Posted by Deneb on September 24, 2011, at 17:17:49
In reply to Internet forum ethics » Deneb, posted by jane d on September 24, 2011, at 6:19:17
> > Hehehe, some people on a hair forum think I'm black. lol
> >
> > I posted a picture of my hair and some were saying how I had excellent retention. I had no idea what that meant so I googled it and found it is a term associated with growing black (kinky) hair long. I noticed that the people who said I had good retention had afros in their avatars. I'm not sure whether or not it is their hair, but it is customary for us to post pictures of our own hair as avatars there.
> >
> > It would be cool if I really were black and grew my hair this long, but unfortunately it is plain ole asian hair, which is relatively easy to grow long.
> >
> > It's neat that my hair doesn't look asian though! It must be the puffiness of my hair. It's not razor straight.
> >
> > I think I'll just let them think I'm black, rather than have to disappoint them. LOL
> >
>
> Well you could be seeing a case of a word definition in the process of shifting. In this case going from more specific to more general.
>
> But if it's not that, what do you think would disappoint them more? Learning that you are asian or learning that you had allowed them to think something false? What about the other people reading that are getting false information about your hair? Or rather, false information about what kind of genetic background produces what kind of hair. It's not like black vs asian is irrelevant on a board devoted to hair types.
>
> One way to think about these things is to ask "how would I feel?" For instance how would you feel if I let you think that I had had a severe problem with my thyroid due to risperdal when I didn't.
>
> Another is to ask "what would happen if everyone did what I did?". What would happen if everyone on a board exchanges false information? How useful does that board remain to anyone including you?
>
> Just things to think about.
>Yeah, I'm not entirely sure that they think I'm black. Maybe the word retention is used for all types of hair sometimes. I don't want to risk being wrong about that. I mostly lurk there anyways so I doubt I'll be remembered. I have written other posts that have indicated I have Asian hair. I don't think this is too big of a deal. If I find more evidence that they think I'm black I'll let them know I'm not.
poster:Deneb
thread:997627
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20110910/msgs/997769.html