First Steps: Where and When to Make your First Post on Birchwood Isle

Birchwood Isle is growing rapidly (which is great!). This means that I've been sending out a lot of messages to welcome new members to the group and to encourage them to get involved wherever they can. One thing I've found in doing this is that the people playing adult characters are often the most nervous and worried about how to start, or whether or not they are needed.

First of all, let me reassure you: We always need adults. On an individual level, nearly every child or teen in the group is looking forward to interacting with an adult, but new adults can sometimes have a hard time getting a child or teen to post with them. Unfortunately, this often results in the nasty side effect of giving the adult player the impression that they are not needed or wanted. This alienation of adult players may result in losing them.

Fortunately, there are things that adults posting can do to make the transition easier for themselves and to increase the likelihood of getting a response from other members of the group. Please note that on Birchwood Isle that we guarantee to 90% that an open thread will receive a reply because if necessary, one of the administrators will take a thread that has waited past a certain amount of time.

1. Post your thread in a place where there will be other people. Our 10% margin of error in guaranteeing responses to open threads is that sometimes they are placed in areas that are private. For example, if you start a thread at your home, nobody is going to magically appear in your living room in order to reply to you. This is a real example of something we've seen in the past.
   
   Pro Tip: Go for public areas that would, logically, get a lot of foot traffic. On Birchwood Isle you may attract Teens and Adults by visiting any of the restaurants in town. Paying attention to board descriptions is helpful, as each one contains information about the types of characters most likely to frequent that area. Avoid shoppes, as they tend to be less busy. Children, Teens, and Adults may sometimes all be found in the community areas, such as parks and beaches. 
2. Make your thread active. The term "active" refers to a thread which provides the potential other player something to reply to. For example, you might post that "John tripped over a rock, his drink flying from his hand and landing all over the person who had been sitting on a bench nearby." Now this "person" (who is genderless and ageless) can react to being covered in soda. This is an "active" thread. More on this in another post.
   
   Pro Tip: Avoid defining the age or gender of the person who has bumped into your character, or who you tripped on, or who walked by you, or who just let a fart rip (whatever you want to do is fine, but be creative. "Bumping into somebody" is often over used!). This way you leave the thread open to a variety of different people and can explore role play with anyone who happens to want to play with you. Try not to cut yourself off in the first few posts you make on the board.
3. Communicate with the group. People are more likely to post with someone they have had time to become familiar with. When you chat in the cbox (or whatever method of communication is available in your group), you give the other members of the group a chance to get to know you. When two players are comfortable with one another, it's more likely that they will interact productively on the forum. It doesn't take much, just a friendly face in the cbox.
   
   Pro Tip: Most of us welcome a personal message sent to us about plotting with other people. It is wholly appropriate to contact someone to ask if they want to do a thread with you. In fact, if you're more comfortable plotting out your first thread, then be our guest! Our members are generally always looking for more interactions themselves, and would love to talk to you about what you want to play. Just send a message!
4. Respect limits. One of the things that child and teen players are most worried about, when entering into a thread with a new adult, is whether or not that adult is going to nit-pick their behavior and look for reasons to punish them. While many of them are here specifically to be spanked, they may be shy about entering a thread that may result in an adult wishing to spank them without first getting to know them.
   
   Pro Tip: Be friendly and open, and make sure that you're only posting for your character. If you state what a child or teen is doing or wearing, you risk them feeling trapped into a misbehavior that they didn't intend. Remember that they are fully capable of describing their own behavior, and that you can't punish them for something they didn't do. In fact, on Birchwood Isle, unless you're a guardian or they're your child, you can't punish them at all.
5. Be patient and keep trying. If for some reason your first thread doesn't get any attention, or your role play partner abandons it, or you don't get the age group or gender that you prefer, be patient. We recommend moving forward with the thread in as much as you can, and not dropping the "wrong" characters, since willingness to persevere tends to draw more of the right characters to you in the long run. You can always make a new thread. Adults are allowed as many as they want.
   
   Pro Tip: If you prefer a specific age or gender to join your thread, take the time to make a note on the thread that you want to interact with children, or adults, or teens. This is the best way to make sure that you get the "right" gender. Please don't be afraid, however, of engaging in peer relationships, as adult peer relationships can be amazing for both people involved in them.

I hope that these tips have helped you, at least a little bit. If you are having any problems, please feel free to ask in the comments!