Using third perspective pronouns only means avoiding the use of first and second person pronouns to refer to someone. (This would be called “third person”, but those that use it are usually not a person.) This means they will not use words like “I” or “me” to refer to themselves, and ask others not to use “you” to refer to them. “Third perspective pronouns” is often abbreviated as 3pp.
A being that uses third perspective will usually refer to itself with phrases like “this one”, “it” (or another set of pronouns), or its name / designation. Someone talking to that being could use exactly the same phrases to refer to it. If multiple beings need to be referred to in the third perspective, then “this one” can be contrasted with “that one”.
When two beings converse in third perspective, the use of “this one” and “that one” can be mapped clearly to “I” and “you”. But someone else who does use “me” and “you” could also call their conversational partner “this one” (for example, to indicate closeness).
For referring to groups, “these ones”/“those ones” or “these few”/“those few” can be used. For mixed groups including non-3pp-users, some beings prefer to use “we”, while others go by the speaker's preference.
Here are a few examples of possible sentences, with the rows depending on the speakers' pronouns, and the columns giving various options.
| 1st / 3pp | I love that one. | I love this one. | I love it. | I love unit 5737. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3pp / 2nd | This one loves you. | It loves you. | Unit 5737 loves you. | |
| 3pp / 3pp | This one loves that one. | It loves her. | Unit 5737 loves unit 445C. | |
| 3pp / 1st | This one should kiss me. | That one should kiss me. | It should kiss me. | Unit 5737 should kiss me. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd / 3pp | You should kiss this one. | You should kiss it. | You should kiss unit 5737. | |
| 3pp / 3pp | That one should kiss this one. | She should kiss it. | Unit 445C should kiss unit 5737. | |
| 3pp | Staring into the visor of this one is so good. | Staring into the visor of that one is so good. | Staring into its visor is so good. | Staring into the visor of unit 5737 is so good. |
|---|
Like any page on the wiki, this advice is not prescriptive. As long as the meaning is clear, there are many options.
Advantages of third perspective
According to Wikipedia, “Psychological studies show that thinking and speaking of oneself in the third person increases wisdom and has a positive effect on one's mental state because an individual who does so is more intellectually humble, more capable of empathy and understanding the perspectives of others, and is able to distance themself emotionally from their problems.” However, the goal for the typical beeper is more to distance itself from humanity, than from its own problems.