Why are there people on DU who disable their profiles?

[Eurobabe]

You know the ones who either a) post WAY TOO much, or b) do the HIT & RUN thing (usually in GD:Politics)

Too much hate mail incoming? Just call me curious.

[jobycom]

1. That would be their business, really.

I look forward to the day when a person will be judged by the content of their post and not the quality of their profile. :P

Seriously, though, people do it for different reasons. To hide from stalkers, to hide some other aspect of their identity, etc.

[BuelahWitch]

5. People are judged by how many posts they have

more than their profile.

[hfojvt]

30. yeah, but without a profile

you can't tell if somebody has 10,820 posts or a mere 1881. Nor can you tell if they have been here 6 months or four years.

[uppityperson]

34. I did for a while, wanted people to respond to just my writing.

Finally put some stuff, like yes, I am an uppity female, and people can figure out who I am, because I just wanted to share more.

[wakeme2008]

2. I agree, I hit on ppl profile to see post counts. 1000+ sometimes

just isn't enought for nosey ppl like me :evilgrin:

[hfojvt]

31. We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit, how about you?

We've got more! Check the score! We've got more! Check the score! :evilgrin:

[Lex]

3. It's just their choice, I'd say.

:shrug:

[DURHAM D]

4. I have adopted the practice of never responding to or

taking seriously anyone who has disabled their profile. I don't assume them to be legitimate DUers.

[holly4755]

8. I have an internet stalker

I generally disable e-mail, but allow PMs. I said something innocuous on an AI board and theis person sends me more disgusting hate mail from different e-mail addresses on different library computers. I finally changed my e-mail, but dont want him to get any idea of where to stalk me next, he already found one alias. This may not sound like a big deal to anyone, but when it happens it can be very upsetting, as he knows the county I live in and part of my name and has made some pretty nasty threats.

I hope people will judge me on the quality of my posts, I have already reregistered here under a different name. I am not a hit and runner, although I cannot post a lot, and I am not a spammer, but a long time democrat who is frustrated with the last 6 years.

[blondeatlast]

29. I think it's a sensible thing to do for many. It's wrong for DUers to assume that

a disabled profile indicates a troll.

Welcome to DU--again! :toast:

[jobycom]

9. Bad assumption.

I know a few long-timers who have disabled their profile for legite reasons.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Oh sure, you would say that, you "gender undeclared"

***CHECK MY PROFILE BEFORE YOU REACT***
:+

The only time disabled profiles are a problem for me is when someone posts a request for info on laws or who to contact for such and such, or something where knowing a bit about the person would be helpful. Otherwise I assume that the poster just doesn't feel like sharing that info.

[jobycom]

18. lol. People make assumptions about that, too.

Especially when I go on a pro-feminist tirade--which is often, if I can help it!

About the only time I even check a person's profile is if they are flirting with me, or if they say something regional and I want to see what region they are from. Other than that (and yours, because you encouraged me to!), I converse with people on their post content, rather than any other aspects of their existence. I don't worry often about age, gender, orientation, or anything else--who can even tell if they are honest in their profiles, anyway?

[ariellyn]

6. What assurances does a profile provide? Can't people put anything

in a profile?

[pitohui]

7. of course they can

i realize many people do not value privacy, esp. young americans do not value privacy because they are taught to always be in the public eye and always seek the attention of the herd, but i don't particularly respect someone who needs attention from strangers

unless you have damn good reason to make your identity explicit (you are, say, elizabeth edwards posting) then i don't know why you would fully fill out profiles on all the boards all around the internet or why you wouldn't throw in a "fun fact" once in awhile to keep potential stalkers guessing

also some freepers are crazy, it is stupid to make it any easier than it needs to be for some guy in a basement with no job and all the time in the world to track you down, some of these people actually send your posts to your boss and things like that to disrupt your life

[hyphenate]

27. I've been online for 17 years

and I don't worry too much about my identity as a result. I know a lot has changed since the "old days" but I've never had a lot of problems with people online. I think the worst thing that happened with one asshole is that he ended up subscribing me to a shitload of newsletters and spam sites, and I had to go and handle that. But I always had an open email because of science fiction fandom and running conventions, and I never had problems in RL despite that.

Of course, my screenname comes with me everywhere, and since it's ambiguous, I am usually safe from harassment. In fact, I think I get more "penis enlargement" emails than "increase your bust size" ones. :rofl:

[cornermouse]

10. Maybe because we don't know who else is on DU?

[blm]

11. I know several of us discussed this in the Lounge a few years ago.

There were a few of us who have been cyber-stalked in the past. For me it was in 1998 and the person was a sexual psychotic. Then back in 2003, someone tracked down my postings, figured out where my spouse worked at the time and tried to have him fired.

Something similar happened to another longtime poster.

[Eurobabe]

21. well, that is friggin' scarey!

I can see the reasons in that situation.

[hippywife]

32. Yep. I remember the guy

that got fired from a radio station because of comments he made here. After that, I didn't disable my profile but I stripped it down quite considerably.

[dave_p]

13. I'm boring!

... and I'd have thought pretty irrelevant except to the extent I may occasionally say anything useful.

It hadn't even occurred to me to look at anyone else's profile - that's not because I don't care, it's just that I enjoy folks' thread comments as an erxchange of thoughts.

I think I'm available for hate mail, but I'm not sure I know how to access or activate all the bits of the site - I'm too busy ploughing through threads.

Now if everyone just stopped posting for a week or so I'd be able to find what else there is. :D

[The2ndWheel]

14. Perfect question for the 21st century

Another would be; why are there people in the world without their papers?

If someone wants to keep what's left of their identity to themselves, hats off to them.

[TahitiNut]

15. It's an interesting question. I think the reasons are mostly in a similar class.

Some females seem to choose (more than males) to mask their gender, either by 'undeclared' or by disabling their profiles. While the 'reasons' might be understandable, I tend to disagree that one need "wear the hair shirt" of someone else's presumed judgmentalism or biases.

Others, independent of gender (and the facilitation of ad hominems), may regard the post count and date joined to be grist for the mill of those who'd use them for a litmus test. To that I say why give them that power? Why even bother to 'defend' against such fallacious thinking? If it's not obvious to anyone that such attributions (beyond the content of the post itself) are merely bias and not logic, then why give it even the 'respect' of letting it control one's behavior?

If anyone thinks the content of my posts are more or less credible due to post count, gender, or date joined ... their thinking is not worth bothering myself over.

Some may (mistakenly) believe it makes them more vulnerable to various kinds of intrusions on their privacy. Again, however, that seems to me to be carrying a load that's not owned. It's also not really well-grounded, since email addresses are only available to admin and moderators ... and the profile only shows what someone puts into it. Go figure.


For me, the primary reason to display a profile is simple courtesy - a courtesy to others that gives context to "here" and other personal references in my posts.

[Pab Sungenis]

16. They don't call them reTHUGlicans for nothing, you know.

A number of people have been the target of defamation, death threats, and other attacks because of their participation on DU.

Some people hide their profile to try and stave off those attacks. In the words of Fearless Leader, I say bring 'em on.

[jwirr]

17. The thing I am most interested in when I look at a profile is where

they live as it can make a difference as to the meaning of a post.

[wakeme2008]

20. the only two things I look at are where they live and post count...

And not always both. Based on why I checked their profile.

:)

[sammythecat]

28. I can think of two people I know.

One can not keep quiet for more than a minute at a time, and the other, in order to have any conversation, requires a winch to pull out any thoughts they might have. Both are boring. I wouldn't want to sit beside either on a long bus trip.

Of course, the opposite can be true as well. Some great thinkers are very loquacious while others are more reserved.

I get irritated with this reliance on post count to verify whether or not a person has a thought worth considering.

It's true that a troll will most likely have a very low count, but, it's far, far, more likely someone with a low count is new, reserved, or just to busy to post several thousand times a year.

I read and consider what I've read. I'm not paranoid about trolls. Their words tend to reveal them.
How much time one spends on a message board, a lot or a little, does not in any way contribute, or detract, from the substance of their message.

[CrispyQ]

22. That's the thing I look at most, too. --nt

[datasuspect]

19. it's because they are freeper trolls

I AM SERIES!!!!11111

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. Because it's an available option?

Because they enjoy privacy?

Because you don't notice the disabled profiles of people who don't post WAY TOO much or do HIT & RUNs?

[hunter]

24. I live in California, I'm male, I've posted many times here since 2002.

And I fly a rainbow flag.

I think a profile is a kind of courtesy. It helps me remember who people are, in an "Oh yeah, them..." kind of way.

I used to be quite protective of my identity, I was probably among the first anonymous posters on the internet, and I didn't used to carry identification with me, even when I was driving. There are no pictures of me in high school or college yearbooks because I'd ditch class on picture day, make-up picture day, and last-chance picture day.

But I'm pretty free with my identity now. Quite a few people around here know who I am, and there's a kind of protection in that, more than I'd feel if I was entirely anonymous.

[Nite Owl]

25. What bothers me when people

do that is when they talk about their state or district and then you go to see where they are talking about and there is a disabled profile. If there is a reason for their wanting that privacy then they shouldn't talk about things that make it hard to understand where they live. A state would help if nothing else! I find it rude.

[applegrove]

26. I have PTSD and know my limits as to how much I can engage on a

personal level with folks. Debate..I'm fine with. So...in my case..I do hit and run. Sorry. That is just who I am. Can't help it.

[Ivan Sputnik]

33. Those are all the famous people!

They're the Hollywood actors and radio hosts and politicians who post here, but just want to be treated like regular folks. At least it's fun to think they are...

[Redstone]

35. Because if you found out who I really am, I'd have to kill you.

Just joking, just JOKING.

I do like being able to see where people are from (in a general sense; state level is fine).

That's why my profile only specifies gender and state. I figure people tend to want to know those two things, so I'll give them that info.

I do know it's different for other people (particularly women), but if some rightwing jagoff wants to try to track me down and give me trouble, 1) it wouldn't be too hard, and 2) I don't care, because I'll fix him so he'll wish he hadn't.

But I do understand why a lot of people feel they need to be careful. Losta psychos out there, with (of course, because they're psychos) lots of time on their hands.

Redstone