilst searching the internet for posts about underdressing and i joined comparatively quickly. I only "lurked" for a couple of weeks.
As a closeted CDer, it appealed to me because you can be as anonymous as you prefer.
It also looked a really friendly & informative place. (and first appearances have turned out to be accurate :gh:)

I joined because I thought I could contribute something to the forum.

Over the years I have made a few suggestions, not always good ones, and I hope I helped others in difficulty also.

Beverly we all make less then perfect selection. Glad to have you on board.

For some reason it took a couple of years of seeing mostly sex sites until I found this one. Once I checked it out, I joined pretty quickly. It's been 11 years and I have no regrets.

I lurked for a month or two until I got a feel for it. Then I joined and I'm so glad I did. I only wish I had found it sooner.

What does it say about me that I didn't think about lurking?! Am I odd? It just never occurred to me to just sit back and watch. I mean zero offence to anyone who does. CDing a tricky thing to come to terms with. But I just dropped right in and started posting.
I guess by the time I joined, despite only having been dressing more fully for a year, I was already owning the label to an extent.
It's likely no coincidence that is the same time frame in which my wife's cooperation dried up.
But having learned so much from you lot I'm assuming for a more balanced approach.

Lurked a bit, was looking to see if I could get some decent reviews of transformation services besides the ones they pick to put on their websites.

Between that and the other factors I wrote about in the intro section, I've been all over this site like a maniac the last few days after diving in. Decades of pent-up emotions, I guess.

I lurked for 5 years and was finally convinced this site was populated by people genuinely trying to understand this gender issue. Joining here has been very important and meaningful to me.

Once I found out this wasn't a hook up site, but a place of love, learning, and education I was on board immediately!