Is 'ASL' Rude?

[Night-1991]

When people start talking to you saying 'ASL' , do you count it as rude or curious

[SubMissChievous]

Personally, I don't find it rude... I just find it extremely dumb. I mean, if someone can't find anything better to say as a conversation starter with me then I just ignore them or I answer back something just as silly, depending on my mood of the day

[dared to perfection]

unfortunatly it is considered rude.
but i tend to start conversation and then ask it after a while if it is the first thing you ask then it sounds a little bit rude

so my advice is to ask how someone is and if they have had a nice day before asking them their asl

[verydominant25]

if you are chatting to somone from this site, then you probably will hav read their profile and know their a/s/l.

[dared to perfection]

but then alot of people's profile's dont actually have any information on about their age sex or location

in which case they should look forward to the ASL? question, but if you have taken your time to put it on there then you expect people to do some background research

[Newname!]

i dont find it rude really

[verydominant25]

i only think it's rude if you don't attempt to make conversation as well, so A/S/L is first thing you say. I think it is important to ask, but not at the expesne of hello etc.

eg:
XXX had added u
xxx: hey a/s/l?

annoys me

lol

[ty_la]

Personally I only think it's rude if it's one of the first 5 or so things said in the conversation. I think it's the easiest way to get some basic info to base the rest of your conversation on. Instead of wasting valuable time trying to get the answers out of pointless small talk, when you could already be into some nice conversation.

[CheshireCat_13]

I think it's rude if someone starts the conversation with it, or if they don't say anything else right after you tell them. If they truly want to get to know me and they ask after we've gotten a bit into the conversation then it's fine.

[GoogleMaster]

Originally Posted by Chloe

Personally, I don't find it rude... I just find it extremely dumb. I mean, if someone can't find anything better to say as a conversation starter with me then I just ignore them or I answer back something just as silly, depending on my mood of the day

Well said! It is the online equivallent of saying to someone at the bus stop "so, nice weather we are having." I don't mind replying, and in fact I think it is a good idea for everyone to know who they are talking to, but asking it as a first point of conversation is just silly.

[rpUral]

I'm more impressed with people who can fire up a conversation with something other than "ASL?" or "I need a dare". I'm also more impressed with people that read profiles and / or have more in their profile than "Male". (or "Female")

I take the time to look there, and I really expect to find something. And people who ask me ASL obviously haven't read mine.

Start a conversation. There's time later to find out their age, and if you're asking them to do something in the first 10 exchanges that would require you to know their age, you're probably doing it wrong in any case.

[fork]

It depends. If they PM you immediately saying "ASL?" then yes, it's rude. However if they have been talking to you normally for a bit and then ask, it's fine. I like to know who I'm talking to as well.

[LilAngel]

There are a few points:

1. If they don't have it in their profile, and the person is questioned, that will be.... reasonable.

2. If a decent conversation has been going on for a while, before... 'By the way, asl?', that's even more reasonable.

3. If you are starting a game, and you agree to participating, being asked 'ASL?' is... likely.


Being asked 'ASL?' because of the 'little things you do/say' is plain annoying.

Trying to start a conversation with 'ASL?' is plain stupid. (Unless you come from outta space)

Asking 'ASL?' for the sake of making yourself sound 'useful' is plain dumb.

And everything else is plain rude.

PMs with 'asl' are...UGH.

CHATROOM
Dumb: ASL?
Smart: So... What -insert sport- team do you go for?

Dumb: ASL?
Smart: I think I'm the youngest/oldest person around here...

Dumb: ASL?
Smart: Am I the only female/male in here?!?!?!

[SUPER-PEACH_666]

I think it depends on how its asked, if you say hi to someone then they reply with just ASL then I think its very rude but if you talk for a little bit and after you get to know each other a little bit if they ask then its not. Thats just how I feel about it though.

[nate2010]

I think it is rude if it is the first thing someone asks, or is the only thing they want to know, then go off to ignore you. As for it coming up in the first 5 to 10 exchanges, and that being wrong, I don't see it that way. Personally I don't really like talking to people past a certain age. So I don't like starting a conversation, talking about this and that, and then finding out that the person is past that threshold. It all depends on the person and/or the situation to determine if it is rude or not.