What do members look like?

I'm 6 feet and one of the shorter ones in the family. I have a cousin who is 6'7" and his wife is 6'2". I am curious how tall their kids will be.

 

Hmm...are there any zoochatters younger than 16?

 

I'm now almost 14 years old.

 

I got a notification someone replied to this thread so didn't see your last question. no, we are not hillbillies. There are plenty of branches in the family tree that go all the way back to the British Isles in the 1600s.

 

It is irritating that most zoochatters hide behind pseudonyms. And their profiles are of no help and often misleading. I have no idea who they are, often no idea of sex or age, so little hope of knowing what they look like. Although there seems to be a sub-culture where zoochatters interact outside of this forum and many know each other.

 

I am asking that too, why they are hidding behind imagined names. Maybe to protect from a shame from eventual lapsuses on Zoochat or are keeping their privacy, and espacially in respect to future emplyoment.

 

What is the problem of having fake names on here?

 

Many people may hide behind pseudonyms since they do not want their own views to be seen, by some, as putting forward the views of the organisations they work for. This can be a problem for those who are high profile in the zoo world.

For those in academia or who are unlikely to be in a position to compromise their professional positions there is no such excuse. I would like to know who my fellow zoochatters really are.

 

Speaking as someone who's username here isn't his real name - I'd say it's just a bit of fun! Certainly at the time I registered it was more unusual not to use a pseudonym - not for any reason of concealment, but just because it was how forums were (and still are, to a degree). My real name etc is all on my Facebook and Twitter, which are shown on my profile page, so there's certainly no intention to conceal myself. Unfortunately the direct links to Facebook/Twitter under the avatar on each post were lost when the forum software changed - I appreciated that as a 'halfway house' - particularly as they could quickly be removed if for any reason (professional or whatever) it became necessary in future.

For ease of reference and in the spirit of the thread - my photo is on the Facebook (it's an old shot, though!):

Ben Gilbert
Ben Gilbert (@MinkMaguari) on Twitter

 

We are social primates and as such we have a deep need to interact with fellow humans. Of course this is why social media is so successful, although I cringe at how shallow many of these communications have become. I do respect that there are times when we have good reason to use pseudonyms. I do however want to be in contact with real people not those hiding behind some pseudonym. If we know the people we are responding to a bit better we can be more nuanced in our replies. I would also add that in many social media interactions some people would be a little more thoughtful, and less aggressive, if they were responding as themselves rather than as their alter ego.

 

With the greatest respect @Carl Jones, I still don't see why those of us who "hide" behind pseudonyms should reveal our true identities*. Whilst I have some sympathy for your suggestion that it would make everyone less aggressive and more thoughtful, there are terminally thoughtless and aggressive ZooChatters who don't seem to mind the world knowing who they are. I think this is a byproduct of faceless interactions, rather than nameless ones. I also think it's a price worth paying for privacy.

Of course, if a member invokes personal expertise, I agree that it’s reasonable to ask for their real identity, or at least why their expertise should be valued. If, however, they provide external sources for their information, it's none of my business who they are. Again, with much respect, I don't think satisfying curiosity makes it any of your business either. So, is that really the strongest grounds you have for this anonymity-shaming? And, aren't you expecting ZooChat to be something other than what it is: a place for like-minded individuals to discuss a shared hobby?


*Writing this post made me feel like Batman.

 

I have no problem with people using pseudonyms if they feel there is good reason. All I am suggesting is that the default position should be that we interact with our like minded colleagues in a more friendly and personal manner. I would prefer to know who I am interacting with.

 

I also think it's about maintaining some semblance of control, of your personal information and your interactions. Perhaps unnecessary for most of us, but it is the default mode for foruming. The one thing that I would like to be able to see is whether someone is an adult or not, I think this would change the tone of some 'discussions' and also protect against ill-advised meet-ups.

Interestingly, ZooChat actually has a policy against uploading images of people, yourself or other, with the exception of your avatar, but this seems to be unenforced at the moment.

Lastly, for a lot of us I suspect that our username is a statement of intent. Whether it's a favourite animal, zoo or something else, I the chance to invent yourself is appealing.

 

But not with me, right? (you can be honest)
Although I am never what I appear at first glance...

 

If you know what galleries to look in then you can find images of several zoochatters. Certain threads even have links to the pictures. To be fair I'm fairly certain I actually started a thread on this very subject...Photos of you in the Gallery.

apologies if it's already been linked

 

Interesting discussion about pseudonyms. While I don't have any reason to hide, I keep my information private as there are lots of weirdos out there. That being said, I'd jump at the chance to meet Zoochatters in person.

 

When I joined the forum I was an actual child, and thus hiding my identity was important. Now, I don't hide who I am and there's at least one photo of me on the forum and several other members have been able to track down my FB page (for better or worse). While I of course love meeting new interesting members in person, as with TLD there are a few members past and present who I'd prefer to keep from knowing exactly who I am.

~Thylo