Link: http://thedreamking.net/blog/

BDSM email lists were My first exposure to the BDSM community. Many email lists are launched in conjunction with a dungeon or a BDSM organization. Email lists have now become mostly irrelevant due to social networking sites, but they are still very active in BDSM circles.

Yahoo Groups has a large and very active number of email lists. The biggest problem with Yahoo Groups is that they won’t let you do a search for adult groups. There have been other services that have popped up to fill that need (more below), but the best way to get started is to join a group and then look in the links section which are usually packed with other lists.

MySpace has Groups too, as does AOL and I’m sure there are plenty more Bulletin Boards and Social Networking sites that offer email lists and groups, but Yahoo Groups is still the most active. By all means spread yourself out there and join them all, but for the time being Yahoo still holds the crown.

Once you’ve joined a BDSM list (or many) the purpose is to make connections and get information, not to directly find a partner. To be honest, making a global announcement about your availability is seriously frowned upon. Start by introducing yourself to the group. Ask questions. Post your own points of view. Learn from the group and be a good member of that community, it will pay off for you in many ways.

Your purpose on these email lists is to set you up for the other two paths, BDSM Personals and BDSM Organizations. These lists will help you discover which organizations are local and meet your needs. They will also give you a good idea of what others are looking for, what they’re interested in and some really great ideas, so that when you meet the right person, you’ll know what you’re doing.

The bottom line is that the BDSM mailing lists will give you the information and contacts you need to meet the right person in your area. Without this information, you’re going to be poking around in the dark and your opportunities are going to pass you by.

In My next article, I’ll take a look at BDSM personals.

Where do you get started? I have a mailing list on Yahoo for the central region of the United States (Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Colorado) and you can join that here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/okbdsm

I also have a website that lists dungeons, organizations, events and mailing lists in the central region and you can visit that here:

http://www.CentralBDSM.com

Here are a couple of sites set up to help you find mailing lists from your area:

http://www.adultgrouplists.com/
http://www.adultgroupsrepertory.com/

The permanent home for this article is on My new blog that you can find here:
http://thedreamking.net/blog/