How representative is the Lit population?

[Shaglus_Ziegler]

Do you think the sexual appetite and interests, and the proportions of people that express these interests, are representative of the population at large? Or do you think there are some groups - sexuality, fetish - that are overrepresented here?

Does the anonymity let us be who we really are, or is there a natural self selection to this community that draws in certain sexual interests?

Probably 100% human but you never know!!

 

[liqueur]

Probably 100% human but you never know!!

Mmm..... Probably some AI mixed in, now.

 

[Experimentalist]

Love this! I was just making this same point. I guess I should have read the entire thread before jumping in the pool.

I’m convinced men are their own worst enemies.

I can only speak for myself, but I certainly have been more than a few times.

 

[Maya_Vakker]

I can only speak for myself, but I certainly have been more than a few times.

Self actualization is actually really sexy!

 

[Experimentalist]

Self actualization is actually really sexy!

Well thanks. Though there are some bad choices before realization.

 

[Maya_Vakker]

Well thanks. Though there are some bad choices before realization.

Good thing we’re all in that same boat.

 

[Experimentalist]

Good thing we’re all in that same boat.

Yes, I imagine most of us are…

 

[lil_jenni]

You go girl !

Love this! I was just making this same point. I guess I should have read the entire thread before jumping in the pool.

I’m convinced men are their own worst enemies.

Thanks!

I forgot how worked up I was that day until I reread my posts.

 

[SirenInTheNight]

Thanks!

I forgot how worked up I was that day until I reread my posts.

I loved it!

 

[Maya_Vakker]

Thanks!

I forgot how worked up I was that day until I reread my posts.

I felt it in your post, and I really understand. I often get the same when, I just want to scream.

 

[Experimentalist]

Thanks!

I forgot how worked up I was that day until I reread my posts.

Was totally reasonable

 

[Jimmy119_190]

I wonder if, similar to women, their fantasy-sex lives are “easier” to fulfill than the average straight/bi man, leading to a lack of representation here on Lit.

I’ve always had the mindset that someone actually living the life would have very little interest in meandering around here with the woulda’s/coulda’s/shoulda’s crowd.

I reckon that’s a pretty good theory to be fair Eva, however, I’d also say there’s a pretty sizeable population of gay men on Lit. They may have some extra on top of being gay though, but there seems to be plenty of blokes enjoying the male appendages in AmPics!

I always wonder how much of the catfish crowd are just on a power trip, and how many are unfulfilled gay men looking to feed a thirst for male attention and cock by pretending to be straight women.

I try not to think too much about it though!!

 

[Experimentalist]

I reckon that’s a pretty good theory to be fair Eva, however, I’d also say there’s a pretty sizeable population of gay men on Lit. They may have some extra on top of being gay though, but there seems to be plenty of blokes enjoying the male appendages in AmPics!

I always wonder how much of the catfish crowd are just on a power trip, and how many are unfulfilled gay men looking to feed a thirst for male attention and cock by pretending to be straight women.

I try not to think too much about it though!!

There is definitely some of this.

 

[bumpinthenight2022]

Little not of a math nerd here, I took graduate level statistics for fun, while I was in undergrad.

That said, in a random sample of people, once you hit a population of 30, you have enough to form a reasonable degree of confidence in whatever you're testing, depending on what you're testing.

The larger the population, the more accurate your results.

We know this site has membership into the thousands, maybe 10s of thousands. So the question is are we, here, representative of a random sample? Again--it boils down to what you're testing.

If you go to a car show and ask that population do they like cars (nothing about the type of car), you'll get the obvious result (not necessarily representative of the greater population). But if you ask them about their political beliefs, religious beliefs, etc, you'll probably get a fairly distributed response (more representative of the greater population).

So ... On a site that collects people who are a little more kinky, do they like kink? Obvious result. The question is, how well do we represent the greater population?

My wife is not a car person. She isn't a motorcycle person, either. I'm both. She couldn't tell you one brand of either, from the other.

But there are still cars she goes goo-goo for. And there's the occasional motorcycle that she finds very cool looking.

So my answer is ... Maybe. I think there's enough of us here that there's a little bit of all of us in everyone. I think it probably takes the right person, and right circumstances, to bring it out of them. Just like a girl who doesn't consider herself a car person but can name the Mercedes AMG GT coupe (specifically in green) because that's like the one car that catches her eye.

 

[LMWM321]

That said, in a random sample of people, once you hit a population of 30, you have enough to form a reasonable degree of confidence in whatever you're testing, depending on what you're testing.

The larger the population, the more accurate your results.

We know this site has membership into the thousands, maybe 10s of thousands. So the question is are we, here, representative of a random sample? Again--it boils down to what you're testing.

I'm not entirely sure of what you are trying to say, here.... But if you're saying that so long as a survey of Lit members is large enough, it will accurately reflect the sexual interests of ALL humans.... Well, I'm sorry.... but that is not true

Why? Because only a small subset of ALL humans come to Lit, and the fact that they come here reveals a strong interest in sex and related topics that may not be shared by those who don't come here. So, NO, one cannot extrapolate that what people enjoy here on Lit is reflective of the entire population. Not even remotely.

 

[milkymounds]

It’s kinda like walking into Comic-Con and then asking if the average person is that into comics.

The people there are genuinely into it. It’s real. But you’re also already looking at a very specific group that chose to enter that space because they’re more interested, invested, curious, or open about it than the general population.

Same thing with anonymous sexual communities. The anonymity probably lets people be more honest about parts of themselves they’d normally hide, but there’s also a huge self selection factor. The average person isn’t necessarily spending hours in spaces built around sexuality, kink, fetish discussion, etc. So naturally you’re going to see certain interests represented way more heavily there than you would in everyday life.

So I think it’s both. People are showing real parts of themselves, but you’re also looking at a population that was filtered before they even walked through the door.

 

[Noor]

It’s kinda like walking into Comic-Con and then asking if the average person is that into comics.

The people there are genuinely into it. It’s real. But you’re also already looking at a very specific group that chose to enter that space because they’re more interested, invested, curious, or open about it than the general population.

Same thing with anonymous sexual communities. The anonymity probably lets people be more honest about parts of themselves they’d normally hide, but there’s also a huge self selection factor. The average person isn’t necessarily spending hours in spaces built around sexuality, kink, fetish discussion, etc. So naturally you’re going to see certain interests represented way more heavily there than you would in everyday life.

So I think it’s both. People are showing real parts of themselves, but you’re also looking at a population that was filtered before they even walked through the door.

I’m not sure you can compare comic con attendees to lit, because sex is universal and comics are not.
I’d agree it’s self selecting. In the early days most of the lit posters were fairly technical with enough disposable income because the barrier to entry was having a computer and the knowledge to go somewhere beyond aol or places like that.
However, now almost everyone has a smart phone and/or basic internet access.
I came here to get advice and stayed for the people I knew back then.
At this point I think lit is close to being a cross section of us and uk society, at least the male part.