why choose to not show your age and/or gender on this forum?

[Snow 7,398]

obviously you are not obligated to share those details nor obligated to answer this question but for those who choose to not disclose this general information
what is your reasoning behind it?

this is an amazing supportive community for both men and women who happen to find themselves fans of the show my little pony (provided they are over thirteen as is stated in the forum rules) so i don't quite understand the motivation behind being so secretive

unless you are under thirteen ya sneaky bugger

[Barpy 2,225]

some people are even more shy than fluttershy 

[Ruthborn 55]

hm, probably a bit of the whole "survival on the internet" instincts in work. Plus some women prefer not to advertise to avoid the whole issue of becoming hit on by desperate/socially-unskilled guys.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

Because it's completely irrelevant information that people don't need to know. 

 

Edit: Plus, it makes it impossible for people to use your age or gender as an argument against you which is pretty nice. 

Edited August 10, 2016 by Yamet

[Vulcan 3,255]

As someone who censored both on his profile, I just felt like maintaining a level of anonymity towards folks who might seek to judge my actions based solely on on either my gender, my age or both.

I'm a little more lax now though, revealing both of those bits of information deep in my about me, and I suppose I made the choice because I felt a bit more comfortable here. This place has turned into like my second home. ^ ^

Edited August 11, 2016 by Crescent Light

[SpeedForceDashie 68]

Everything that's needed to be said about this has pretty much been said already. You're just not obligated to tell everybody, and it doesn't matter anyway

 

Edit: Some people just feel more comfortable staying anonymous online. It makes the interactions between themselves and others easier as they feel they can be themselves more freely and won't be judged because of their age, gender, etc.

Edited August 10, 2016 by SpeedForceDashie

[Honeysuckle 135]

i agree that it can be used as ammo in an argument, but if they have to use your age or gender as ammo in an argument they've already lost because they have no real argument

[Dark Horse 12,962]

Some users simply aren't comfortable with the idea of giving out personal information. Maybe they feel it could make interactions more difficult? I know some people can find it uncomfortable to talk to someone if they know that there's a significant age gap between them. Call it a mental thing I guess.

 

And yes, there is the (in my opinion; very mistaken) view that age =/= maturity & wisdom, and so there is some prejudice that people may show against those who are younger. As for hiding your gender, well.. let's just say there are people on the internet who can become very intrusive with that knowledge.

 

Either way, it's down to personal preference and privacy. If your more comfortable with keeping it inconspicuous, that's why the option exists.

[ashi 261]

It's not always fun to get every piece of information up front; preserving a bit of mystery, allowing people to work things out based on the things I post (and vice versa), is interesting. That's my rationale, anyway.

Edited August 10, 2016 by ashi

[Discordian 6,015]

I have a friend who avoids putting any and all personal info on forums. He goes so far as to use addresses for people he knows rather than his own when he wants things delivered from places like Amazon.

He doesn't want people to identify him in any way, shape or form. He's seen enough shit that he doesn't want people finding him. You've seen the horror stories about stalkers and enemies finding people through their online interactions. He takes every precaution to make sure that doesn't happen. And believe me, he has made quite a few enemies over the years and lives in an extremely shitty area. Some might call it paranoia, I call it keeping himself, his wife and children safe from the world at large.

There are no pictures of him anywhere. Whenever he finds one somewhere (like from other people who somehow got him in a picture) he makes sure it's taken down.

The internet at large doesn't have nearly enough safety and privacy measures for how much personal information is put out there. You remember when Sony's Playstation Network got hacked and it was discovered that they weren't even encrypting peoples' credit card numbers? That was a massive company with the money to have the best. Imagine small-time websites that, at best, are using a basic protection algorithm made by someone who made things intentionally simple because that framework is used across the internet by people who don't have the know-how to improve on it.

Protect your information, kiddies. And don't judge other people for being more careful than most.

[Lulaypp 2,555]

I don't really mind about saying my age if one asks (though sometimes I don't give a direct answer. It depends on the person). But why I did not put it in my about me? Probably a habit. I don't usually state my age in the internet.

Additional note: I never hide my gender. C:

[ARagY 1,152]

Because some people will use those details to determine the validity of any points you make. Some people don't like that and others are indifferent and will challenge it whenever it comes up. 

[Foxy Socks 2,600]

I just keep my age hidden, though I do tell some what it is on here. It is just something I feel like I don't want to put. I have my gender on here though, which I will probably leave. I see no reason to hide it. It shouldn't matter much anyway.

[Steve Piranha 29,432]

I don;t do it unless it's relevant

[Guest]

I'll be direct:

 

In online communities it is common for certain people of certain age groups or genders to get different treatment. Many people wish to have their posts viewed solely on the merit of what is said and not anything else. While this community can be accepting (though not universally), sometimes people can get the wrong idea. Many females have probably encountered people giving their opinion more praise simply because a site has a high population of males trying to impress her in the hopes that will achieve romance. On the same token many females will tell you their opinions are viewed lesser because they will be lumped into a group of "SJWs" or feminists that they don't actually identify with simply because they were female. Many older members will tell you they have had their opinions dismissed for not being "of the current time" and many young people have had theirs dismissed for being "too young to understand".

 

And frankly if my age or gender actually affects your opinion of me, well then frankly you're not someone I care to know.

[IsraelYabuki 446]

I actually do show my age. I ain't scared to show that truth.

[El Duderino 879]

I don't normally list my age on my online profiles. I don't actually mind if people know. I'll even tell you guys right now. I'm 19 years old. I just never list it on my profiles because I don't feel obligated to. 

Edited August 11, 2016 by El Duderino

[Dreambiscuit 10,094]

I used to be on a different forum for MLP before I came and settled here, and I kept my age and gender secret there because I wanted my comments to speak for themselves and not be accepted or discarded based on anything but their own merits. Some members thought I was male, others thought I was female and it didn't matter to me. I let them draw their own conclusions. Now that I've come over here, I have more forum experience behind me and wanted to just be myself, come what may. 

I understand why people are protective of themselves online and completely agree with it. It's better to be wise than unwise if you have concerns. 

For me, I'm treating my time here much the same way I do my everyday life. I am who I am and will deal with whatever that brings, for better or worse. I just don't enjoy keeping things secret, so I won't. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

Because after knowing about all the many different instances of how personal information can be used to hurt someone online, I want to be safe when using the internet.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

I actually keep my age a secret on every forum EXCEPT this one. See, people who aren't familiar with the brony community or are just paranoid in general tend to do that sort of thing as a method of protection. I do it on other sites because if you don't and end up getting into an argument (which doesn't happen often thankfully) they can't make fun of my age. The fandom here is really nice though, so I have no problem showing it here. Plus, this place has strict rules and can deal with the nastier ponies efficiently.

[Envy 6,192]

I fully understand other members who are women not wanting to disclose that information. I've been active on online communities for over a decade, and I have never gotten so much ...'attention' as I have around here. When you present as neutral, you don't get this attention. Especially since a lot of forumers are sexist (yes, I said it) and automatically assume that everyone is male.

 

On my early forum adventures I also did not give my true birth date. It was only off by a couple of weeks, but I just didn't want to give my specific birthdate because it's unique. It was just to protect me. I have no idea what good it really did. I was raised to be so protective of myself online. My parents did not let me use forums until age 14, and were always scared.

 

As for not giving out age at all? Well, that could also be to protect oneself. I said I never received quite as much 'attention' as here, but I say that not thinking about the first communities I joined where I did give out my age (off by just a couple of weeks), and had some older male members (I don't remember exactly how old, it's been too long, but they must have been near 30, while I was 16/17) who were too friendly with me. =/

 

A lot of these reasons stem from being female.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Envy

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

I would switch it up mostly just randomly because why not type of thing, so I suppose there wasn't much a reason behind it.

[Concerned Bystander 2,903]

There are of course some situations where your age or gender may be relevant to a discussion, and your input to that discussion may be judged to be of lesser value.  That is a small minority of topics though, and generally your age or gender shouldn't be a consideration when people are responding to your comments.

 

The reasons to withhold such information are many and diverse.  People may fear being judged unfairly, as has already been covered numerous times, and not to forget also that this is the internet, people may want to leave their options open so that they can lie about either if they feel that it will add weight to whatever point they're trying to make.  On forums like this, nobody (or at least very few people) is exactly who you think they are.  Not to suggest that everyone is lying about themselves, rather that on the internet people appear to be only that part of themselves that they choose to project into any particular discussion space, and that selective projection may not give others an accurate impression of what that person is like in the world.  A real world Fluttershy may come across on here as far more confident and articulate as they are in person given that on here you have the luxury of time to carefully choose and edit your comments before committing them to the discussion.

 

At the end of the day, there is no requirement to share such information, and it's up to every individual to choose how much, or how little of their personal information that they share.

[Starflite527 24]

Because it's completely irrelevant information that people don't need to know. 

 

Edit: Plus, it makes it impossible for people to use your age or gender as an argument against you which is pretty nice. 

Exactly. No one needs to know how old I am or where I live, or my gender. It's none of their business.

[Denim&Venöm 19,294]

Personally, I don't want to be treated a certain way based on my age or my gender. I will be treated differently if you knew I was a girl or if you knew I was a boy. You'll treat me differently whether I'm 16, 25, 44 or 73. Don't define me becasue of the year or gender I had no choice in deciding. Define me by the actions, options, ideas, interests that I chose to present. That truly make me who I am. 

 

That and I kind of like having the mystique about me.