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

(2024-03-09 20:43)WanderingForests Wrote:  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.

I agree and disagree with your points. I don't think comparing faking therianthropy to faking mental illness is an appropriate comparison to make, but I kind of understand where you're coming from.

Quote:People get assaulted, attacked, doxxed and among other things for being a therian.

I've actually never heard of this happening to someone specifically because they were a therian. There are a lot of stories circulating around, but non have very hard proof.
The only example of assault on a therian I've seen was not because they were a therian, the kids thought they were a furry. It doesn't sound important, but I feel it kind of is in this topic. Humans will attack everyone seen as different. Most don't even know what a therian is.
I do not dislike misinformation and fake therians because of how it affects outside perception of the community, I dislike it because it damages the internal community that so many people have worked so hard to build.
Other than those things though, I mostly agree with what you're saying.

I actually address this in this thread. I do believe that we as a community do bare some blame for this in how we have tried to present ourselves to the world at large. The best solution I can come up with is we need to start presenting a more comprehensive show of what therianthropy is, warts and all.

Merged these 3 threads, as they are speaking on the same topic.

Please use the search function to find existing threads before posting new ones, especially in Introduction to Therianthropy where information should be easily available.

(2024-03-10 11:33)Werewulfra Wrote:  Merged these 3 threads, as they are speaking on the same topic.

Please use the search function to find existing threads before posting new ones, especially in Introduction to Therianthropy where information should be easily available.

im not the one who put it here. dust moved it here

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(2024-03-10 11:33)Werewulfra Wrote:  Merged these 3 threads, as they are speaking on the same topic.

Please use the search function to find existing threads before posting new ones, especially in Introduction to Therianthropy where information should be easily available.

My post is also not in the same topic as the others. I was talking about specifically how fake therians directly affect and impact the community, and those phrases that i hear a lot and wanted to try and argue against. The other two posts are just about what makes someone a real therian and how to tell if someone is faking.

(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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

(2024-03-11 14:24)CloverCoder987 Wrote:  

(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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

Only if there's no moderation.

(2024-03-11 14:24)CloverCoder987 Wrote:  

(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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

that's the good thing... since it will be a moderated forum the misinformation and misconceptions can be squashed... I really hope this kind of thing can be done, that would be terrific! we wouldn't have to take care of so many kids who are under 13.

(2024-03-13 13:52)AvisTheDutchie Wrote:  

(2024-03-11 14:24)CloverCoder987 Wrote:  

(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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

that's the good thing... since it will be a moderated forum the misinformation and misconceptions can be squashed... I really hope this kind of thing can be done, that would be terrific! we wouldn't have to take care of so many kids who are under 13.

Seconding this, I hope it'll become possible in the near future!

(2024-03-13 17:31)Ashfur Wrote:  

(2024-03-13 13:52)AvisTheDutchie Wrote:  

(2024-03-11 14:24)CloverCoder987 Wrote:  

(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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

that's the good thing... since it will be a moderated forum the misinformation and misconceptions can be squashed... I really hope this kind of thing can be done, that would be terrific! we wouldn't have to take care of so many kids who are under 13.

Seconding this, I hope it'll become possible in the near future!

I love this idea, but wouldn't COPPA somehow prevent this from becoming real?

(2024-03-13 19:29)WanderingForests Wrote:  

(2024-03-13 17:31)Ashfur Wrote:  

(2024-03-13 13:52)AvisTheDutchie Wrote:  

(2024-03-11 14:24)CloverCoder987 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

I have a bad feeling that it'd become hard to manage, and a raging wildfire of misinfo of its own. All the nine-year-olds would come onto the hypothetical site and start blabbing about how therianthropy is only a past life and how you "need" to do quads...
I dunno, it just doesn't seem like an incredible idea to me.

that's the good thing... since it will be a moderated forum the misinformation and misconceptions can be squashed... I really hope this kind of thing can be done, that would be terrific! we wouldn't have to take care of so many kids who are under 13.

Seconding this, I hope it'll become possible in the near future!

I love this idea, but wouldn't COPPA somehow prevent this from becoming real?

Yeah, maybe... but maybe the whole "COPPA User" idea would work?

(2024-03-08 20:47)Ashfur Wrote:  

(2024-03-08 20:42)aaviiann Wrote:  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.