Runesmith does that to all the threads. It keeps the rest of us from getting catty. ...Most of us, anyway.
To answer the original poster, it's healthy to look for dare or chat partners who have things in common with you. Age brackets can definitely be a factor if you're trying to find a romantic partner, depending on what you are looking for and enjoy. But keep in mind that people get a lot of grief over their looks in general, so it's perfectly common for folks to use a younger picture, or a found picture, simply to avoid getting cruel messages from strangers about it. There are a lot of guys here with a girl's avatar, too, because the real or anime person shown is what they're looking for -- or how they see themselves in their heads, rather than the mirror.
Of course, some people will lie about their gender or age outright (see Butterfly's point about minors who claim to be 18, among others), but my experience has been that the majority of interesting users here seem to be honest when it comes up directly. If you find you are enjoying someone's ideas enough for their age or gender to be relevant on an ongoing basis, you can always contact them privately and ask.
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