[gius]

The management of tFS has been thinking of opening up registrations to the general public again. As you all know we moved to a closed invite only registration last year to slow growth but we also restricted many quality new members from joining. Do you all think we should open up tFS for public new registrations?

Please note: that this vote is for feedback purposes. Your feedback matters but it's up to the forum management to determine if membership will be opened up again.

[Hipkitten]

Let your voice be heard! Cast your vote today!

[Ceptuouse]

I like the idea of thefashionspot being exclusive, and open regestrations sometimes caused problems with people posting silly things

but

I'm getting annoyed with people finding links to my myspace etc and emailing me for invites, which I dont have many of to give to people I dont know...It would be good to have a way to get more invites either

[sethii]

i voted yes and agree with JR

Would be cool to find out who all these guests are who seem to outnumber online members 3:1

[Andy R]

If you think about our current membership base, we have 60,000+ plus members with a tiny percentage who are bad/silly. If we open up we are certainly going to get more members who break the rules, cause trouble, etc the number of good members will out number them exponentially.

tFS has to grow and the invite system in the last year simply did not work to help us grow in the right direction. The new members added were amazing but we just did not grow enough. We (on the mod team) have seen many great members have life changes and although they still love tFS they have new jobs, more work, babies, etc and do not have as much time to spend at tFS as they once did. It is healthy to be able to bring in fresh members.

Don't be scared that a few apples will spoil the bunch when it comes to new registrations. If that were the case tFS would have been ruined already. I think the advantages of more views, perspectives and quality members will out weight the negatives.

[MissMagAddict]

Yes! I definitely think it's a good idea to open up new registrations. Many of our new members have contributed an amazing amount but I know that there are more people out there who also would. I've been posting on a regular basis for well over a year now & I've seen people come & go. The people who stay here & contribute regularly are the ones that make this place what it is.

As for myspace, livejournal...you can make those private...friends only if you want to. You don't have to add everyone that requests you as a friend...I don't.

Same with scanning. If you don't want your scans all over the internet...then don't scan. The whole idea of scanning is to share with the community. I have rare images that I've scanned & I've enjoyed sharing them. What good is it to just hoard magazines in my apt? It makes me happy when I see someone request an edit or an image & I can scan & post it. Where else would I be able to share images with so many people? I'm grateful I have a place to post my scans with people that appreciate & engage in a discussion about them. I've posted my scans on other boards where people don't discuss much at all & I don't like it. I'm aware that some guests & also some of our members who don't post very often come to tFS to take info & scans freely for their blogs, etc & they don't always credit us which I don't like to see but that's just the way it is. We know who you are (especially the bloggers) I do appreciate it when people ask first & credit scans.

Like Andy said & I agree that the positives of adding new members would far outweigh the negatives. Our Mods do an excellent job of weeding out the bad seeds.

Whatever the decision I thank you for the opportunity to be heard

[homeboy]

I voted yes, simply because I know that there are hundreds of people out there who want to join but doesn't know anyone who can send them an invite.

Opening up the forum in a period of 3 months would be optimum.

[TheGlassAngel]

Looks like the score is even again....

[OlgaKorbut]

I think it's easy to vote no when you're already on the inside...

And I have to admit that I like how tFS has become a slightly more pleasant place again since the invite only policy was introduced...

There was such a huge influx of new members there for a while, and many forums changed for the worse imo...

However, I'm not sure that's reason enough not to open up registrations again. As mentioned already, there are probably tons of potentially very valuable members being locked out at the moment...

[OriginalSin]

I voted Yes. I basically agree with what MMA said, and I am going to be completely honest here: I have never liked the invitation-only policy. While I understand that it was tFS' intention to weed out problematic members, I find that the actual written policy is a tad bit...elitist. This in particular

Quote:

Our goal is to have members that are fashion influencers. That means they directly influence fashion because they work in the fashion industry or are the type of person that constantly stays up-to-date on fashion trends and typically influences or educates their friends on what is going on in the world of fashion. Attributes we are looking for in new members: - LOVE fashion & LIVE fashion. - Trendsetters and influencers amongst their peers. - Always seeking more info on fashion trends, products & news.

has always bothered me. I was a member long before the invitation policy came into effect but when I first read this all I kept thinking was, perhaps I don't belong here. I am hardly a fashion influencer even in the most basic sense, I don't stay up to date on trends, etc. Certainly when I first signed up with tFS 2+ years ago, I was a fashion newbie and hardly knew anything at all. I have learned a lot during my time here, but had the invitation policy been in place 2+ years ago, I probably would not have gotten an invite. While I have definitely seen members invited who do not have the aforementioned attributes, I still can't help but feel the policy treads a very fine line.

I don't think many share my sentiments on this matter, but I feel the need to express it anyway...I guess just as something to consider. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I really do love this community and the people in it. But I worry that perhaps the invitation policy gives off the wrong impression.

[leblue15]

I voted yes!! I remeber when I wasnt a member how badly I wanted an invite!! but didnt know anyone who could send me one, I had to send messages to myspaces (sorry haha, but I was desperate).
I always loved fashion and really wanted to be a member but the invites only policy made it sooo hard , and Im sure there are tons of people who right now are wanting an invite and would be great members and contribute in a good way to tfs.

[mariemaud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR1 I like the idea of thefashionspot being exclusive, and open regestrations sometimes caused problems with people posting silly things but I'm getting annoyed with people finding links to my myspace etc and emailing me for invites, which I dont have many of to give to people I dont know...It would be good to have a way to get more invites either

Like MMA said I think it's easy to cope with that if you make your profile private

[mariemaud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMagAddict Same with scanning. If you don't want your scans all over the internet...then don't scan. The whole idea of scanning is to share with the community. I have rare images that I've scanned & I've enjoyed sharing them. What good is it to just hoard magazines in my apt? It makes me happy when I see someone request an edit or an image & I can scan & post it. Where else would I be able to share images with so many people? I'm grateful I have a place to post my scans with people that appreciate & engage in a discussion about them. I've posted my scans on other boards where people don't discuss much at all & I don't like it. I'm aware that some guests & also some of our members who don't post very often come to tFS to take info & scans freely for their blogs, etc & they don't always credit us which I don't like to see but that's just the way it is. We know who you are (especially the bloggers) I do appreciate it when people ask first & credit scans.

Same here.
I must confess it already happened to me to forget to credit (I've added it as soon as I realised... ) and I've already seen my scans not credited in some sites and I don't really mind if it doesn't happen too many times...
Well I tell myself the person must have forgotten...

The only time I get angry was a specific case in a site where I've found all my latest scans with neither credits nor link to my site, plus a water mark added on my scans it was amazing !
It's so wonderful to have a place to share, to give and to take and I'm so glad to have it it's hard to get angry if I see my scans around the net...
I'm very grateful when people credit me and if they don't , well ,
it's also part of the game

[mariemaud]

I vote Yes, thinking it may be a good idea to try and see what's going on...

[Plato's_Cave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OlgaKorbut I think it's easy to vote no when you're already on the inside... And I have to admit that I like how tFS has become a slightly more pleasant place again since the invite only policy was introduced... There was such a huge influx of new members there for a while, and many forums changed for the worse imo... However, I'm not sure that's reason enough not to open up registrations again. As mentioned already, there are probably tons of potentially very valuable members being locked out at the moment...

I totally get what you're saying... and I think many great members got "scared away" because of the direction TFS was taking.

But I voted yes as well. Change is inevitable, and it's kind of silly wanting to cling to "the good old days". The community's obviously missing out on great new members, and I was never comfortable with the elitism implied by the invitation-only policy.