Like if someone wishes to disclose pronouns, or relationship status, mental health disorder, age, or disability, these should be options where a person may choose to display them all the time, only to others when interacting, or only if others choose to look at some background profile.

For instance, I don’t want to see a tag reminding me that this place is my only external human contact, but it might be good to have an asterisk pop up with my name for others to see if I choose and they care to look at what is disclosed. Like a “.” At the end of a name for disclosed info, or an apostrophe for preference, or a colon for both. Something like that.

Years ago I started calling out broke neck disabled guy passing when I do my physical therapy routine on the bike trail. I dislike being invasive, and the psychology of having to say I’m disabled, but my safety and overall bike trail etiquette of others changed drastically to the point it is my normal. Regulars on the trail have even become quite friendly and supportive making my only time out of the house and life in a bed more pleasant.

Yes, such a disclosure makes me more vulnerable in a place like here, but it potentially focuses a lens on people that should be weeded out. Admin, and to a much lesser extent mods, have the responsibility to act as the social feedback mechanism normally played by social peer pressures in person to hold strangers accountable to social norms.

My actual shower thought, was a combination of how all robots in Asimov’s universe have R- prefaced to their name, against my experience on the bike, and how others here like to add their pronouns. It should be an internet cultural standard to add disclosed nuance as standard without stigma as part of what it means to be human and real. It might even be a good way to weed out more simple bots, AI, and people with agendas.

Anyways, maybe a crazy idea. It conflicts with my ideals on privacy but the benefit to cost seems maybe viable. My thoughts are often abstractions that encompass far more complexity when I try to explain what seems simple to me on the surface… or maybe I’m just dumb; not for me to say I guess.