I Don'T Understand...

[SomeThing]

In 2003 when I identified as a babyfur, I was hanging out on the 'old' TeenBabyNet (back when it was pink, not grey) and the DPF message boards, of the few people that were members on there, only a handful were babyfurs, I could practically count them all.

I then used to frequent in #babyfurs on FurNet IRC, the channel had about 30-40 people, the only real babyfur art site, PT's NT, had regular updates by a small number of artists. I had the genuine impression this was a small subset of furry.

Now flash forward 7 years, including just under 5 years where I effectively lived in exile from furry (and still do, to an extent) and I'm seeing them everywhere. If I do a search for "Username contains 'fox'" then I get hundred or so results, most of them held by users with babyfur-like names, but with no posts or other ifnormation attributed to them.

I don't understand how it's happening: what is the cause of this explosion in numbers I'm seeing? Is it that there are more infantilists joining furry after seeing babyfurs on sites they go on, or is it more furries joining AB (because, in my experience, they tend to be more 'experimental' in their lives).

I'm just looking to understand how this small 'exclusive club' I was a member of has suddenly grown so much.

Thanks!

[Bettypooh]

In 2003 when I identified as a babyfur, I was hanging out on the 'old' TeenBabyNet (back when it was pink, not grey) and the DPF message boards, of the few people that were members on there, only a handful were babyfurs, I could practically count them all.

I then used to frequent in #babyfurs on FurNet IRC, the channel had about 30-40 people, the only real babyfur art site, PT's NT, had regular updates by a small number of artists. I had the genuine impression this was a small subset of furry.

Now flash forward 7 years, including just under 5 years where I effectively lived in exile from furry (and still do, to an extent) and I'm seeing them everywhere. If I do a search for "Username contains 'fox'" then I get hundred or so results, most of them held by users with babyfur-like names, but with no posts or other ifnormation attributed to them.

I don't understand how it's happening: what is the cause of this explosion in numbers I'm seeing? Is it that there are more infantilists joining furry after seeing babyfurs on sites they go on, or is it more furries joining AB (because, in my experience, they tend to be more 'experimental' in their lives).

I'm just looking to understand how this small 'exclusive club' I was a member of has suddenly grown so much.

Thanks!

I know nothing of furries personally, but what you are seeing us happening with many lesser-seen public lifestyles Part of it is the general mood change in the US where tolerance is more tolerated, part of it is that there's so much more online than ever before, and part of that is there are more individual sites that cater to specific types of interest that going more public with anything is easier than ever before We see more GLB persons expressing themselves. We see more TG's doing the same. Especially in that area we see more openly mid-gender TG's than anyone knew existed ten years ago when their percentage in the TG world was a low single digit Now I'd say they are 10+% of that world Another part of the big picture is that the newer generations are less socially inhibited than we were; they are freer with their true thoughts and less afraid to experiment with expressing them And those experiments more frequently bring people who are less afraid to befriend an 'oddball' than ever before. It's not just the world of Furries, though they have made huge advances; it's all over and it's nice to see

Bettypooh

[AutieAB]

I'm just looking to understand how this small 'exclusive club' I was a member of has suddenly grown so much.

What happened was The Internet. There's no such thing as a "small exclusive club" when anybody can join in anonymously on the internet. Growing numbers = exposure = more attention = growing numbers = more exposure = more attention........ and so on. People see Furries on TV now and I'd wager that most people under the age of say 50 (and a fair few who are older, before I get slapped ) know at least to an extent what Furry means... Like it or not Furries are going (have gone?) mainstream...

The same is happening to ABDL, of course. Not so many years ago, there were only a tiny handful of places for people to go to online (DPF for example). Now there are numerous large community sites and countless smaller ones. It's happening slower than it is in the Furry community (probably because of the 'ew' factor ) but it's still happening and there's nothing any of us can do to stop it.

[SomeThing]

I know all that, but I'm just wondering why babyfurs, specifically, have grown larger than I anticipated. People can enter furry and infantilism ex nihilo separately, but you don't just get into both like that.

People identifying as ABDL tends to be a constant proportion because it tends to require that you have certain predispositions first, but practically anyone can become a furry given the right circumstances, but I haven't seen evidence to suggest much of a Network Effect of babyfurs getting 'regular' furries into it.

[curiositykilledthecat]

The internet is evolving.

[AutieAB]

I know all that, but I'm just wondering why babyfurs, specifically, have grown larger than I anticipated. People can enter furry and infantilism ex nihilo separately, but you don't just get into both like that.

People identifying as ABDL tends to be a constant proportion because it tends to require that you have certain predispositions first, but practically anyone can become a furry given the right circumstances, but I haven't seen evidence to suggest much of a Network Effect of babyfurs getting 'regular' furries into it.

No, there probably isn't a 'network effect' for the reason you stated. But there are 6.86 billion people on this planet. The ABDL (and Furry) prerequisites for becoming a babyfur are rare, yes, but with such a huge volume of people, a large proportion of which are getting online (in the western world especially), that 'rare' group is still very, very large.

The first thing most people do when they get online for the first time is explore things they've always wondered about but never had the balls to explore in a more public way. I'm sure this is why small, 'exclusive' communities are finding their ranks swelling so rapidly. 20 years ago, most ABDLs thought they were alone and the only ones with such desires and may not have explored to find a wider community. People whose desires are more 'complicated' (ABDL + Furry) presumably felt even more alone but nowadays, one single Google search shows that's not the case and there are communities for these things - so they join them. <sarcastic but true> Google is the gateway drug to self-exploration </sarcastic but true>

[SomeThing]

I just feel bad because it's like having everyone joining my top-secret club, it's not a secret anymore and loses its touch.

Anyone want to give me a cheer-up cuddle?

[painterfox]

Well I can't speak for others but as an AB, my inner child decided he wanted to play kitsune after I watched too much anime.

So now I'm a grown man that pretends to be a little boy that pretends to be a magical fox.

[Pixie_Stix]

Because Baby Furs are cute. Really, that's it I think. The adult baby fetish in general isn't just about diapers and playing baby, it's about the personification of innocence and cuteness, so anything that fits into that category will wind up inherently picked up and "adopted" into the community as such. It's a natural progression I think.

[veljie]

I just feel bad because it's like having everyone joining my top-secret club, it's not a secret anymore and loses its touch.

Anyone want to give me a cheer-up cuddle?

i feel the opposet i want ABDl to become more and more mainstram so i can ware in public without feeling i have to hide it all the damn time and find more and more buddies to play with RL

[Puer Aeternus]

its normal; while it would be nice to see the growth rate of users identifying themselves with a group it is safe to assume that an increase in users is corealated to internet use growth,

in North America the growth rate of Internet users was 146.3% from 2000-2010.

Sounds really off I think it might mean a 46% increase in people each year avg. i dunno; 2000 user pop 108,096,800; 2010 internet users pop 266,244,500 a 77.4% penetration; 2010 pop est. 344,157,450 ttl

*edit* figured it out its 146.3% of original user pop increased over the ten years (+158mil people)

[Baby Brian]

It's simple really. The more something becomes know, the more it will become accepted, and the more it will grow. Most gays can attest to this; back in the 80's most people who ever had a gay thought pushed it back and denied who they were to fit in with major society. Now if someone has a gay thought they can feel more open to trying it out. The same holds true with furry babies. I now consider myself a borderline furry but have never really pursued that side very much (except for my fuzzy bear). Even 20 years ago I didn't even know about furry babies, but I haven't changed- just opened up more.

[Creepymouse]

I gotta agree with the notion that babyfurs are just cute.

I didn't start as a babyfur (despite my name containing Mouse) but I kinda like some aspects of it.

But can you imagine having to clean up a messy diaper from FUR? o.O

[belinda_sue_fox]

As AutieAB said, "What happened was The Internet".

Only recently does everyone and their pet monkey have the internet. Anyone with even the slightest intrest in a subject has access and can join a group.

Another point on numbers, as the years go by the amount of people registered on sites increases and not all them are new people. Also not everyone with a furry sounding nic is a furry.

[sarah_ab]

the numbers aren't really all that stagering, it just seems like it..... trust me its still an infinitely small number of people inovlved....