Do you attract people who want to tell you their problems and secrets?

I would like to know how common this is.

I have long felt like I attracted people who tell me incredibly personal stuff very soon after meeting me. Most of them are not telling everyone these things - just me.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Yes, something similar happens with me also. Not always soon after meeting but I think they tend to confide more in me than they have in others. It's nice to feel like you're helping someone by listening. But it's a mixed blessing. I'm not exactly sure why it happens. I think I'm quite empathetic and people seem to pick-up on that, or at least that's what I put it down to.

Thank you, I'm glad I'm not alone! Sometimes I wonder -- do I just seem like a good listener or do they think that I'm a weirdo so it's okay to tell me this stuff? Or do I unwittingly reach out to people like this? It's definitely a mixed blessing. I like most of these people but sometimes wonder what a normal conversation would be like.

No, people are remarkably wary of telling me anything - there are advantages to be being distant and unfathomable.

People I don't know just start talking to me and tell me the darndest things. I'm not sure if its some kind of aura I exude or maybe I just look friendly. Maybe I look gullible! I dunno, but its crazy how I'll be somewhere like a store, and someone will ask me a question about something relevant, then digress into some life story or memory....and I have no CLUE why they are telling me this!
At times its really neat, because it seems like the person just needed an ear to bend, and I don't mind, especially if they get something out of it. What I DONT like is people with their political agendas or hate speech or something else they wanna whine about....why ME? I get the beggars a lot too. 20 ppl walk by and the dude tracks ME down and says "hey big man let me hold a dollar." I won't be the one telling him to get a job, but I rarely have money to give away; yeah, even a dollar!

Not often. I'm a quiet person by nature, and in school I was typically alone. Once this girl I knew but wasn't friends with came into an empty classroom I was (hiding) in and started telling me all her stresses and problems. Totally poared her guts out, while I nodded and "uh huh"med. Then she gets up, and goes "Wow! Thanks so much! I feel a lot better!" and left.

and I was like

Yes, all the time. Altho I love helping people as it does take my mind off my own problems most of the time. But there is a fine line between helping someone and keeping yourself mentally healthy. I do have to keep boundaries close if I need them.

It's a gift and a curse.

Yes, this happens less often now though. Deeply personal details are boundary issues for me. It has been better recently though.

Whew, so glad it's not just me. Maybe it's pheromones or something-- we give off listener vibes.

I just had a really weird instance of this. Usually I get the sense that people just want to unburden themselves - they don't ask for anything else. The other day, a woman I know very casually started telling me about the horror show that is her life.

Two days later she called me up in a panic and asked me to pick up one of her kids from school because she has an emergency and has no one else to call. I said I'd do it, but I feel so weird about this - the kid has no idea who I am. I hope she cleared it with the school like she said she would.

I think it's a great compliment to you that people trust you that much. You probably come across as not being nosy and not being prone to criticize. Also, you probably are just easy to talk to.

This happens to my sister all the time. Life stories, dreams, fetishes, the works, really. So in a way it is vicariously happening to me!