Female, 25, living in Japan
Since I picked up most of my spoken Japanese through my high school exchange I often use あたし as I feel like it sounds softer (???) than 私.
Of course 私 for formal context, first time meetings, etc etc
But in everyday life I usually use あたし (or うち if I’m feeling cute or with very close friends/flirting).
Little random, but what does your username come from? The state of Georgia or the country?
It comes from my actual name lol 
Ah ok. Was wondering if it was your way of romanizing ジョージア
Ah it is! My name is Georgia and I always write it as Jyojia in romanji.
I like to use 儂 (I’m in the right age bracket!), but because my Japanese is so awful, most people hear it and just think I’m saying 私 incorrectly!
Use whatever feels comfortable for you in the appropriate context. It might also evolve as you learn or grow up. Now, I go for 私 at work, 僕 with my boyfriend (he uses 俺 and I like that we have different pronouns) and girl friends, and 俺 with guy friends (seriously, anything else than 俺 feels very weird to me when drinking with the guys). Unless you’re using very weird anime-like caricatural pronouns, the argument that using certain pronouns makes you sound like you’re trying too hard makes no sense to me at least. God, it’s not like the Japanese language is sacred and your impure tongue is tainting it. No one cares… try things, use keigo with your boss, try that new expression you read, that’s how you learn. I don’t know why the pronoun discussion always gets so sensitive about the language. No one is like “I’m not gonna use this grammar that I learned 'cause it’s like I’m trying too hard without fully knowing the language”. How else would you learn? Seriously, no one bats an eye, and if they do, they might just be surprised and will get used to your pronoun of choice in a matter of a few conversations.
I don’t have Japanese conversations yet. But my go to pronoun when I practice speaking is 僕, I occasionally throw in a 私 just to be practiced in using a polite form I could use in a professional context.
I’m a 21 yr old guy and either 私 or 僕
When speaking politely or to new people, I use わたし. When I’m speaking informally or to people who know me already, I’ll use アタシ, for the sole reason that it’s less of a pain to say than watashi.
For REALLY formal stuff, I’ll use わたくし。
Other than that, I often refer to myself as 自分. I also just use my own name sometimes, which I think happens more when I talk to boys. Since that can definitely get annoying I limit it though.
I also sometimes just say こっち.
I never say ウチ, but for some reason I DO say ウチら. Dunno what’s up with that.
私 because I’m a girl and I kind of have to.
I really don’t like it. I wish I could use 僕. I’ve tried “あたし” and while it’s quicker to say, I think it’s too cutesy for me most of the time.
私 mostly. あたし when I’m drunk/flirting/being silly. I want to use it more often (it’s so cute!) but one of my higher ups is kinda strict (she’s scolded some female coworkers for not being ladylike enough - I only get away with it because I’m foreign lol) and I know some of my coworkers would drag me for it (in a nice way haha).
I teach at an all-girls’ school, and I do have a couple students who use 俺. Haha.
I default to 私, but I find that in everyday conversation I rarely use pronouns at all… Just when talking business or doing introductions.
Watashi usually,
Boku if I want someone to know I’m a lesbian
I use a blend of 私, 僕, and 俺. 私 for first meetings or when speaking to important people (despite my friendly relations with the mayor, I wouldn’t dare try another pronoun!), 僕 for talking with anyone I view with respect (my significantly older co-workers, neighbors, etc), and 俺 with similarly aged coworkers, friends, and my students. Is this required or expected of me? Nope! The pronouns happen to align with my “image” of them.
I see each of the pronouns less as “masculine” or “feminine” as “indefinite” and “definite” rather than in abstract concepts like formality. From how I’ve noticed the pronouns used in real life (as opposed to media like anime and dramas), the “further away” a speaker gets from 私, the better the grasp they have on where they stand around people. This is the main reason I am not fond of 私 personally, as I feel it lacks any ability to connect with people (as a male, at least). This makes it the perfect choice for professional dealings, but bad for personal dealings.
僕 and 俺 I see as two sides of the same coin: they show an active desire to connect, but in two different ways. 僕 is the “soft” side, indicating that the user places equal/higher priority to those with whom their speaking than themselves. This is why it seems “boyish” and is used by younger males. Meanwhile, 俺 is the “hard” side, indicating that the user places higher priority to themselves than to those with whom they are speaking. This is not to say it make the speaker seem better than the other person, but simply at a position to take more responsibility for it. This is why 俺 should be used less often with people of higher status or if you are not an assertive person.
For the rarer わたくし, I think this also assume a more “definite” pronouns, but in a less natural (and, from my experience, a worse) way. Unlike 俺, I feel it actually does indicate that the speaker is more important at base than those with whom they are speaking. I view it about the same level as using 我; the problem is more the reasoning for using it than the word itself (unless, of course, your circumstances call for that much formality). I’ve heard very few natives using わたくし, and I think usually foreigners have no reason to use it.
Ultimately, your behavior will shape your image rather than your pronoun(s); if your pronoun(s) don’t match your image, someone will probably make that obvious, especially if you make close friends. Unless you are Asian by descent (where things can be much more complicated), more likely than not they’ll probably be impressed at first that you even know a pronoun other than 私. It’s media like anime that make it out that there is some code to crack due to the archetypal design of characters.
I use 我輩 because I am pompous and think very highly of myself.
Just kidding. I tend to use watashi or boku.
I’m not sure what this means, if you’re in a situation where Keigo is called for, you’d use it. I’ve had to use 我が社 before, so these kinda things happen.
I use 俺 mainly (male, almost 30) , and have never heard anything from my Japanese friends.
I just remember using 僕 when I just started learning Japanese, and my friend said I sound like a kid.
Bad use of adjective when an adverb was appropriate; my bad. I’m sure that there are definitely careers that would lead to the need for it, but the majority of foreigners who are going to Japan likely will not (especially any going for tourism or through an ALT program). My original use of “standard” has been changed to “usually” to suit my intentions better. A small percentage of foreigners who go to Japan actually live there, the numbers of those who bother learning enough Japanese to know keigo are even smaller, and the number of keigo-knowledgeable foreigners who have an occupation that would utilize keigo is even smaller than that. Hence, my reason for saying that, in general, foreigners are better off not bothering, since a foreigner’s わたし normally suffices.
Also note I was referring to 我（われ） as use for oneself, not 我が社 or 我々, which are both very useful and appropriate since they are representing something beyond yourself. ^^
I’m an ALT and had to make a phone call to the vice principal of one of my schools today, so keigo was appropriate. No one would fault a foreigner for not using keigo, and I never used any pronouns, so it didn’t come up, but if I had, わたくし would have been fine.