What makes/is a therian? What makes them not fake?

(2024-03-08 20:08)DustWolf Wrote:  Hi,

I'm usually skeptical about these types of posts, but what you say sounds legit. Moved it to a more appropriate forum, where it'll get more attention.

Perhaps it will do some good for people to hear it coming from someone closer to their age.

Thankfully TG is easy enough to find just using Google these days, one can hope we are one of the young therians' first experiences with a therian community (I've also advocated for a "TG kindergarten" for therians younger than 13, but it's not currently feasible).

LP,
Dusty

Thank you so much!
And yeah, I'm actually planning to start making youtube content about therianthropy, I'm definitely going to mention TG as a good recourse of accurate information for people interested in the community to look into.
I dobut I'll have a big sphere of influence, but hopefully every little bit will help the community

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(2024-03-08 20:12)Ashfur Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:08)DustWolf Wrote:  Hi,

I'm usually skeptical about these types of posts, but what you say sounds legit. Moved it to a more appropriate forum, where it'll get more attention.

Perhaps it will do some good for people to hear it coming from someone closer to their age.

Thankfully TG is easy enough to find just using Google these days, one can hope we are one of the young therians' first experiences with a therian community (I've also advocated for a "TG kindergarten" for therians younger than 13, but it's not currently feasible).

LP,
Dusty

I love the idea of a TG "Kindergarten," maybe it'd lead to less misinfo spreading around... it'd also be nice to give pups and kits under the age of 13 their own space

In theory it sounds like a good idea, but that kind of space would be a nightmare to moderate.
I think it might be able to function, after a lot of work, but for now its easiest to let young pups just read what's public on TG and not be able to personally interact.

(2024-03-08 20:12)Ashfur Wrote:  I love the idea of a TG "Kindergarten," maybe it'd lead to less misinfo spreading around... it'd also be nice to give pups and kits under the age of 13 their own space

Yes, it would be a therianthropy-themed play space, appropriate to the needs of people in that age bracket.

However it would have to be supervised as to avoid the issue described above happening to it (spaces like Amino and TikTok teach us that things usually turn ugly when kids are in charge of kids). However nobody I talked to of the adults has time for such a role, so we can't do it.

Here's an old post where I described the idea 4 years ago:
https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-A-Doggo-Manifesto?pid=182947#pid182947

LP,
Dusty

(2024-03-08 20:25)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:12)Ashfur Wrote:  I love the idea of a TG "Kindergarten," maybe it'd lead to less misinfo spreading around... it'd also be nice to give pups and kits under the age of 13 their own space

Yes, it would be a therianthropy-themed play space, appropriate to the needs of people in that age bracket.

However it would have to be supervised as to avoid the issue described above happening to it (spaces like Amino and TikTok teach us that things usually turn ugly when kids are in charge of kids). However nobody I talked to of the adults has time for such a role, so we can't do it.

Here's an old post where I described the idea 4 years ago:
https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-A-Doggo-Manifesto?pid=182947#pid182947

LP,
Dusty

Cool idea imo, but yeah it'd probably be really hard to moderate. I'd love to but I'm only a kit XP
Iirc COPPA only affects America so maybe it could only be available outside of there... but I live in America so if I were to be a part of the staff I'd have to use a VPN to get around all that T^T

(2024-03-08 20:25)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:12)Ashfur Wrote:  I love the idea of a TG "Kindergarten," maybe it'd lead to less misinfo spreading around... it'd also be nice to give pups and kits under the age of 13 their own space

Yes, it would be a therianthropy-themed play space, appropriate to the needs of people in that age bracket.

However it would have to be supervised as to avoid the issue described above happening to it (spaces like Amino and TikTok teach us that things usually turn ugly when kids are in charge of kids). However nobody I talked to of the adults has time for such a role, so we can't do it.

Here's an old post where I described the idea 4 years ago:
https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-A-Doggo-Manifesto?pid=182947#pid182947

LP,
Dusty

I think a fairly easy way to have an education space specifically for kids under 13 and not have to worry about them being moderated would be to have a small forum dedicated specifically to informational content about therianthropy that is easy to digest for a young audience. Something like how Webkinz chat used to work where there are premade messages they can send could be used. (ex. "What does this post mean?", "I am a cat!", "Thanks!", "I disagree.")

(2024-03-08 20:42)aaviiann Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:25)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:12)Ashfur Wrote:  I love the idea of a TG "Kindergarten," maybe it'd lead to less misinfo spreading around... it'd also be nice to give pups and kits under the age of 13 their own space

Yes, it would be a therianthropy-themed play space, appropriate to the needs of people in that age bracket.

However it would have to be supervised as to avoid the issue described above happening to it (spaces like Amino and TikTok teach us that things usually turn ugly when kids are in charge of kids). However nobody I talked to of the adults has time for such a role, so we can't do it.

Here's an old post where I described the idea 4 years ago:
https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-A-Doggo-Manifesto?pid=182947#pid182947

LP,
Dusty

I think a fairly easy way to have an education space specifically for kids under 13 and not have to worry about them being moderated would be to have a small forum dedicated specifically to informational content about therianthropy that is easy to digest for a young audience. Something like how Webkinz chat used to work where there are premade messages they can send could be used. (ex. "What does this post mean?", "I am a cat!", "Thanks!", "I disagree.")

Or like how Animal Jam Classic and Play Wild have Bubble Chat!
Chicken Smoothie has this "COPPA User" thing where people under 13 can join and can view the forums, but they can't post on them or write their own trade messages (and maybe PMs but idk), and have to choose from premade messages. Maybe something like that could work for TG but I prefer the Kindergarten idea.

(2024-03-08 20:47)Ashfur Wrote:  Or like how Animal Jam Classic and Play Wild have Bubble Chat!
Chicken Smoothie has this "COPPA User" thing where people under 13 can join and can view the forums, but they can't post on them or write their own trade messages (and maybe PMs but idk), and have to choose from premade messages. Maybe something like that could work for TG but I prefer the Kindergarten idea.

COPPA is a law and we have to abide by it as well. The only way people under 13 could be allowed to chat legally, would be with explicit parental permission.

But as far as read-only content goes. The forum I moved this thread to is that way. Those under 13 can already read this (and hopefully learn something).

LP,
Dusty

(2024-03-08 20:52)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:47)Ashfur Wrote:  Or like how Animal Jam Classic and Play Wild have Bubble Chat!
Chicken Smoothie has this "COPPA User" thing where people under 13 can join and can view the forums, but they can't post on them or write their own trade messages (and maybe PMs but idk), and have to choose from premade messages. Maybe something like that could work for TG but I prefer the Kindergarten idea.

COPPA is a law and we have to abide by it as well. The only way people under 13 could be allowed to chat legally, would be with explicit parental permission.

But as far as read-only content goes. The forum I moved this thread to is that way. Those under 13 can already read this (and hopefully learn something).

LP,
Dusty

CS abides by the law as well, and besides, I like the kindergarten idea more. /nm

(removed links as per rules)

Hi! So I want to make this thread to take a deep dive into therianthropy. What is a therian? What makes a therian? What makes them not fake? These are only a few questions to be answered. I also make this thread to help inform new members or people in general who wish to learn about the community. Creating an informational page for the new members I believe would be helpful. Just throw some QnA and hopefully this may help questioning therians, the other hearted, and parents/supporters.

Sincerely,
Sunny

Therianthropy is considered "real" because there's behaviors we experience that are tied to our theriotypes. It's not considered a delusion, because we understand we are physically humans, and therianthropy isn't inherently harmful, it can actually be quite helpful when you realize what therianthropy is, and realize that your behaviors finally have a name.

What makes a therian, I have a couple theories.
1. Trauma in early childhood (doesn't necessarily make a therian, but it could make someone who is born human-minded but slightly more animalistic, into more of a "full therian")
2. Neurodevelopmental disorders, especially autism (I think these may just make it more obvious)
3. Ya just are (I suspect this is the most common)

I made a post about this a few days ago, but not very many people replied to it, so I'm glad this one has a lot of people replying because I think this needs to be talked about.

I've heard people say 'fake therians/misinfo isn't a problem' before, and it always kinda annoys me how ignorant people can be. Here's why I believe it's a problem:

Misinfo is an issue because it leads to fakes or misinformed therians. Why is that an issue? There are many reasons. One is that it leads to regular humans thinking bad things about us. Which wouldn't be a problem if they would just give us dirty looks or poke fun at us, but it goes further than that. People get assaulted, attacked, doxxed and among other things for being a therian. If you're saying that misinfo and fakes aren't a problem, then you're indirectly saying that people getting jumped isn't a problem.
Not only does misinfo and fakes effect how humans think of us, but it also effects our community. It's not a real community of therians if half of them are just pretending, is it? How is it fair to the REAL therians if we let fake ones parade around and make a joke out of us, or basically invalidate our identity and say it's just a game/trend?
"Just let kids be kids"
Oh, but it's different when someone pretends to have depression or ADHD or DID? Then it's serious. Then it's bad for the community. Then it's bad for their reputation. No matter what someone is faking, they are directly harming every member of that community.
By faking something or letting misinfo run wild, you are also harming other normal kids. You like animals? Oh, you must be a therian. Pretended to be a dog when you were 4? Yep, you're a therian. Throwing someone into an identity that isn't them and trying to make them believe the wrong thing is just a bad thing to do. Especially because realizing you are a therian can be upsetting for some people. I didn't want to be a therian. I don't want to be a therian. I still hate myself for it, sometimes. Forcing someone to go through that who isn't even a therian or who doesn't even have the correct definition of therianthropy is such a cruel thing to do. It's often extremely isolating to be a therian.
So overall: MISINFO IS BAD.

Sorry if any of this came off as aggressive, this is just a very upsetting topic for me.