Location?

[kilted scholar]

Thanks, Steve, for the information.
As some posters have said, in certain circumstances the location from which a post is made may be relevant and helpful for other posters, so as to understand the context of the post or to provide answers or suggestions that would be appropriate. However, it can also be misleading; I live in Wales at present and lived in the USA for nearly 30 years but I am neither Welsh nor American, while others may have more complex situations.
For many - probably most - people disclosing their whereabouts is a matter of complete indifference; for others it may be a sensitive thing, for reasons they would not be able to disclose.

[Paul Henry]

Thanks, Steve, for the information.
As some posters have said, in certain circumstances the location from which a post is made may be relevant and helpful for other posters, so as to understand the context of the post or to provide answers or suggestions that would be appropriate. However, it can also be misleading; I live in Wales at present and lived in the USA for nearly 30 years but I am neither Welsh nor American, while others may have more complex situations.
For many - probably most - people disclosing their whereabouts is a matter of complete indifference; for others it may be a sensitive thing, for reasons they would not be able to disclose.

You are mistaking the word location for all sorts of other things, it means, where you are at the moment, it's doesn't mean where you were born, where you have lived, or countless other variations.

and on Steve's Quote Some are valid like a single parent of young children.
I can't imagine that anyone marking their location as say , the UK, who happens to be a single parent , would run any risk of anything untoward , so this point is hardly valid, we're not even suggesting that we need to know he or she is a single parent.
The idea of marking location is nothing more than a help to others,it's not an invasion of privacy. Anyone who uses the internet can't help be aware that there are many many ways of tracking personal information, but for the most part discussions of flat cap and white hose are unlikely to be front page news

[Chirs]

For me, the location becomes part of a picture I develop of the people with whom I am conversing. I am, beyond all else, "all too human." I am biased. I create even more biases as I interact with people. Will I be wrong in many of my assumptions? Of course I will! Did I not already say: "I am, beyond all else, "all too human"?" I don't want an 'egalitarian' world. I want humanity. Not only the advice given, the way I read a posting changes depending on how well I understand the one who posted. Consider some of the posts between long-time members on this forum: they tend to be very short and often elicit reactions that surprise. They have built up an understanding that goes well beyond what is written.

I have no interest in a sterile world where I see no differences between people. I have no interest in a worldview based on black-and-white thinking, or even on shades-of-grey. My life is technicolour and there are hues beyond my ability to understand, some vibrant, some dull, and not one 'equal' to the other.

If a person looks to a forum as a source of information alone, personal identifiers are of no worth and would likely be ignored. But, for those who may tend towards a more 'humanist' approach, the location becomes part of a picture that I am forming in my mind's eye and yes, that changes the way I read and respond to any post. For my part, if a person wishes to post with minimal (or no) personal identifiers, I will read the information as exactly that: information. It will be judged as information alone. If a person wishes to be seen as more than simply what is written, as the person who has written, they will need to expose something of themselves, and location is a fairly safe way to begin.

Well, that's my thought on the matter, for what it may be worth.