The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI have kind of a weird question that I'm not quite sure how to ask.
When you speak to people on this site, do you have an idea of what gender (for example) they are?
Because quite honestly, I tend to speak to a lot of people on here. I don't private message hardly at all, but I banter with a lot of people here on the boards. There are people I talk to quite a bit, and I have no idea what gender they are, their age, their circumstances, etc. Zero idea.
It's not something I especially care about, because I talk to everyone the same way, but I just realized that I basically know nothing about who I am addressing.
Gender, age, location, nothing. 99% of the time, I don't look at profiles, unless someone is trolling me.
I don't try to picture the person behind the screen name. It doesn't matter to me.
Is my way of thinking the same for everyone else?
Harker
(13,957 posts)Not avidly, just details pile up and take on definite form.
hlthe2b
(102,101 posts)Still, I do tend to remember based on previous discussions for a lot of the "old-timers."
Funtatlaguy
(10,862 posts)fellow Dems that share my political views and love of democracy.
MOMFUDSKI
(5,407 posts)with you Fun.
tblue37
(65,212 posts)UTUSN
(70,639 posts)Higherarky
(637 posts)Shining Spirits appear in all manner of vessels. IMO, it's not the vessel that really matters, but the spirit.
Have a nice night, Shining Spirit. 😎
LuckyCharms
(17,410 posts)This thought actually helps me understand interacting on the internet a bit better.
In fact, this is one hell of a profound thought.
Thank you, and you have a nice night as well!
relayerbob
(6,532 posts)UTUSN
(70,639 posts)MustLoveBeagles
(11,580 posts)Sometimes some people give a clues to their gender but most don't and I try not to make assumptions.
relayerbob
(6,532 posts)I usually know only if the context makes it clear.
unblock
(52,111 posts)99% of anyones interaction with anyone else has nothing to do with that stuff.
What difference does the sex of the barista who serves me make?
How does it matter if my plumber is gay or straight or bi?
If my doctor is trans, so what?
If there's something about their personal life that they informs their political views and they care to share that information on this site, then I'm happy to discuss it, with empathy and respect or course.
And if they don't, again, what difference does that make?
I tend not to give much thought to things that don't matter or have no relevance.
Skittles
(153,104 posts)very insulting
i'm not sure why so many ppl think mo is a male name, tho i blame the simpsons.
ftr, mo is the female version, short for maureen, or sometimes molly. moe is short for morris.
Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)Iggo
(47,534 posts)LuckyCharms
(17,410 posts)Whenever I see your screen name, I always reflexively glance over at this bag, which is on my desk, at all times. You can probably tell the bag is almost empty, but I have a spare one ready to go.
happybird
(4,586 posts)Skittles
(153,104 posts)yes, he was named after the candy
delisen
(6,042 posts)For the ones I do it is usually because I have read many posts by them and they share personal information.
I occasionally lookup a profile when someone I do not usually follow posts something that doesnt seem genuine. I dont like to waste time reading propaganda.
Mostly I know nothing about the people whose post I read and find interesting.
PJMcK
(21,988 posts)(wink)
woodsprite
(11,901 posts)If Im discussing something with my family and mention a DUer, I may say he or she in our convo, but also say Im guessing, thats when I forget to go with they.
grumpyduck
(6,220 posts)All I need to know is they are fellow Democrats. And most of them are very nice.
Croney
(4,656 posts)We are intelligent Democrats before we are any specific gender. I'm fine with us being men or women or other, though.
I get annoyed when a poster uses "yes sir" or " yes ma'am" in a response, but people here probably know each other when they do that.
highplainsdem
(48,886 posts)like Skittles and mopinko, I'm often mistaken for a man here, which I find amusing. I know very little about most of the DUers I've met, other than that the vast majority of them are good people I'm happy to meet. And that's always what's most important.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)female. An ordinary, boring, "normal" female.
I've learned, over the many years I've been here, not to assume a screen name indicates gender.
Oh, and I've had what I consider the amazing privilege of recently meeting a transgender woman and a transgender man. They are both in the science fiction world, which I also hang out in, and I am happy and impressed to know them. Lucky me.
LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)I know first names and gender.
I pm them and vice versa. We can say things we cant on the board.
I look at profiles a lot. I want to know who I am speaking with.
Profiles are really useful I think.
happybird
(4,586 posts)Some are gendered, some are not. Its based on screen name, avatars (before everyone went Ukrainian), things they have posted...
Basically, a nonsense little image in my head for each person. Some times they are obvious, sometimes the image builds itself over time without me consciously thinking about it, if that makes sense.
You appear in my noggin as Lucky the Leprechaun. Obviously.
sheshe2
(83,627 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,228 posts)edbermac
(15,933 posts)Years ago some people would post threads showing their pictures but I havent seen that for a while.
Leith
(7,807 posts)Once in a while a poster mentions their gender. I take note, then forget, and don't remember reading whose posts are whose.
The weird thing that happens to me is that I read somebody's post, then check out who wrote it. Sometimes it's somebody I don't remember ever seeing as a poster, but then I see that the person has tens of thousands of posts! How the heck could I not have noticed such a prolific poster before?
I used to think it was because I mostly stayed in the Lounge, but after doing a few terms on MIRT and needing to read more actual news/analysis I find myself reading in gd a lot more the last few years. yeah all the sudden there will be somebody with a ton of posts all over the place that I never noticed before.
Kali
(55,002 posts)and get confused when they change them. when everybody went to the Ukrainian flag I was TOTALLY lost!
Emile
(22,449 posts)but not always
Wolf Frankula
(3,598 posts)You'll tell me if you want me to know. I do know that Red Dog is very slurpy.
Wolf