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Wiki: News/TosChangeNoMinors
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The site is now limited to users who are 18 and older.
We have decided to restrict usage of pounced.org to users who are 18 and older. You will not be able to register an account unless you are over 18 years of age nor will you be able to login to you are existing account if your not yet 18 years of age. Our terms of service have changed accordingly.
I am under 18 years of age, what will happen to my account?
Your account will become locked until your age is 18 years of age, at which time your account will work again. (At the moment because we only capture your birth year and month, we will not allow you to login until the month after your birth month).
Does this mean that pounced.org will now allow adult images?
Our terms of service regarding the content of the site has not changed. We do not allow adult images.
Why did this happen?
It was a hard decision, there were many factors, the primary of which were:
* Safety of underage users.
* Current trends regarding social networking sites.
What about users who mis-represent their age?
If you see an advertisement in which the user says they are younger then 18 years of age, please notify our administrators and we will disable the account. |
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Last Editor:kelar
Last Edited:2007-05-29 23:12:35
Comments:39
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| Rhudiprrt 2007-05-29 23:22:01 |
Paranoia is a terrible thing.
Sone one should shot Mrs Grundy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Grundy ) |
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| Vernon 2007-06-01 18:34:08 |
| That's just horrible. You're depriving a lot of people from the opportunity to make good friends and find happiness. I love this site. I found the love of my life on Pounced. I owe so much to the people who made this site for helping me meet so many people who have brought me a lot of happiness. But the thought of all the people who are going to have that taken away from them because of this decision...it's heartbreaking really. I beg you, for the sake of all the furs out there looking for friends, rethink this decision. |
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| Xalelydo 2007-06-02 00:30:40 |
| Though it may seem horrible that pounced is not letting minors on the site anymore, its not all bad. I personally would like to know that the person whom I am talking to or rp-ing with is over 18. There are lots of human laws out there that could get us in trouble if we started to make any type of "advance" on a minor. I dont know about other furs, but I sure as heck am not going to human jail for being a "sexual predator." No way! This foxxie would never survive in jail. (whimpers) As for them making friends, there are a TON of us on sites like myspace.com and facebook.com. All they need to do is find one and they have practically found all of us. =^_^= Who knows what minor's human parents would do if their children were being "solicited" online and it got tied back to our fandom and pounced. |
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| Vernon 2007-06-02 17:24:19 |
Xalelydo~
It is ironic that you say that you would like to be sure the people you are RPing with are over 18, because this new policy will actually make it much more difficult to know such a thing. Think about it. Before, if someone was under 18, their age would show it in their ad. The way things stand now, you won't. This policy isn't going to stop minors from using pounced. It's just going to make them lie abot their age. Now all the 16 and 17 year old users are going to remake ads stating that their age is 18. Furthermore, they will be unable to reveal their real age without getting their ad deleted. So now there are going to be bunches of minors saying they are 18 when they aren't, and you aren't going to know the difference. I hope the people who made this decision are reading this, and I hope that they will understand that the only thing they are going to accomplish by this policy is upsetting a lot of people and making hundreds of minors lie about their age. Think about that next time you're about to seduce or yiff someone who is allegedly 18. |
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| Rhudiprrt 2007-06-03 03:36:52 |
The ability of minors to lie about their age, will always be there.
What's wrong with parents teaching their kids internet safety? Why do web site admins have to start becomming baby sitters?
I said it before... "Paranoia is a terrible thing." |
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| Furthling 2007-06-04 00:59:52 |
Complaints about this site taking a stand about users affirming that they're 18+ if they want to use the site is completely misplaced, and I'm glad to see the site admins made the change.
First, much as everybody has so irrationally complained, Pounced didn't shut anybody out. They could have taken other steps that would actually have been onerous, to help keep minors off the site, and they didn't.
Second, it is not a given that every minor will lie about their age. As it happens, some minors are honest. Perhaps, for example, because their parents have taught them the good habit of honesty in order to help them stay out of trouble.
Ultimately, what Pounced did was voluntarily take a non-binding step toward what is right and restricting minors from access to a site of this nature is definitely right.
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| Rhudiprrt 2007-06-07 20:12:04 |
Well, of course, you can always lock your children into a tiny little repressive corner of your home... protect them from everything under that sun. When they finally have to get out into the real world, they sure will know how to cope.
??! "...site of this nature..." *looks around* Looks like a really good social networking site for furrs. I've found some really good online friends on here.
And... some of my friends happen to be under 18. |
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| Tsunari 2007-06-09 21:45:41 |
Hmmmm, the only thing I have against Furthling is that this is the "right" thing.
But it is definitely the sane and legal thing to do. Especially if they want to keep the site running for adult users.
There are lawsuits running about that will sue for things that are the persons own fault and those suits can be won by those people.
There may also be direct criminal liability. From a survivability standpoint this is the proper thing. From others it's neutral.
The thing you should be trying to change is Society itself. Get society to make it so people are stuck with personal responsibility and a lot of things will change. |
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| (deleted:7687) 2007-06-21 04:25:32 |
Ignoring the arguments from those who would justify the actions on behalf of the moral right (morals should never be used as justification, they're too fluid from person-to-person), I guess I have to support these actions taken. The threat of litigious busybodies (see Rhudiprrt's "Mrs. Grundy") looms nigh.
I would, however, like to quickly discredit my own argument due to inherent bias. Being over the age of 18 means that I am less likely to empathize with actions that effect only minors. If I were a minor, I'm sure I'd be making quiet the racket right about now.
In the end, the decision is -and should be- left to the administrators, who no doubt have considered this predicament long before reaching a verdict. We're talking about the Pounced admin here, not the Lindens. |
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| Crassus 2007-06-29 15:06:20 |
Ah, the joys of ageism and segregation based on silly fears and false ideals of innocence. Praise Jesus. Pass the ammunition.
It's truly a shame when so many teens need to be disenfranchised from the fandom by an increasing sense of paranoia and fear because a group of assholes who like to cause trouble for others based on their own moralistic agenda.
I already know a handful of teens planning on faking their age. And no, I'm not going to report them. More power to them, in my opinion. That's how they'll "speak out" about this issue. You're creating more of a legal trouble for yourself by segregating than you are by allowing them. even MySpace doesn't make for such drastic measures. Heh. They know that most of their client base is exactly that demographic.
Keeping them safe? You're hurting them by keeping them safe. |
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| Firyoshin 2007-07-02 12:10:30 |
There should only be two kinds of people complaining about this restriction, minors themselves, and the people we want to protect the minors from. There are thousands of furs out there on pounced and many other online communities, all pounced has done is enforce its very principles. These are in fact furry personals, and as with all other personals you must be 18 or older to have a submission. I have met a lot of great people on this site who were under 18 at the time I responded to their ad, hell I was 17 when I first made my ad (I will be 20 in august) however that was then and this is now. Pounced felt it was necessary to restrict access from minors and I tell you right now I would not be too surprised if all of the Furry conventions out there started requiring parental supervision for minors instead of a notarized permission slip. Minors are getting crazier and crazier and unfortunately things are starting to crack down on them (I would know, I was crazy before I was 18, hell I still do crazy things) Its up to the parent, the minor themselves and the COMMUNITY to help fix these things. Besides, its at most 1-2 years of no pounced, not really the end of the world anyway.
-RenSensei |
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| Furthling 2007-07-07 15:40:44 |
One: Pounced.org is not 'everything under the sun,' and nobody's proposed locking anybody's kids in the closet. Nor is any reasonable person who cares about kids suggesting minors should face all the same risks as adults.
Two: Ignorance may sometimes lead to moral errors, but the alternative to justifying things with morals is being amoral. Anyone can run around insisting everyone should be amoral and that "anything goes," but they will widely and rightly be regarded as at least emo and juvenile, if not dangerously sociopathic, and for the most part, get neither their way nor even much attention, until they're thrown in jail. Whether some people's moral standards have been stupid in the past, morality is indispensable.
Three: Atheist gun control advocates like me make moral judgements too, just like all responsible people try to. There are specific risks involved with minors having access to adult personals. Dismissing these concerns by pretending they could only come from some redneck religious gun owner ... sort of leaves one wondering if you have a *legitimate* objection.
Four: Teens are not being disenfranchised from the fandom by this move.
Five: Yes, there are negatives ("harm") associated with keeping minors safe. There're also negatives to brushing your teeth to prevent cavities, but we don't run around saying "You're hurting your teeth by brushing them."
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| Crassus 2007-07-13 21:17:24 |
"There should only be two kinds of people complaining about this restriction, minors themselves, and the people we want to protect the minors from."
Interesting that you would consider things to be so black and white when we live and play in a community that has shown such prejudices and misunderstandings glowered onto it by mainstream media. Now, it would seem, you're giving into such prejudices. Name me all of the people who have purportedly been harmed in the past by this service being co-aged, so to speak? Name me the furs who have preyed on the younger. I can only think of a couple who would do that, and it seems odd that you would not merely target those few select manipulators rather than the majority who are in fact good people.
The main thesis of my previous post was merely to point out the disheartening fact that there is a growing issue of age segregation in America. This issue is being spawned by fears of predation and molestation. Meanwhile, the teens who are supposedly being harmed by sexual contact either with each other or older people are having wonderful times jacking off to all the lovely furry porn and spoogecake that's been available to them via sites like VCL, Furnation, Skunked, Yiffstar, and all the other artist sites out there. FA is merely the latest in the chain of these sites. From the proof of so many furs who are now in their 20's, the utter majority of these once-horny teens are saying, "Yeah, I loved finding all the furry porn I wanted back when I was 13, going on FurryMUCK and yiffing it up to my hearts content. Sneaking onto Taps and doing the same." These people have NOT been harmed by becoming sexually active. In fact, from all of these people's opinions, it was the best thing that could have happened to them. That all is changing now, and that's what saddens me. It's all hysteria, based on fears, lies, and paranoia pushed by an anti-sex, anti-gay/bi, anti alternative-lifestyle Puritanical mindset. And now it's seeping into the furry mindset, when such a mindset is the caern of the "human" fallacy which most hoped to escape. It sickens me. We're becoming mundane. |
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| Furthling 2007-07-14 22:53:52 |
Hm. Well. I'm pro-sex, pro-bi/gay-rights, and about as far from puritanical as I could get. Access to yiff sites is a bad analogy a personals service designed to put people who are interested in the friendship/romance/yiff spectrum in contact with one another, is very different from looking at yiff anonymously on YS, etc, because it leads to people hooking up in the real world. When you say: "This issue is being spawned by fears of predation and molestation," do you recognize that there's a real pandemic of sexual abuse of minors on, right at this moment? Those fears are completely legit. |
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| Crassus 2007-07-15 15:04:42 |
"do you recognize that there's a real pandemic of sexual abuse of minors on, right at this moment? Those fears are completely legit."
Prove there's a pandemic. Moreover, prove that there's one without using what the mainstream media attempts to purport as a pandemic. That's the very definition of hysteria.
Just 'cause a minor has sex doesn't make it abuse, even if the guy/girl they have sex with is a few years older than them. Things don't just flip onto "SEX" at the age of 18 like it's a light switch.
And we wonder why teens have a hard time adjusting to their bodies, and becoming comfortable with themselves as they develop through puberty. We make it difficult for them by witholding their nature as far back as possible, then suddenly lunging them into adulthood at the last minute. It's creating confused, disenfranchised, irresponsible people. The fandom, traditionally, hasn't conformed to this mold (as the the Internet for many years). It fostered a free and more natural approach. But now, we're because of this kneejerk, shock reaction from conservatives and politicians, and the constant blasting of media attention (mainly spurred by the fact that both politicians and the media didn't know jack shit about the Internet for many years), we're suddenly being led to believe that there's a pandemic of minors having sex and everyone automatically calling it "abuse." Well, reality don't work that way. By their definition of abuse, that means that every kid who jacks off to furry porn is being abused. Guess what that's going to lead to? 12 and 13 year old boyfriend/girlfriends being called both victim and perpetrator for having sex with each other. A 17 year old doing 10 years in prison for having oral sex with his 15 year old girlfriend. And yes, in some cases, people in their 20's dating people in their teens? So what? Who the fuck cares. Only people who think it's bad and unnatural care. And those are the types of people who think that being gay, bi, or any other "off-the-beaten-path" form of sexuality. It's conflicting ideals at war is what it is. And the sad part is, those few people who ARE being abused are such a small fraction from the vast majority of others who either want to, or don't give a damn.
The Internet revolves around freedom of information. Young people gonna find sex. They're gonna experiment. More power to them. That's called natural human development.
Pounced.org during its inception allowed minors to say they were out for a yiff. Furthermore, it allowed anyone from the age of 12 to have a personal. Not until later did they remove that feature. Now, they're not allowed at all. There's a definite pattern toward conservatism in the fandom because of false fears driven by a puritanical society. |
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| Crassus 2007-07-15 15:07:07 |
"And those are the types of people who think that being gay, bi, or any other "off-the-beaten-path" form of sexuality."
er, that should read: "And those are the types of people who think that being gay, bi, or any other "off-the-beaten-path" form of sexuality [are also bad.]"
Stupid distractions. |
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| Thaily 2007-08-16 09:00:03 |
| Ofcourse minors will still join the site, only this time adults won't know they're typefucking a minor which opens up all sorts of legal dangers for the adults users of this site. |
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| Rainhopper 2007-08-16 18:57:12 |
Ya know, I think this whole minor issue really is media blasted BS.
first off, theres no protection for the adults what so ever. so if a minor really wants to screw someone over, they need only get an assumed name, pretend to be of age and lure them into meeting. This is why dating when your anywhere near 18 is so sucky, say yor 18 and your gf is 17 and you break up, guess what your probably going to jail =P
yes it does happen, when I was in HS girls in thier unior year would talk about havin thier man by the balls cuz he was 18 and she was under age.
its not the admins fault, so dont be angry with them. They are being pre-emptive because they can see the stank comming down the pike. alot of us arent 16 anymore, we are in our 20's, which means we lost that barrier that protected us from major conviction for minor stupidity. |
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| Usagi 2007-08-28 09:25:48 |
Wow...you people are idiots. Only on a site over run by horny gay males would people actually bitch about keeping underage members out.
Seriously, it's not the end of the world. Maybe the kids will get a real life and go outside and make real friend, OMG IMAGINE THAT.
Freaking pedos. |
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| Devhyn 2007-09-03 03:06:33 |
And only anywhere on the internet would people find that one token retard harrumphing around and trolling with unfounded insults and a supremacist attitude. Hooray.
Good lord - Far be it for anyone over the age of 18 to have friends under the age of 18 without being a "freaking pedo." Do us all a favor and shut the hell up next time you get the urge to impose your worthless opinions. |
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| Devhyn 2007-09-03 03:30:20 |
And only anywhere on the internet would people find that one token retard harrumphing around and trolling with unfounded insults and a supremacist attitude. Hooray.
Good lord - Far be it for anyone over the age of 18 to have friends under the age of 18 without being a "freaking pedo." Do us all a favor and shut the hell up next time you get the urge to impose your worthless opinions. |
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| Devhyn 2007-09-03 03:31:06 |
| Oops. Apparently refreshing the page was a good way to double-post. Yay. |
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| Crassus 2007-10-12 21:29:26 |
"Freakin pedos"
And damn proud of it too. Failed to parse widget data '{^^}'
Gimme pedohuggin's! *slobber* |
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| jgjazz 2008-01-02 00:44:53 |
| I'm a little late on my commentary here, but oh well! My main reason why this is such a delay in commentary is because when this change occurred, I was 17. And yes, I was a bit upset at first, it's been thanks to pounced I've gained the few fur friends I have and adore. Well, that and I was growling over the fact that I would be 18 soon enough. And I could have easily changed my age on a new account, but I think that's rather pointless. Yes, I did miss the access to the site, but I lived. And I hope that the minors that are faking their ages know exactly what they're doing to both themselves and the adults they talk to. There's really no point in that kind of a hassle. You end up lying, a heck of a lot. Save everyone some time and just wait. It's not that bad. And if you really do like this sight it'll be better for you to just wait and use it when you're 18. It'll cause a lot less stress for everyone. |
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| Spyridon 2008-02-11 20:19:45 |
Hello,
Being my first act as new "Pounced" member, I feel it neccessary to proffer my feelings on this subject, which is riddled with moral, ethical, political, and legal debate.
I feel that, based on the nature of the website itself (that being to meet furry friends, friends that might become lovers/significant others), that a barring of under 18 members is a little... pointless, really.
"Welcome to pounced.org, the place to meet furry friends and mates. You can use pounced.org to find a new friend or look for a mate."
The "or" in the above statement denotes the ability to choose, to make an elective decision as to WHY you are here. Not everyone here is looking for love, it's a place for friends.
It seems that in this situation, the admins are making this decision as a preventative measure to avoid problems in the future. However, it's unlikely that such problems will ever appear.
The choice, as has been categorized above, is purely voluntary and seems to have one motive: to prevent future problems. I feel that, like Prohibition, the safe measures taken to shelter people will only lead to a more destructive end. Instead of being able to have sure knowledge as to a minor's age, people making friends/mates on Pounced will be subject to more risky situations of unknowingness. It will make Pounced into a very hostile environment for good people trying to make friends, and good, smart, responsible minors trying to do the same. Like Prohibition, Pounced is going to sap itself with this action, rest assured.
Can I sympathize with the admins? Assuredly. Do I feel that, in this situation, that doing said action is the lesser of two evils? No. If I had to choose between stopping minors from joining a site to better protect them and current Pounced members, or leaving it open to promote honesty, safety in knowledge, a warm "welcome mat" feeling, and a general sense of non-judgment, I'd pick the latter.
Hopefully I will sway some hearts,
With All Due Respect,
~Spyridon |
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| Xalelydo 2008-02-11 21:20:29 |
| Wow, people are actually still arguing about this. You realize its done, and regardless of whether minors sign up for pounced or not, I could care less. I have a boyfriend who is my age, so I don't have to worry about getting sexual harassment/pedophilia/molestation/gross sexual imposition charges slapped on my tail. Hope y'all screen your online yiffs carefully, or are happily homosexual like myself. I hear there are guys in jail who LOVE pedophiles. |
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| Devhyn 2008-02-11 22:26:05 |
Xalelydo-
Unfortunately, it's impossible for you to know if the person you're online 'yiffing' is 18 or not. For that matter, they could be 73 and you wouldn't be the wiser. I don't think it's possible to be thrown in jail for roleplaying with someone under the age of 18.
Also, as people said in reply to your first post way when this policy began, it's only made the whole under 18 thing an even bigger issue. You wouldn't believe how many people under the age of 18 have contacted me pretending to be 18 when they were really 15-17. Not all of them admit it. Granted, I don't do the online yiff thing anyway because I find it boring and silly. =P But I like hanging out with furs I meet here, and the last thing I need to do is find Chris Hansen waiting for me in place of one of those 16-year-olds that felt the need to lie to continue using this wonderful site.
Ah, well. It's not going to change, and it's only there to cover the asses of the people in charge of the site. |
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| Thaily 2008-02-28 13:42:23 |
"I don't think it's possible to be thrown in jail for roleplaying with someone under the age of 18."
Yeah it is, concerning sexual roleplay, it's misconduct with a minor or soliciting sexual contact with a minor and you can definitely go to jail for it. Google it, others have preceded you. Also you'll become a registered sex offender which means you have to mention it every time you have a job interview and you have to tell your neighbors that you are a sex offender if you move house etc.
All this for typefucking with an underaged brat who lied about his age. Totally worth ruining your life over, yay! |
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| Xalelydo 2008-02-28 14:35:09 |
Thank you Thaily. You have finally emphasized my point which most of the "anti-age banning faction" have been arguing against me since this ban came into effect some time ago.
Oh well, if they wish to have the "sex offender" label and go to jail, henceforth ruining their lives, let them do it. I cant say I feel bad for an informed person who chooses to break laws (or respect them for that matter). Hope they like prison as much as they love little boys who aren't of legal age. |
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| Thaily 2008-02-28 15:32:42 |
| Kids will lie about their age anyway, even if only to appear more attractive by saying they're older. |
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| Devhyn 2008-02-28 15:36:55 |
"Google it, others have preceded you. Also you'll become a registered sex offender which means you have to mention it every time you have a job interview and you have to tell your neighbors that you are a sex offender if you move house etc."
The internet says it, so it must be true! I've seriously just never heard of that before, and I'm hard-pressed to believe it because it happens so damn often. Feel free to link sources, though - I'm too lazy to be assed by Google just to argue with the two of you who continue to do so for the sake of arguing. Everyone has already agreed with both you and Xalelydo, yet you keep arguing... what, exactly? Nothing. You haven't countered the points that Spyridon and I or others have posted here.
Furthermore, instead of keeping this debate civilized, you both went along to assume that we're only against the "NoMinors" thing because we're pedophiles out to play with little boys. I personally don't "typefuck" anyone, but I *do* have a couple of friends around 16-17 that are a hell of a lot more down to earth and interesting than either of you. Once again, you failed to even address the points that were being made, in that this rule does NOT stop minors from using the site. It only forces people to lie about their age more than they normally would to continue using the services. And as previously mentioned, it doesn't matter who you 'typefuck' - Unless you know the person in real life and have seen identification proving that they're of age (or at least the age they claim to be), you have no way of knowing. Banning minors from this site changes absolutely nothing. |
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| Devhyn 2008-02-28 15:57:11 |
"Google it, others have preceded you. Also you'll become a registered sex offender which means you have to mention it every time you have a job interview and you have to tell your neighbors that you are a sex offender if you move house etc."
The internet says it, so it must be true! I've seriously just never heard of that before, and I'm hard-pressed to believe it because it happens so damn often. Feel free to link sources, though - I'm too lazy to be assed by Google just to argue with the two of you who continue to do so for the sake of arguing. Everyone has already agreed with both you and Xalelydo, yet you keep arguing... what, exactly? Nothing. You haven't countered the points that Spyridon and I or others have posted here.
Furthermore, instead of keeping this debate civilized, you both went along to assume that we're only against the "NoMinors" thing because we're pedophiles out to play with little boys. I personally don't "typefuck" anyone, but I *do* have a couple of friends around 16-17 that are a hell of a lot more down to earth and interesting than either of you. Once again, you failed to even address the points that were being made, in that this rule does NOT stop minors from using the site. It only forces people to lie about their age more than they normally would to continue using the services. And as previously mentioned, it doesn't matter who you 'typefuck' - Unless you know the person in real life and have seen identification proving that they're of age (or at least the age they claim to be), you have no way of knowing. Banning minors from this site changes absolutely nothing. |
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| Xalelydo 2008-02-29 18:23:32 |
Which is why I don't typefuck. I'm out...and update your picture...at least mine is current and true to what I look like.
It never ceases to amaze me of the people who put up an old picture of themselves and then act depressed b/c they don't look 'quite like they used to'. Not like we wont see you anyway when you go to a con and meet others on here.
Anywho, I am done talking about this ban, after all it did happen a long time ago. Later. |
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| Devhyn 2008-02-29 22:13:23 |
Yes, once again let's attack the voice of reason by making baseless assumptions and failed attempts at insults. That picture has been on my profile for uh, four years now. So when I posted it, it was relevant, and now it's irrelevant, but did you stop to think that maybe not everyone owns a digital camera?
My one up-to-date picture has a friend in it (in such a way that I can't crop him out without it looking even worse because it's a webcam picture) that he doesn't necessarily want every person from Pounced looking at when they view my profile. However, I can send that to friends I meet from here by request, and I do. It has nothing to do with being depressed or insecure or whatever.
Like you, I have an amazing boyfriend, and I'm here to make friends and nothing else. I couldn't give a flying frick whether you or anyone else likes what I look like now. I only added the stuff I said about my picture because I had nothing up-to-date when I wrote that profile last month, and I didn't want people to have any false impressions by seeing an old picture. I don't look much different than I did there anyway.
I'm amazed how your profile is all cutsie and happy, yet you're really a raging jackass that attacks and berates people left and right. Great way to make new friends. Feel free to post more baseless assumptions about how I really *must* be depressed and insecure because I defended myself on teh intarwebz. Hope your epeen reaches level 50 in the process. |
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| Tsunari 2008-03-03 16:18:20 |
| There is still a simple way to solve such a thing if it's a big deal to some. Start your own personals website get it hosted and a domain name and challenge society yourself instead of just complain. |
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| Firyoshin 2008-03-05 16:34:00 |
/agreed this is a personals website, and like all personals, one of its founding principals is to connect people in a hopefully intimate and gratifying relationship. People don't go to Match.com to find friends, E harmony is not a site to see other people in your area who share interests. While it does claim to be a social networking website (Such as Myspace, facebook, etc) I think the administrators are trying to make it clear that Pounced is more then just FurFinder (A website that does tell you exactly where furries may live in your area)but actually a place for people to get togeather and find single (or mated furs) looking to broaden their horizons. I don't think that Pounced was created with the intention that every furry and their sig other was gonna make an ad and basically use Pounced as a "Global annunciation of their love" which is exactly the kind of thing that, sadly, is going on. There is a reason that the lowest form of relationship on pounced is 'good friend' and not 'acquaintance' (also the 'short term, Long term, quick yiff should be indicators that they are trying to help you find some sort of relationship on pounced).
What ticks me off is that people are immediately looking at the Age ban and saying "OMG my 16yrold Friend can't used pounced or they have to lie to get on" and not looking at the big picture and see the reason that Pounced has done this is to protect you as a user. My personal information is on here, and I get enough flack in life just for being a part of the fandom. I do however one day wish to become a (highschool) teacher, and the last thing I need is for someone to stumble across my add in a personals website that caters to minors (even if I had never responded to one of their adds.)Now, I am not saying that if you are over 18 you should not be friends (perhaps more) with a minor, there have been times where I was under 18 dating an adult and times where I have dated minors. I am simply saying that a personals website is not an intelligent place for minors and adults to meet, even as friends. It is my personal belief that Facebook messed up majorly when they allowed people under 18 and I feel pounced has done a great thing to prevent it.
As Tsunari has stated, having a social networking website designed purly for Furries Meeting Furries would be amazing (I do think a few exist actually) but it would be one that does not have features like "Looking for 'Quick Yiff'" and one where it would be understood that the solicitation of minors will not occur on the website. If this website were created, I would probably make an account there, I love meeting new friends regardless of age, yet at the same time I find myself responsible to see that pounced is not the place. There is a reason I have started disabling my add when I am in a relationship and I wish others would follow suit, Pounced is for people looking for serious relationships, not simply a "Coming out of the fur-closet" or "me and my mate are so happy we are both going to make personals adds expressing our love" message board and I wish more people would respect this.
Case in point, Pounced is not for Minors or Monogamist Couples In my opinion, its a place for furries to meet and hopefully date other furries.
Thank's for reading, that's just my 'Ren-sense'
-Ren
(Inb4 tl;dr) |
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| Devhyn 2008-03-07 02:27:32 |
If you have enough personal info on your pounced ad to be traced back to you and cause issues for possible future employment, that's your fault for not having common sense about it. I think people are really blowing the whole 'zomg no profilez might get fired/not get hired!!11' thing out of proportion. A little common sense like not posting pictures on myspace/FB with a bottle of alcohol in your hand shouldn't be so hard to come by if you're planning on becoming a teacher. It's not there to protect us - It's there to protect the people running this site in the event that something serious happens and parents try to sue (which I'm surprised hasn't happened yet... unless it has, I don't know).
"It was a hard decision, there were many factors, the primary of which were:
* Safety of underage users.
* Current trends regarding social networking sites."
That trend being all of the stupid parents causing grief for sites like myspace and whipping out the big sue card, among other things. Pounced expects us to use our common sense - Your damn fault if you have info on there that can give an employer grounds to not hire you. I think employers would be a lot more worried about the fact that you beat off to anthropomorphic porn than whether or not the site bans <18 users.
Anyway, point still remains that it's not stopping minors from using the site. Minors contact me pretty often. -_- If people really want to protect minors on the internet, the government needs to be spending a buttload of money on effective methods to monitor the age of users. Maybe it should do that instead of trying to fix all of the problems of other countries all of the time... :D
Also, I disagree with you on one point, though. Pounced isn't JUST for finding relationships. A crapload of people use this site to find new friends. It's not all that easy to find fellow furs - IFPL has never worked for me, and other sites pale in comparison to this one for me. Implying that people need to disable their ads when in a relationship is pretentious. I met two of my closest friends on Pounced, and neither of them contacted me looking for a relationship. Read the greeting on the front page of Pounced: "Welcome to pounced.org, the furry personals site! Welcome to pounced.org, the place to meet furry friends and mates. You can use pounced.org to find a new friend or look for a mate." If you want a site that's just for dating, join a dating site. There are tons of them out there. |
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| Firyoshin 2008-03-07 18:38:07 |
"Welcome to pounced.org, the furry personals site!"
Wow, you've illustrated my point, why thank you.
Also, in regards to: "If you have enough personal info on your pounced ad to be traced back to you and cause issues for possible future employment, that's your fault for not having common sense about it."
I do have 'enough personal information' on my personals site because I do not want to deceive people who are potentially interested in me. You may like hiding things from those you wish to start a relationship with, I however believe in honesty and forwardness. Minors who still use Pounced however clearly do not, as they are so hasty to create an illusion of adulthood on their pounced add in order to use the website where the administrators have made it clear, by placing this ban, that they do not want underage persons using pounced. So I'll reiterate, there are other furry social networking websites in existence, and there is always room for more. Pounced however, by request of the administration, is not the place for them.
So again, if you enjoy using pounced, why not show respect for the people who bring you this great service as opposed to lying and potentially incriminating those whom are allowing you to use their hard work for free? Pounced.org has requested that minors not use their service, if you are a minor using this site still, or an adult in support of the minors illegitimately using the site, consider the disrespect that you are showing to those that have offered this website at no cost for years. If you have no remorse betraying those that help you, by all means, continue the deciet. I however will stand behind the administrations decision.
"And thats all I have to say about that!"-2 |
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| Devhyn 2008-03-07 21:37:15 |
"Wow, you've illustrated my point, why thank you."
Wrong. The definition of Personals is an advertisement or column in a newspaper/magazine (or an online site in this day and age) featuring personal notices. Just because some personals sites are only geared toward relationships doesn't mean all of them are, and this site is for making friends just as much as it is for finding a mate. It says as much in the welcome just like I previously mentioned. You can go on being indignant about it all you want, I don't care.
"I do have 'enough personal information' on my personals site because I do not want to deceive people who are potentially interested in me. You may like hiding things from those you wish to start a relationship with, I however believe in honesty and forwardness. Minors who still use Pounced however clearly do not, as they are so hasty to create an illusion of adulthood on their pounced add in order to use the website where the administrators have made it clear, by placing this ban, that they do not want underage persons using pounced. So I'll reiterate, there are other furry social networking websites in existence, and there is always room for more. Pounced however, by request of the administration, is not the place for them."
You missed the point I was making with this *completely*. I was basically saying if you're dumb enough to have enough info for an employer to find your ad and be like, "zomg that's Ren! He's a furry fag~! Don't hire him!" in your profile, that's your own fault. I didn't say you should hide your personality and be disingenuous with people that will be reading your profile. Make an AIM or MSN or something that is separate from one that you use at work. Don't put your real name on your ad or a real picture. Share those on a messenger.
Stop twisting my words around. I never once said that I support minors continuing to use this site. All I ever said is that this rule *does not work*. It doesn't stop minors from signing up for the site, and if anything it makes some of them feel rebellious about it. I'm grateful for Pounced because it's a free service I have used for years, and one that has led me to finding and building a few lifelong friendships. That doesn't mean I have to be subservient or agree with every change they make here, and that hardly makes me ungrateful. All in all, I really don't care about the under 18 ban - I care that a rule has been made while hardly being enforced. You can't just slap a disclaimer on something and not do anything about it. That's why I've said it's just there to cover their asses rather than protect the minors as it so honorably claimed was its purpose.
This topic has been dragged through the dirt enough already. |
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