How you announce new users

I have a suggestion that I think is in Discourse’s purview rather than something that can be altered at the Steinberg level.

Currently whenever a new user posts, Discourse adds a message.

This is the first time Robbie has posted — let’s welcome them to our community!

Could Discourse alter its message slightly using the name token to be both grammatical and considerate to all.

This is the first time Robbie has posted — let’s welcome Robbie to our community!

I like the wording choosen in the German translation
This is the first time Robbie has posted — let’s welcome the new member to our community!

Would be interesting to see how it is translated in other languages.

Hmmmm, I feel like you are trying to fix something that isn’t broken here!

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Technically all strings are editable in the admin section, including this very string.

We do not intend to make a global change here, but you can amend your own site if you wish.

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Singular they is not ungrammatical; while some style guides have been slow to catch up to current convention, it is acceptable and understandable for most, if less common, but it is quickly catching up.

If you’d like to make the change your site, that’s fine, but it is not more grammatical to repeat a name to avoid using a common gender-neutral term that’s been around since at least the 1500s. It’s a completely grammatically acceptable default gender-nonspecific pronoun that’s a good choice for a default when gender is not otherwise specified.

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