Why all the hidden profiles?

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eljr

Koyaanisqatsi
Seems like every time I click on a member profile I get a, "This member limits who may view their full profile."

WTF is that?

Note to the administration, just because the message board software offers such features nothing compels you to make them all available.

It's a very unfriendly feature for a what is generally a very friendly board.
 
Some people would prefer to keep their personal details private, or not share them with any or every person who uses AK. It is, IMO, not an affront to you or anyone personally, it is a personal and private choice by the individual member. That is their right under the options AK and its software choices makes. If you "want" to know more about a person whose details are private, I suggest you PM/conversation them with a request to follow, be followed, or share the information. However, don't be surprised if you receive no response, or a polite "no, thank you" or otherwise. That is not a fault, nor is it unfriendly, it is their preference and it should be respected, IMHO. As for AK, they give users lots of options for how you can share or limit information about yourself as well as how the forum software works for them, and most users appreciate that.

IMO, personal privacy in this internet age is quite under attack. When you view a page elsewhere, Forbes for example (certainly many others) or a site with Disqus or livefyre discussion options, they offer to sign you in with your Facebook, Yahoo, Google, etc. credentials if you don't already have an account with them. When doing so, their terms of use "allow" the site or the discussion software to "access" your contact list (everyone you know whose email addresses you have decided to use or collect). Why the hell would I want to share that with anyone, these are my friends, acquaintances, work colleagues, etc. whom I assume value their privacy as well. I don't want any site to access any more information that I deem necessary, and that includes the possibility of them sending "spam", advertising, offers, etc. to my contact list people. We already have enough of that coming from Spambots that harvest email addresses by scanning sites, or intercepting emails, or getting into email accounts and contact lists surreptitiously.

The only site I've allowed that info to be had is LinkedIn, primarily for the purpose of work and professional contacts.
 
Some people would prefer to keep their personal details private, or not share them with any or every person who uses AK. It is, IMO, not an affront to you or anyone personally, it is a personal and private choice by the individual member. That is their right under the options AK and its software choices makes. If you "want" to know more about a person whose details are private, I suggest you PM/conversation them with a request to follow, be followed, or share the information. However, don't be surprised if you receive no response, or a polite "no, thank you" or otherwise. That is not a fault, nor is it unfriendly, it is their preference and it should be respected, IMHO. As for AK, they give users lots of options for how you can share or limit information about yourself as well as how the forum software works for them, and most users appreciate that.

IMO, personal privacy in this internet age is quite under attack. When you view a page elsewhere, Forbes for example (certainly many others) or a site with Disqus or livefyre discussion options, they offer to sign you in with your Facebook, Yahoo, Google, etc. credentials if you don't already have an account with them. When doing so, their terms of use "allow" the site or the discussion software to "access" your contact list (everyone you know whose email addresses you have decided to use or collect). Why the hell would I want to share that with anyone, these are my friends, acquaintances, work colleagues, etc. whom I assume value their privacy as well. I don't want any site to access any more information that I deem necessary, and that includes the possibility of them sending "spam", advertising, offers, etc. to my contact list people. We already have enough of that coming from Spambots that harvest email addresses by scanning sites, or intercepting emails, or getting into email accounts and contact lists surreptitiously.

The only site I've allowed that info to be had is LinkedIn, primarily for the purpose of work and professional contacts.


give me a break, just don't enter any info if you have privacy concerns

nothing compels anyone to give any info they are scared to give

In a friendly environment, it's off putting to have doors slammed in your face.

The problem with the internet IS too much anonymity. People on the internet act like aZZ clowns all the time because they can hide.
The internet should be like real life, do you wear a bag over your head when you walk down a street? Do you say the things in a bar as you do on the internet? It would be a much safer and friendly platform without all the hiding.

No one is compelled to be on line...


I get spam everyday from my mailman... it's a pain in the backside... at least with the interest spam I can easily block it. I haven't been able to stop my mailman from bringing spam for 50 years now. Stuff I have clean up daily, physically no less.

The software update here has been absolutely great, the best site on the net now in more than one way.... not all capabilities need be used. No other site I belong to hides the personas profile page. And like I said, the profile page offers no personal info unless the person wants to anyway. It's redundant... at best.
 
Maybe eljr over-sensationalized his assertion, but I see what he means. IMHO, it is silly and kind of rude to have a restricted profile. After all, that's the original intent of a profile; public viewing.
 
I completely avoid facebook wherever I can, and other nefarious data-mining sites, but let's be honest - its ALL out there, catalogued, and ready to be used.

On here, tho, I don't mind sharing my personal info.

Your feelings may differ.

Not much of a big deal, gentlemen.
 
give me a break, just don't enter any info if you have privacy concerns.............

It may just be my lack of internet savvy, but I don't get the difference between what you are suggesting and what you are complaining about.

About the post change AK being better.....again it may just be my lack of internet savvy, but the main difference I've noticed is that my searches are far less useful than previously.

For example, if I type in Pioneer CS 7000 the first several links don't really have anything to do with that model speaker, while previously you had to get pretty far down the list before things started to get more and more unrelated.
 
It may just be my lack of internet savvy, but I don't get the difference between what you are suggesting and what you are complaining about.

About the post change AK being better.....again it may just be my lack of internet savvy, but the main difference I've noticed is that my searches are far less useful than previously.

For example, if I type in Pioneer CS 7000 the first several links don't really have anything to do with that model speaker, while previously you had to get pretty far down the list before things started to get more and more unrelated.

Leave out Pioneer, and just use the model number. The first 2 hits are spot on.
 
You can restrict in Facebook, Linked In and, other social sites. I don't see why a person CAN'T RESTRICT their profile. Most times it is just common sense.

I think y'all need to respect people's privacy concerns if they want to have them.

Your Facebook comparison is bogus and this has nothing to do with privacy.

Personal information is already an optional display here within the user profile.

It's redundant, I already said that, I guess you did not understand.

Facebook is a platform which is geared to real world identification.
Message boards are built for anonymity.

So this was a terrible post by you. Makes no sense... but carry on.
 
I just don't fill in any personal details, anybody can check my profile that wants to.

If you don't want people knowing stuff, don't enter it into your profile in the first place.

After some of the fits people have thrown over posters not having their location listed in their profile, I'm surprised more people haven't thrown a fit over hidden profiles.
 
Some people would prefer to keep their personal details private, or not share them with any or every person who uses AK. It is, IMO, not an affront to you or anyone personally, it is a personal and private choice by the individual member. That is their right under the options AK and its software choices makes. If you "want" to know more about a person whose details are private, I suggest you PM/conversation them with a request to follow, be followed, or share the information. However, don't be surprised if you receive no response, or a polite "no, thank you" or otherwise. That is not a fault, nor is it unfriendly, it is their preference and it should be respected, IMHO. As for AK, they give users lots of options for how you can share or limit information about yourself as well as how the forum software works for them, and most users appreciate that.

IMO, personal privacy in this internet age is quite under attack. When you view a page elsewhere, Forbes for example (certainly many others) or a site with Disqus or livefyre discussion options, they offer to sign you in with your Facebook, Yahoo, Google, etc. credentials if you don't already have an account with them. When doing so, their terms of use "allow" the site or the discussion software to "access" your contact list (everyone you know whose email addresses you have decided to use or collect). Why the hell would I want to share that with anyone, these are my friends, acquaintances, work colleagues, etc. whom I assume value their privacy as well. I don't want any site to access any more information that I deem necessary, and that includes the possibility of them sending "spam", advertising, offers, etc. to my contact list people. We already have enough of that coming from Spambots that harvest email addresses by scanning sites, or intercepting emails, or getting into email accounts and contact lists surreptitiously.

The only site I've allowed that info to be had is LinkedIn, primarily for the purpose of work and professional contacts.
I agree with the above post. I believe that AK would face a much louder reaction if we removed that choice. If you wish to speak to a person, contact them through the channels provided, email and conversation, or not. That person has the right to respond, or not, just like when walking down the street.

I don't see this changing, any time soon, but your objection is noted. Thank you.
 
Mine is light on details because I'm in the witless protection program. ;)

Location is sometimes handy, to sort out local AC power issues or "help is just around the corner" stuff.

Chip
 
OK-OK-OK.....if ya just gotta know.....I'm a boxers kinda guy

Me, I'm a Boxsters kind of guy:
zenithblue21117263196.jpg
 
I've only seen that kind of block one time and it surprised me, didn't know about it. I see lots of people that don't post any info. I used to like the old feature that showed how many people had viewed your info
 
You can restrict in Facebook, Linked In and, other social sites. I don't see why a person CAN'T RESTRICT their profile. Most times it is just common sense.

I think y'all need to respect people's privacy concerns if they want to have them.

Spot on.

The way this forum software works: you can fill out your profile in quite the detailed fashion, as much as you're comfortable with, but the forum then offers you the option of who on the forum you let view that information. Just leaving it blank does not solve the issue. There are three levels at work here:

1) Everyone (public). You don't even need to be logged in to see my profile.

2) Members only. Public can't see your profile, but logged in members can.

3) Members you follow only. That restricts the viewing of your profile to only those members who you "follow" (or in other words, it is like befriending someone elsewhere). You may not want the entire forum knowing everything, but are comfortable with people you know here, such as, members who are already friends, or those you have met in person.

Privacy is a right--my right--the right of everyone reading this--and it's not up to a forum, social media network, etc. to decide for us which of our information should be public or not. That is why I so strongly oppose f***book and z***erberg's "your entire life should be public" mindset, and how they hide so many privacy settings in difficult to find places.

After some of the fits people have thrown over posters not having their location listed in their profile, I'm surprised more people haven't thrown a fit over hidden profiles.

We've been discussing this on another forum (which I'm an admin for). Some members feel the need to add witticism to their location, which helps nobody; I'd rather they be left blank, if that's the case. But we do ask for members to please give us a location, one that is searchable on an online map. If you are not comfortable giving your city, just give us the state or province; if that's still to precise, at least still give us the country! The site's owner and many other members use this to tailor their responses. (Member A complains, "I can't find these Xxxx Xxxx cables anywhere around here! And they are 4x the price if I try to order them. WTF is up with that??" Member B: "Well, where do you live?" Member A: "Well, I'm in Inuvik...") Our rule states that the criteria for a location should be a valid search location on an online map.

The only site I've allowed that info to be had is LinkedIn, primarily for the purpose of work and professional contacts.
I have done the same, but even there I'm finding limited use in the business world. Their feeds have become increasingly spammy. Worse, the trollish Internet behavior has taken root in many comments. I've often replied to some of these trolls that their current employers may be interested to see how they behave themselves in a supposed "professional" setting as LinkedIn. I'm pretty much ready to disconnect there, as it's getting too f***book-like for my comfort lately...
 
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