Forums General Discussion Peek-A-Boo!

Good morning everyone, how are you this fine Monday?

I was idly looking at the Who's Online list when I made an interesting observation. It seems that most of you are hiding down in the Anonymous section for some reason, which is understandable if you're the kept-to-yourself type, but even some of the most regular helpers and posters are masking their presence... so I thought I'd ask why.?

I think it would be nifty if everyone made themselves visible as I don't see any real privacy issues; emails are hidden, you can disable private messages if you really must, and you can hide the name of the thread you are reading (not sure why people do this either). So go ahead, come out of hiding. We want to see you!

Anyway, just a random thought. Insight welcome.

- Raccoon

dunno why, but one day i just felt like hiding my username ;p

As you probably know, it's not uncommon for regular helpers to be asked for help via a private message. And of course there are many situations where you aren't in a position to answer the question (time restraints, browsing from work, etc.). I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons why some 'regular helpers' are invisible is simply so they can do some light browsing without feeling pressured to answer a question simply because they happen to be online. Plus of course there's simple privacy. Just as most people wouldn't like the idea of someone walking 3 feet behind them taking notes of where they go and what they do, there are some who don't appreciate effectively being tracked from page to page online. Even more so, now that the Who's Online page lists activity for the last 60 minutes instead of 10 (when did that change anyway?).

The real question is why does it matter to you whether people are visible or not? Planning on a future working for the NSA?

Yeah, I suppose one could look at it like that...though I don't know of any problems of people following users from page to page. But if there was, they could hide their page views while staying visible on the list.

I just see the Who's Online as a channel nicklist, and like to see familiar faces when they appear online.

- Raccoon

How do you know about the NSA?

/me will no doubt be fine once i get enuf coffee in me, thanks for asking

well, honestly, i cant think of a very good reason why ppl should know who is here or where they are at any given time.

In addition to the good reasons starbucks gave, perhaps ppl just value their privacy for general principles

Last year I took some time away from this place and altered my account at the time to hide my presence. To this date it's still hidden and will stay that way simply because it can be done. As for blocking private messages, I've always done that.

Since the function is freely available I don't see the need to justify its use to anyone. If you don't like it then don't look at it.

I didn't notice that until very recently, and imho it's a bad idea that defeats the purpose of showing Who's Online (adj.)...
Nevertheless, it makes the board look crowded