Animation Source Forums

I think everyone has the right to be as closed (that is phone numbers, addresses, real names)to individuals on the internet as they want to be. However, if they are under the age of 18, they should be really closed up and not give up any information that might tell their location, even if it comes in the form of their handle/screen name - and especially no photographs. Way too often I've had random kids IM me, and telling me more than I need to know. And that really scares me. Yes, I consider myself to be a good person and could never hurt an innocent soul, but the predators are out there.

Now if you know me well enough, you'd know I'm pretty protective of minors and some would say good maternal instinct, so I do worry about children on the internet, especially of sites I frequent. So you wouldn't be surprised that I'm not supportive of the BS trip. I've read stories of children meeting up with Myspace 'friends' and being anywhere from assaulted to raped and murdered. I've also read of 16-year olds catching planes to go overseas to meet someone they've met online - and no offense to anyone 16-years of age - but that is seriously dangerous. The United States Department of State issues warnings of particular nations where the citizens of the United States would be put into grave danger (for instance, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq). And the danger isn't always physical, either. Pedophiles can and do get into contact with minors and use them for their own gain, usually by soliciting photos of a sexual nature or by sending them photos of a sexual nature. And as we have seen on BaltoSouce, that sort of danger is extremely high. Thankfully the whole 'mate' issue has been dealt with so that pedophiles and predators won't be making targets out of particular individuals for the most part. Unlike Myspace and Facebook, Steet doesn't have an army of lawyers or sycophantic members at his disposal to fend off legal suits of victims and families of victims for such abuses. Yes, I have a facebook account, but it is solely used to keep in touch with family, school, and work friends - people who I would otherwise have a hard time getting in touch with. There are dangers of meeting up with people online for those of us who adults, too. Not too long ago a college graduate was murdered after going to see about a job as a nanny she saw on Craigslist. And that is only one of the serious dangers posed to us who are over 18 on the and by the Internet.

Dangers aside, if you act wisely and follow the advice of protective websites, you can meet good people on the Internet. For my 10-11 years of being online (1998 jumped into the online Sailor Moon fandom and 1999 made my first Y! account) and the years before simply using it as a tool, I've met a good chunk of people whom I'd otherwise never meet in my wildest dreams. I've even found love <3 People who are like me, general outcasts (I was too shy and smart for my high school class), those whose interests deviate from the basic arguments of their high schools. I mean seriously folks, would you have an honest open debate about Balto's real heritage with your peers in the cafeteria? I highly doubt it, they'd probably look at you like you're crazy, or even label you as being a furry. You can find true friends who love you for you, not for your looks, not for your race, not even for your social status (I mean seriously, I bet most of our most-loved celebs are connected) - but for your personality. For what really makes you you. And that's what I love about the Internet. Of course, when you want to meet them face to face you must take the proper precautions, which Alpine put well enough:



On the flipside of that, however, some people don't take friendships that are made online seriously. You can see that well and clear enough on the social networking sites where everyone has like 1k 'friends,' and I've seen people who have been used by such individuals. On deviantArt, for example, several individuals have claimed to have committed suicide, which sent their friends into a tizzy of mourning. Later these supposed victims came back and said that they were kidding, and that their e-friendships weren't worth anything to them (if you are of 18 years of age or older and check out ED often enough, you'll likely know exactly what I'm talking about).

So to conclude my long post that no one will prolly read - you have to be careful on the Internet. Don't put up contact info in your profiles. Don't put your address up. If you meet someone online you really want to meet in person, do it safely.

Now I'm gonna go sleep...

Edit: Oh yeah, there are people online who pretend to be good and are actually bad... But if you have people in the same cyberspace looking out for you in addition to themselves, you should be fine, because no human being is innately evil. Generally speaking, there is usually a group of BS'ers in the two boxes who will take note of people who do not follow the rules, flag them, and are dealt with. Those who pretend to be good and are actually are not can be easily caught and dealt with when evidence is put up. At least that's how it is/should be on BaltoSource. Generally speaking, people looking to make trouble who have a guise of innocence slip up. They're just not that smart.

Oh, and personally, I think it's okay if you put up the country/state you live in. If you're in a megalopolis (utterly huge/major city: New York City, LA, Seattle, Chicago, Tokyo, Mumbai, Mexico City, London, Paris, Vancouver) where you don't see the same ten people on a daily basis - use your best judgment on whether or not you want that information on there. But that's the utter limit on putting your location/contact info on a profile (Balto Source, Myspace, Facebook, etc)... Even putting up your instant messenger handles/screen names on a profile can lead to people giving you unwanted attention and spam (this is coming from personal experience, as I've been hit on by various people in various parts of the world and spammed by IM spam-bots)

Now I'm gonna go sleep. *yawns*

Talk about Balto and your friends might "even label you as being a furry". Yeah, that would be a total disaster. What's wrong with being a furry, may I ask?

IN any case, if you're an adult, it's fine to meet people through the internet. That's what it's for. I've met several nice folks through it, and I hope to meet them face to face some day in the near future.

I don't see anything wrong with anyone identifying as a fur. Being labeled a fur is a different story, however.
Once you are labeled something besides the 'norm' by someone who is not of that community, people will look at you differently. With that said, the furry community has gotten a fair amount of press in recent years, most notably in CSI's episode "Fur and Loathing in Las Vegas" as well as the "Pleasures of the Fur" article in Vanity Fair, in addition to attention from MTV. In other words, by the mainstream media, 'furry' is outside the 'norm'. What is outside of the 'norm' is generally looked down upon and individuals who are labeled/seen as being outside the 'norm' are usually those who are picked on by their peers - that is, they would be at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole.

You must remember that many of the members of Animation Source are still in high school, which is notorious for its pecking orders. Now while you and I were in high school, Hrry, - that is the late 1990s and early 2000s - the most 'out there' group of students were usually the 'goths' 'outcasts' and 'geeks/nerds', and the odds would be that they would be the most likely to be picked on by 'the jocks' 'preps' and 'populars'. These days there are various other sub- and counter- cultures that are rising to the surface, into mainstream awareness, thanks to the Internet. Furry would likely fall into a negative category thanks to the public image. Thus, being labeled a furry in high school could ruin a social standing, compound stress, etc - thereby possibly killing self-esteem.

Sorry >> I kinda went overboard, but it's my inner anthropologist/sociologist talking...

But no, I don't believe there is anything wrong with 'being furry', but the thing is others do. And when you're in high school, you work on building an image for yourself and boost your own confidence and 'fit in'.

It's not generally recommended for a minor to meet someone they've met on the internet, true, but there's no reason to panic. Just because some people might be pedophiles doesn't mean all of them are .

Seriously, it's paranoia and plain ignorance if you just don't trust anyone. If your best friend in real life now was someone you talk to on the internet, would you trust them?

That's not to say everyone's safe. I have had (rather unfortunately) one creep IM me out of the two hundred or so people who have me on IM... stuff like asking if he could meet with me and asking me of some rather horrid stuff that I won't describe here. Luckily I blocked the dude, although I have no idea how he got my email address, it could have been from one of the two forums I post on, and I'm guessing it would be more likely from here, which is alarming.

Just... be cautious. There are some people like that out there, but for the most part if you keep your wits about you, you'll meet a lot of great people over the internet, and possibly meet them in real life. I know one of the friends I met over here is planning to come here soonish, which will be fun I'm confident about it and we'll probably plan together about it in the future anyway (with le parentals informed, of course), so good things can come out of this.