They’re about even. Offline, people can obviously tell I’m Asian so it doesn’t make much sense to say “I’m Asian”. On the internet, I prefer a certain level of anonymity so I just go with Asian.
It’s super diverse in my city. So identifying with my ethnicity is generally an easy way to connect with others. They don’t even have to share my ethnicity. People love to ice break on ethnicity and I don’t mind that as long as they’re not trying to be weird about it.
I see how it could be uncomfortable. From one internet stranger to another, I hope you know it’s appreciated. That kind of empathy already goes a long way. It might not come out that way but I see it from here.
Some real advice for situations where you’re not quite sure how to address the ethnicity topic: you could just ask if they grew up in
<your city>
. If they say no, they might tell you where they grew up. If not, let it pass. Not everyone wants to talk about where they grew up. 1st generation+ Asians can be all over the place on comfort with their identity.Also, if the vibes aren’t there, they might just not want to talk. That’s fine too.