> > I've been using ICQ, AIM, etc. to talk to people and posting on message boards for years. I've given out all sorts of personal information, because I know it doesn't matter.
> > [...]
> >
> > He can give away phone numbers, addresses, names, everything, but if I tell someone how TALL I am, I lose my computer.
> >
> > It's BAD LOGIC! And I can't explain this to him.
>
> Is it?

Well, yes it is. If Athaleon's brother was a psychologist, I could understand the logic. But helpdesk support?

> > Anybody else have parents like this?
>
> I don't. Mind explaining why you feel the urge to give out so much personal information? Your height doesn't mean very much, true.

I would assume that people want to give out personal information, because it's very difficult to be friends with someone when you know nothing about them. There is certainly a need for a certain amount of paranoia when dealing with strangers (whether met in a bar, or on the Internet), but it needs to be carefully balanced if they are every to be anything other than strangers.

winter"Only friends you haven't met"mute