I am a woman. I have signed up. Anyone who uses this as an excuse to try to ask me for a date (or otherwise chat me up romantically) will not be well received.
I get too much of that as is. I am hoping this service is the solution to my problem that when I say to a guy "Let's talk!" or "You can email me", about 99% of the time that is interpreted as an opportunity to hit on me. No, me saying I would be willing to discuss X specific issue further is absolutely not code for "I am looking for romance and I especially enjoy being treated like an airhead and sex object." (There was a recent incident and I am still pretty wrapped around the axle about it.)
I have been here 8.5 years. There are about three people I can email occasionally. No, that distinctly does not include certain folks on the leaderboard magnanimously inviting anyone on HN to contact them, they would love to talk to you. And I am getting pretty fed up with being patient and wondering what I, personally, can do differently. That isn't getting sufficient results.
I strongly suspect most female members of HN will have similar feelings on the matter, which is the only reason I am mentioning it. So treating it as a dating service probably won't go well.
