Quote from: Pikachu on June 23, 2014, 05:13:22 PM
I'll just post this here in case anyone decides I'm one of these "pretenders" -- no, the girl in my avatar is not me. I've never attempted to convince anyone she is, and whenever people ask, "Is that you in your avatar," I always laugh and give an, "I wish," type of response. She's there for two reasons. 1) I feel she's a good physical representation of who I am on the inside, and 2) She's what I want to look like someday. She gives me something to work towards, in a sense.
I hope this isn't a problem for anyone. Sephirah often does the same thing with her avatars, after all, using images of girls she feels she would have looked like if she were born cis, or how she'd like to look.
No, no, using avatars of other people is not the problem (I'm not really a bus driver, I just play one on tv
). The problem arises when someone claims someone else's image as them. Or when asked about the photo, lies that it's them. And it's not that difficult to figure out, since most posers tend to use popular images on the net.
Oftentimes the photo accompanies a bunch of posts that read like a fairytale. Usually there's some perfect prince charming in the mix, etc.
Quote from: __________ on June 23, 2014, 04:38:56 PM
Weeding out the deliberate fakers is very important. There are plenty of posters here who I deeply respect, and whose experiences and advice I value as much as that of my therapist, my spouse, and my doctors. It would be absolutely devastating to find out that any of those posters were just elaborate fakers - I can't imagine what that would do to anyone's confidence and level of trust.
Whatever can be done to protect the integrity of this site should be done. This place is far more than an internet screwing-around discussion board. It's a vitally-important resource for many of us who need to connect in a community which is naturally rather guarded. Thankfully, most of the weirdos show their true colors very quickly, but there may be some who can do plenty of damage - knowingly or unknowingly - before they disappear.
Mods - you're doing a fantastic job. Your work is much appreciated.
Yeah, it would seem like harmless fantasy, but it's not. They're engaging the members in their story and deceiving them, leeching their time and sympathy. We had one awhile back that drew a lot of people in. For months, everyone was so concerned for her and engaged with her story. It wasn't until after she had undergone several face transplants, and her 'boyfriend' was on here updating us about her recovery (with the exact same distinctive posting style she used) that people started to realize they'd been had. The whole 'face transplants' thing was apparently to explain why her photos were of different women.
It's just not fair to the real members here sharing their real stories.
Quote from: Carrie Liz on June 23, 2014, 02:24:12 PM
Yeah... posting pictures of genetic females and trying to claim that they're trans women is seriously not cool...
It results in really nasty bouts of dysphoria for those who actually are trans, because it makes us feel like we got cheated in the genetic lottery, and it's kind of torturous to think that someone else's life is all peaches and roses appearance-wise while we have to suffer and scratch and claw for every single iota of our femininity.
This too. Sure, there are plenty of lovely trans ladies here indistinguishable from cis women. But passing off a cis girl as a trans girl is just plain wrong. And could cause confusion as to what can be realistically achieved results wise. Especially if a bunch of people do it.
Bottomline - we're interested in who you really are, your real story, and if you share it, your real face. We don't want to hear your fairytales. I'd suggest some fiction sites for that.
