Can you tell...

[FamoFunk]

if who you're talking to anywhere on the internet is actually a Male or Female (if they don't tell you, obviously)
Do you, if you know/find out, change the way you talk to them? Or do you think you do but don't really notice?

Other places in the world of the internet, I have seen how a F or M has changed they way they talk to someone just because of their gender.

Or does this just apply to the 13 year olds you hear about on LIVE?

 

[Sharps92]

If it is just a single reply or something, it is normally quite hard to distinguish between male and female. I think it would become more obvious over a more prolonged conversation though.

If I thought I was talking to a male then found out it was a female, I would probably alter the way I talked to them a little bit, perhaps subconsciously.

 

[Verp]

I generally don't even think about the gender of the poster and the times I assume anything are even less numerous. Only very rarely do some quirks lead me to wonder if they're of a particular gender and then I'm just as likely to be correct as I'm likely to be incorrect.

 

[Lazarus Long]

I tend to assume people on the internet are male, just based on statistical probability, but them saying otherwise doesn't particularly change the way I talk to, think of, or treat them. It just makes me take their opinion more seriously when they talk about women.

 

[Thaliur]

I often try to guess by their usernames, and look for signs in what they are saying.

Obviously, this is not a reliable method, though, because I've often been mistaken for female in chatrooms, for reasons unknown to me.

 

[FamoFunk]

I often try to guess by their usernames, and look for signs in what they are saying.

Obviously, this is not a reliable method, though, because I've often been mistaken for female in chatrooms, for reasons unknown to me.

This is exactly what I do, although it's quite successful.

I get mistaken for the wrong sex when on-line gaming if I don't talk on mic, aswell as a lot other stuff.

 

[oreopizza47]

I talk to everyone the same way anyway, and I try not to be gender-specific. So no harm, no foul if a dude turns out to be a chick. I sure can't tell on my own unless it's a voice chat.

 

[Jonluw]

If someone turns out to be a girl, I will begin to use female pronouns. That's pretty much it, unless I'm doing something subconsciously

 

[FamoFunk]

meh ***** needs to get back to the kitchen, what's she doing on the internet anyway?

She made the Man her *****.

 

[CactiComplex]

I've recently come to the realisation that I think the majority of people online are male, something which I'm quite happy to go with because I don't tend to use any gender-specific pronouns until I've been told one way or another. Honestly, I can't figure it out without being told.

I do find it kinda funny that I'm almost always taken for a guy, but given what I've just said...

 

[Danish rage]

I usually go: OMG LULZ IT`S A FREAKIN GIRL. CAN WE MAKE OUT? CAN I SEE YOU BOOBIES?

They love it......

Im that 30 year old on LIVE you keep herring about.

 

[shoot and hope]

I would never say 'hey' to a guy.

 

[badgersprite]

I find it really hard not to associate someone's gender with that of their avatar, even though it's usually totally wrong. It also depends on where I am. On a gaming site like this i assume almost everyone is a guy, but if I'm on, say, a fan site or fanfiction site I assume almost everyone is a girl. So no, I cannot tell. But I don't alter the way I act, because it happens to me, and it's not a big deal. I know most people think I'm a guy when they read my posts, so the whole gender on the Internet thing becomes pretty normal after a while.

I really don't want to get to a point outside of anon sites where we have to call everyone 'zhe' until their gender is officially confirmed.

 

[debramster123]

meh ***** needs to get back to the kitchen, what's she doing on the internet anyway?

She made the Man her *****.

no this can't be.. i must have landed in some parralel universe. PLEASE IF SOMEONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIEND DR.KLEINER HELP ME

i repeat: DR KLEINER he has the durpadurp defribliatrotimemach9ine

 

[lemiel14n3]

Generally it doesn't matter to me. On forums I'm more concerned with discussions with someone. Unless the topic is effected by gender, I don't look it up. If it is, like a discussion of women in gaming (for the most obvious example) then I'll look up a users gender, because that affects how I interpret someones posts and how I respond.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Doesn't matter much unless the topic of discussion has something to do with gender. I usually assume that people on internet forums are male because most of the time they are. Of course I tend to take guesses at whether or not certain people are and occasionally check their profiles to see. Though either wayI talk to them essentially the same way.

 

[Tharwen]

There are people on here who I've had long conversations with only to find out afterwards that I'd been wrong about their gender.

This means two things:

1. It's hard to tell.
2. It doesn't matter.

 

[hittite]

Not really. My communication skills suck either way.