Should ATS members disclose our ages and professions

When asked my profession I give vague descriptions of what I do and under no circumstances will I give out the names of the units I have been assigned to. I never give my age either, that could be added to any info I may have given out.

Now, I'm not paranoid, its just that you guys are potential weirdos. Like all wierdos one or two of you could possibly show up on my doorstep ranting and raving about some post I may have written.

I don't think it matters as it is easy to lie.

Does a person's profession really say much about them? Well... maybe, but an auto mechanic could be as smart as a nanotechnologist but just prefers working on cars.

BTW, my name is Albert Einstein, I'm 24 years old and I work in a patent office.

reply to post by Son of Will


Been looking at this idea, and here is my take.

I do not think it should be required, but to each thier own, and if someone chooses to post the information, they may.

Now for your consideration= If someone posts thier age, proffession, and education etc. etc. etc. That will be what other members look at before they post a reply. I myself have taken the ribbing that is due when 1) I dont read all the way through a thread before I answer. 2) I am out in lala land some where, and am totally off track. 3) received applause from Moderators for well constructed , researched and thought out threads.

I may not be a perfect speller, or a great punctuationist, but I do have my areas of expertise, and interest. I would feel a lot less hospitable toward this site if they asked, or required that information. So much so that I would probobly stop posting

Well if some govt agent or who ever. Read a thread here and thought that it was dangerous to the govt or who ever it may concern. Having your name and other details listed on here. Would make it a simple matter of nipping over there and making them vanish pronto like

Wow, Im glad I came across this..Its has made me think some.

I personally do find my self looking at the details of some of the more interesting posters, I like to look at their location and any additional info. Not because im a weirdo stalker, but just because it still amazes me the variety of people and opinions that are out there.

If I agree or disagree with someones comment, Its because I disagree or agree, I wouldnt discriminate about any of their details. But I am very curious and would like to know more about you all

So as Im not scared of any stalkers, and Im not scared of any government, I would like to add a little extra human touch to this site..

My names Sinead but my friends affectionatly call me Sinny cuz I like to sin alot lol.
Im 19 years old..am half Irish half English.
Im from Birmingham which is quite a boring city.
I got good grades in secondary school, Im a college drop out as I had a career change (was going to be a vet)
I then had aspirations to join the British army, which hasnt worked out as of yet due to a back injury.
Im currently doing an NVQ in Business Admin and work in a boring office all day.

Im a member of ATS because I recently got an over whelming desire to find out the actual state of the world at the moment and cut through the bull I was taught in school and on the news.

Share the love people and stop being anonymous

P.s nice Bansky pic above

I personally dont care and have said my age and profession several times. If anyone could track me using the info I put out there voluntarily then they could do it by hacking so I figure whats the point worrying

I never give anything specific, my city, age and profession no companies I have worked for or bdays etc etc so I personally think Im safe

I say if its relevant and you feel comfortable......... post it!!!!!

Absolutely not.

If you're so keen on sharing your personal information, you can put it all in your allotted signature space. Have at it.

I care not what your age, or profession are. I only care about what you have to say, and how you say it. Starting off by gloating about your age and profession, is not a good start with me, and many others that come here.

I don't think this is a good idea at all. But at the same time it should be up to individuals to post whatever they believe is appropriate. I for one will not be posting any personal information.
I think that one of the best things about this site is looking at different peoples point of views and coming to a decision on their knowledge of the given subject based on their replies and also their ability to hold their own when challenged by others.
If they can do that, while at the same time showing repect to the views of others then I don't really care what age they are or what particular profession they are in.

Originally posted by illuminnaughty
Well if some govt agent or who ever. Read a thread here and thought that it was dangerous to the govt or who ever it may concern. Having your name and other details listed on here. Would make it a simple matter of nipping over there and making them vanish pronto like

You are fooling yourself if you think that you are anonymous on the net. I might not know who you are at this moment, but trust me big brother has your number. I know this as a fact. I had an incident with our fellows in black. All I did was try to google some info.

Homeland Security is your friend. Do not think for one second that everything you type is not being monitored. That is why the DOD has them super computers all hooked together.

Who would ever want to leave personal info here? Especially when every other day we are warned that our information is being stolen.

even if we did that...
what would keep people from lying?

i dont care about this, as im not one of those cliche types who walk around asking people for credentials or iq level.

i read and debate what people type, not who people are or what they do.

totally irrelevant IMO

reply to post by UnknownPhilosopher


It would give more information to those that spy on us.....and/or....give more info...to criminally oriented people. The less personal information one shares on the internet...the better.

The internet is a great place for information. A 10 year old could come on here and look like a genius, just by copying and pasting information. They could learn from the elders.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
I know a nudist who loves it in part because she says that without the clothes and jewelry, there is so much more equality among people. Personally, I look at the anonymity of the Internet the same way.

I've seen people too many times brushed off in real life because of their socioeconomic class, their gender, or their age. I think the mask is best; it helps sort out the diamonds from the dung without having the issue of where it's coming from getting in the way.

On that same note , there are those that feel degrees have given them some special insight , and right to play God on certain topics.

While I don't say great education is very useful,and appreciate what an educated mind can teach...I also see a lot of ego , and self postulating that goes with education , and these educated automatically think their viewpoint should be seen as the only correct one. These are usually the types that like to tell others what their educational background is before they even discuss issues, trying to intimidate others into buying everything they say.

I don't know. For the purpose of credibility and furthering the education of others; i.e. a thread is about so and so and you have a double doctorate in that field with 30 years real world experience then yes. For those of you that posted replies with concerns about it being used to track you, grow up, then wake up. I've worked in the communications field (how's that for vague) for 15 years and a better part of that was for the DoD, if you think that simply viewing a thread on this site or any similar site isn't traceable, let alone logged every time, even those of you who THINK you know about computers and communications are truly naive by every possible definition of the term. Your proxies, spoofed mac's and tapping nearby wifi's are a joke.

reply to post by UnknownPhilosopher


Yes. I do think we should all share our personal details.

Im immortal, and my profession is "Gods advisor." I handle all the tricky stuff God doesnt really care to mess with, like whether or not to destroy humanity or give them a chance to evolve past their nastiness.

My point there is, we still would only have an anonymous persons word, and since joining, I have met time travellers, international spies, reincarnations of the Buddha, alien abductees, various assorted messiahs, authors, all kinds of stuff. Some of them, and this will shock some people, are probably lying or delusional or some combination thereof.

Many of us have, over the years, given out relevant details of our education or work related experiences etc, but I fail to see why age is really relevant. ATS isnt a dating site, and age in terms of making argument is irrelevant. If your argument for something sucks, bringing up the fact that you are 53 will not make it suck less. Stupid isnt something some people grow out of.

I think that anyone with a little hacking intelligence , can get loads of info just from an IP , which leads to more info..which leads to more info.

Yes I do think gov agencies , and others....can get to know much about us..just from an IP...even if it is a proxy..they have ways of knowing that as well, and getting to the real one...if they are so inclined to do so.

You don't stay anonymous by not giving out info ,but saying too much about certain things,can make you a target for the government, as well as those who just want to steal identity , or hack your bank account.

I do think there are huge computers that store vast amounts of data.
Information is key in governments ,and they will take anything they can get..just for the simple fact of having it on hand..whether it be for secret intelligence, or simple data research .

Originally posted by ludshed
I don't know. For the purpose of credibility and furthering the education of others; i.e. a thread is about so and so and you have a double doctorate in that field with 30 years real world experience then yes. For those of you that posted replies with concerns about it being used to track you, grow up, then wake up. I've worked in the communications field (how's that for vague) for 15 years and a better part of that was for the DoD, if you think that simply viewing a thread on this site or any similar site isn't traceable, let alone logged every time, even those of you who THINK you know about computers and communications are truly naive by every possible definition of the term. Your proxies, spoofed mac's and tapping nearby wifi's are a joke.

lol..just wrote a post on this....but you said it so much better than I did..and you have the experience to back up what you're saying.

I don't think the revelation of age or profession would make any improvement on this forum

However i have thought for sometime that publishing location would be a help. I know that

we all speak English on the forum but, there are subtleties within the use of the language

between different countries which take a bit of understanding, and if the reader could see the

'country' of the poster things would become clearer.

For a simple example.........UK says pavement USA says sidewalk

.. ................................ ...UK says rubbish USA says trash etc.etc.

Also when anything concerning law comes up it becomes easier to understand when points

are made due to the known differences between various countries !