* When you're a women on a forum/chat/irc/etc, you are pretty much guaranteed to get a deluge of messages/comments/etc from guys, especially socially awkward guys that would never think of attempting such a thing in person.
* It's easy for people to develop obsessions at a distance that are based on no actual reality before ever meeting someone in person. See celebrity stalkers for examples. Most of these cases are people that have never actually met the celebrity in question, but are in full out crazy mode by the time that they enter physical proximity to the celebrity.
* There's a difference between inferring gender, and broadcasting it. From the article this is portrayed as the difference between saying, "Hi, I'm Randall," and "Hi, I'm Randall and I'm a man." While both of these statements may seem logically equivalent (since you could deduce gender from the name), they are not equivalent in human interactions.
* When you're a women on a forum/chat/irc/etc, you are pretty much guaranteed to get a deluge of messages/comments/etc from guys, especially socially awkward guys that would never think of attempting such a thing in person.
* You're missing out on this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/3/19/
* It's easy for people to develop obsessions at a distance that are based on no actual reality before ever meeting someone in person. See celebrity stalkers for examples. Most of these cases are people that have never actually met the celebrity in question, but are in full out crazy mode by the time that they enter physical proximity to the celebrity.
* There's a difference between inferring gender, and broadcasting it. From the article this is portrayed as the difference between saying, "Hi, I'm Randall," and "Hi, I'm Randall and I'm a man." While both of these statements may seem logically equivalent (since you could deduce gender from the name), they are not equivalent in human interactions.