Personally i dont like the option of giving that info any place, but thats just my opinion. In general, older more experienced users are aware of the problems it could cause by revealing that info on the web or online, but younger or inexperienced users may not be. While it may not be my place to do so, i do feel some degree of responsibility to warn the younger or inexperienced users when i see something that has even a small potential of placing them in harms way. No offense to anyone who posts here, but consider the possiblities. With an age, some email addies, and full names, it wouldnt take long for a predator to find someone. I dont mean to imply anyone here would do so, but note that i was also discussing going into chat channels where the potential for danger is much higher. IRC has given me many wonderful friends, but its no different from IRL: there are nice ppl, not so nice ppl, and dirtbags.
example:
i'm joe,12, my email addy is
joewilson@eastovershoe.net and i wanna be friends
sicko: hrm, i know there is an eastovershoe in ____, lets see what schools they have that 12 year olds go to. oh nice, a website that talks about a baseball game they just had. oooh, looky, they even have a lil yearbook with pics and names. and how handy, online phone book
hopefully bots arent roaming thru profiles in search of info like they do open forums, but i feel its only right to warn someone of the potential problems, and edit personal info out of posts. Then i know they are aware of it, and the choice about putting that info in profiles, open forum or online is theirs, but i know its then a somewhat educated decision.
