Why do people hide their profiles?

[CreekDog]

i don't get it.

[TexasObserver]

1. me, neither

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear CreekDog...

I have no idea...

I would never do such a thing...

It always makes me wonder about that person...

And I know I shouldn't wonder.

But I do.

:(

[CreekDog]

8. i've always wondered so i thought i would ask

thank you Peggy! :pals:

[Larry Ogg]

56. I just turned on my profile last weak, and it had nothing to do with, I was hiding it.

Fact is, I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t on. And to ask someone, “Ha… is my profile on”, would be like asking someone, “Ha… is my pants unzipped.”

And then!
Fact is, I couldn’t figure it out how to turn the dam thing on.

Fact is, I tried several times and still couldn’t figure it out.

Fact is, I was being like most men who get lost and wont stop and ask for directions, because that somehow proves that we don’t know what we are doing, or that we are actually capable of getting lost.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

57. rofl

[Hawkeye-X]

95. Hey..

Might want to change that sig....

HTH!

:hi:

Hawkeye-X

[Faux pas]

3. Good question, it's not like they're giving their name, address &

phone number.....I'm always suspicious of no profile posters, but maybe that's just me.

[Kutjara]

4. To project an aura of intriguing mystery?

:shrug:

[madfloridian]

5. If I can't see a profile I get suspicious.

[CreekDog]

6. why is there a pattern amongst many who hide their profiles?

that's something else i don't get.

[JeffR]

7. I hide my profile becuase I'm a radical Islamist hellbent on the destruction

of mainstream American values.

Oh, wait. I don't hide my profile! Never mind.

[CreekDog]

11. but that would be a good reason!

except that the profile contains a handful of words whereas the posts, which aren't hidden, contains thousands of words, which...

oh well. :rofl: back to my original question. :hi:

[JeffR]

29. Apparently, I can't spell "because".

Guess I gave myself away one way or the other. Damn.

[ColbertWatcher]

33. That's just another way the Islamists are destroying America. n/t

[seemslikeadream]

9. The only reason I see that it can be is the post count

[CreekDog]

12. or to hide the join date

:think:

[TahitiNut]

20. That's EASY to figure out.

Little do they know. :shrug:

[Runcible Spoon]

96. that's exactly why.

I'm sure, given its size, DU certainly has people who are paid or volunteer for various organizations post their respective agendas here. There is one group, all joined June 2008, that is particularly obnoxious. That's all I'm gonna say lol.

Any half-wit special interest group would see the influence of online communities in this election cycle and put some resources there. Netroots are "authenticity".

[Ellipsis]

10. Fear.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

[CreekDog]

13. fear of what?

:shrug:

[Ellipsis]

17. The internets can be a scary place.

Actually, Some are freepers, some like anonymity. Some just can't figure it out. It a mixed bag really.

[roguevalley]

89. during the primary races, a lot of tools came over and with no

profile created hell here.

[CreekDog]

99. i remember that too

:eyes:

present company excepted.

[man4allcats]

14. Because they're shitheads?

I'm not saying they are. I'm just asking. I'm pretty sure that will get me by the mods, but I could be wrong. ;-)

[Iwillnevergiveup]

15. Hmmmmm

what puzzles me is why people hide their gender? I a lady!:woohoo:

[NanceGreggs]

25. That one always intruigues me ...

... especially when I was taken to task during the "Primary Wars" by someone espousing the idea of the strong, independent, not-afraid-to-speak-out woman - whose profile included "Gender - Undeclared".

Apparently, for some people, "speaking out as a woman" doesn't include admitting to actually being one.

[uppityperson]

49. I wanted people to deal with me as a person, for my ideas, not because I was m or f

I finally got tired of being called "dude" (etc) and changed it to show I'm female. As for hiding profile at all, perhaps a poster feels they are just another way to lie, doesn't believe anyone would post true info, so they just don't post anything. It took me a while to figure out wtf a "profile" was when I started, but then it was my first forum also.

[flor-de-jasmim]

16. There can be various reasons...

(oh, and don't be fooled by my low count...there was no way to change my name, so I opened a new account--Edwards was in my name and it was time to cut him loose)

Anyway, sometimes people do not want to share their identity fearing that they will be stereotyped unfairly.

For instance with age:

Are you in your teens? You might be afraid you won't be taken seriously.
above 50? ...................... won't sound as wise as you should or maybe will come off sounding like someone's mother!

Signed,
flor-de-jasmim, formerly known as Sandi_4_Edwards
female, 55, American living abroad since 1991, since 1998 in Denmark (formerly in Portugal)

[A-Schwarzenegger]

18. Diffident underclothing.

[Ellipsis]

21. Asher Heimermann = Keyser Soze

Hey there... when is the book due to be published?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

22. June 19.

Who's Asher Heinemann?

[Ellipsis]

27. He was the 14 year old from Wisconsin who was spamming DU for a while.

Just a grabber. I failed.


My bad... wrong spelling. http://www.asherheimermann.org/

Every time I'd see his name... I'd Start thinking about the "Usual Suspects"





Looking forward to the release.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

34. Oh, yeah, I remember the kid.

A Donald Trump in the making.

[Lisa0825]

70. ROFL!

:rofl:

He was annoying, but but hilarious despite himself.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

104. Wait....was he exposed as fake or something?

I probably missed that....things have a way of happening around here in a blink of an eye.

[Lisa0825]

108. He earned a pizza for shameless and unending self-promotion.

If you google him, he has been banned and/or warned and/or flamed all over the net... Wikipedia and several other wiki sites like wikibooks, DailyKos, My.BarackObama, even his hometown newspaper's discussion.

He even set up his own version of a social network and a discussion forum for "Asher Heimermann supporters." Oh, and there is the "Draft Asher" movement too! :rofl:

[BuelahWitch]

46. DU now asks what kind of panties you're wearing?

:shrug: That wasn't one of my profile questions! Now I feel left out! :cry:

[TahitiNut]

19. So they can say "here" in a post and get LOTS of questions?

:dunce: :silly:

I personally think it's inconsiderate ... or paranoia.

[MissMarple]

23. They could lie, but they don't. So...I guess they have that going for them.

So little imagination. And, yes, I am who I am. My profile is accurate as far as it goes, but you don't know my legal name. :)

[dipsydoodle]

24. Paranoia

Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia

:shrug:

[cliffordu]

26. I am always suspicious if I smell freshly turned earth and see an odd mist

hanging in the trees across the yard......

Perhaps something unnatural, something undead......something without a profile....

[Book Lover]

28. Why not? (nm)

[CreekDog]

30. i asked why

why not is an answer that was considered already.

[Book Lover]

38. alrighty then

Because some people figure even the amount of information contained in a profile is none of your damn business. How's that shake up your spinal cord?

[CreekDog]

39. it doesn't

:shrug:

[last_texas_dem]

86. That would be my question as well.

Who cares?

[Digit]

31. Losing your job...co-workers figuring out who ou are and outing you

Reason enough?

[Book Lover]

37. self delete

replied to wrong post

[TahitiNut]

40. Strange. I have absolutely no problem if people that know me 'discover' that I'm "TahitiNut"

It's the people who DON'T know me that I'd even begin to worry about.

But then I follow Paul Wellstone's maxim ... "Never separate the lives you live from the words you speak."
It's easier that way ... in the long term.

[Runcible Spoon]

97. exactly. If some hypothetical person, like a job interviewer, knew about my online activity

and thought it was "bad", I pretty much would NOT be a good match for that job environment lol. I'm sure people on the internet with enough obsession and hours could find out my real identity. That's probably true for 99% of people on here. Even answering a thread in the lounge like "Where did you go to college" would be enough for a clever obsessive person. I don't let shit like that keep me up at night; I'm much more worried about surveillance from my own government and the various financial institutions which own every detail of my life. And that, my friend, is a problem for ALL of us.

[BlooInBloo]

32. Most common reason isn't allowed to be said.

[Balbus]

35. Maybe because they don't want you finding them..

So who is it that you're stalking?

[EC]

36. Well, since the McCain team hired people to post on sites

I'd guess we have some of them here? I'm thinking cats and maybe some real dogs?

[quickesst]

41. This is funny .....

...since the administration of Democratic Underground has made it an option, and not a requirement. What? Does anyone believe DU offers that option in order to weed out the "bad", or "suspicious" DUers? "Hmmmm, no full profile. Must be hiding something." Wouldn't it be more prudent to discern the intent of another DU member by the content of their posts, rather than where they are from, thier gender, etc? If one makes a genuine, and intelligent statement, does it detract from the quality if the gender is unknown? Of course not, and it's silly to base one's opinion of another simply because they chose the option of anonymity. Most all do it to an extent, hence my moniker on the internet is "quickesst", and not "real name". The very thought that there is something suspicious about a DU poster who did not disclose that info on their profile has never entered my mind, as it's what they say, not where they are from, or their gender that I judge the person's character by. Thanks.
quickesst

[L0oniX]

42. I've had a person here call my place of work and make threats.

She got the granite cookie eventually.

[moondust]

43. Agent Mike is taking notes?

NSA is gathering up personal data and connecting the dots?

I think some people ALWAYS practice a high level of online security in light of FISA crimes and other abuses by the Bush administration.

[Vickers]

44. 99% of the time it makes my antennae go up...

...and generally with good reason.

[mmonk]

45. Some of us have been threatened or harassed.

[riverdeep]

47. I've been a privacy advocate for some time now.

Part of that involves giving out no more info than necessary on public boards. There are plenty of stories of people having their lives made miserable by accidentally giving out too much info, and their enemies connecting the dots. The chances of it happening aren't great, but what's the harm?

I don't give out my phone number to cashiers that ask, I don't give out my SS except when absolutely needed, I shred my personal papers, etc. I'm not on the lam, I don't have anything to hide, I just don't like the fact that this country has become a place where you have to go to extraordinary lengths to maintain privacy, that the default state is that your life is an open book, like it or not.

Personally, in all the posts I've ever clicked on I've never even clicked on someone's profile. Why would that matter? If the content of what they say makes sense, then great. If not, why do you need extraneous sources to lay into someone? Pick apart their content.

[Jazzgirl]

48. An interesting fact.....most of them wind up being

trolls. At least that's what I've noticed. Not all but a large majority.

[fascisthunter]

51. yyyyup.....

not all though, but me thinks most...

[fascisthunter]

50. Interesting Reactions...

lol.... what are they afraid of?

[Junkdrawer]

52. Years ago, someone started stalking me, so I opted for every privacy...

option I could in preferences.

[CreekDog]

53. nevermind that your posts put more info out there than anything you need to put in a profile

which is why i don't get it.

but i don't get outgoing caller ID block either. why would you hide your number from someone you call, and why should you?

[riverdeep]

54. Depends on what you say about yourself in your posts.

How much personally identifying information you let out. If you say in one post you work in a large chain pet store (how many are there?) and then in another post mention your town, and in a third post mention how you want to start a union there, someone who wants to could easily gather enough info to make your life, complicated, if nothing else.

[Junkdrawer]

55. At the time, I was freaked. I just never revisited my policy.

What am I hiding? I post a lot and I've been here since 2003.

I don't see my preference as a big deal.

[Bluenorthwest]

61. Because you need to call someone...

Who should not have your personal phone number. Think about it. Some people are in the public eye. Safety first. Always.
I was in a high profile line of work for many years, and I will be a privacy nut for the rest of my life because of that. All it takes is one knock on the door from a stranger who thinks they know you and one leans to be careful.
I wonder, when Mrs Edwards posted here, did her profile say 'i'm Liz Edwards and here's my phone number'? I really doubt it very much.
Some people have need for security measures that others don't have and can not really imagine. I've known people who had to change their personal number weekly. Think about it.

[CreekDog]

64. well you have the personal number of the person you are calling

why should you refuse to identify yours when you call them on THEIR phone?

[Bluenorthwest]

75. Because they gave you their number by choice?

And because you also have a choice? I'll bet a dollar you are male. But here is an example from what I was talking about: Well known person giving an interview. Sports star calling sick kid. Movie star who wants to order freaking pizza. The list is endless. There are millions of reasons to call someone who would not be welcome to call you back, but might if able. Everybody has those reasons, and just being able to spot them would save much grief in terms of identity theft and other crimes.

[AlCzervik]

58. i'm thinking of turning mine off, maybe it will add an air of mystery to me.

i'm a tad boring and maybe that's the thing that will add some zazz to my life.

[kas125]

59. I don't get it, either. But then again, I've posted links to newspaper

articles that had my name and town in them. I am proud to stand up in public and let people know what I stand for and what I believe, and I admit that I am somewhat suspect of those who try to hide things about themselves.

[Catshrink]

60. To protect my identity...

I'm a teacher in a small, ultra conservative town. I want to be able to vent and speak my mind here without worrying about a school board investigation about whether I'm fit to teach their children. Freedom of speech is not a right they necessarily respect. They might feel differently if I posted at F.R., but I don't go there.

I'm open enough I guess, but I don't want to take any chances.

on edit: oops, I don't hide my profile but it's very sketchy -- for the reasons cited.

[CreekDog]

63. that's the thing, one can be vague in the profile, so what is really there to hide?

i'm thinking the "joined" date.

[Bluenorthwest]

81. Well the actual 'thing'

Is that other than the 'joined' date, everything in a profile can be not just vauge, but utterly false and made up, so the whole profile focus is foolish. In fact, I tend to assume the profiles are a pack of lies. Or to be fully accurate, I just don't assume they are factual. Because there is no way to know. So. Discussing why a person hides something that could be a fabric of lies anyway is an interesting way to blow some time, but what is the real meaning of it? If a person was really nefarious, they'd just make a profile to fit the objective, not hide it. Why hide when you can lie instead?
I just don't understand this whole 'hidden profile' thing at all. The profile is what one decides it is. So it is meaningless to look to them for anything. Save for the date, that is.

[NashVegas]

62. Three Reasons

1. Troll

2. NOYFBtypes - often trolls in real life.

3. Mistakenly believe it will lend their posts more credibility than "joined thirty days ago."

[Iggo]

65. LOL.

If anybody takes me more seriously after a couple thousand posts than they did when I was new, they haven't been reading my posts.

:headbang:

[NashVegas]

107. Okay, I Clarify

3. Some cracker who mistakenly believe it will lend their idiotic posts more credibility than "joined thirty days ago."

[woo me with science]

66. How do you even hide it?

Someone accused me of having a hidden profile the other week. I don't think I ever hid it, but I don't put much of anything in it, either. I never put any identifying information on the internet if I can help it, just as a general rule.

I didn't even know you could actively hide them.

[Iggo]

69. It took me about a half-hour last week...

...to even FIND my profile!

[chiefofclarinet]

87. Ditto

I've been told myself (and been called a troll) that I have a hidden profile. I don't know what I did to hide it, or what.

I don't like putting info on the Internet about myself. Call me paranoid, but I don't think any good will come of giving more info.

[ailsagirl]

67. privacy?

:shrug:

[arcadian]

68. Why don't you use your real name? n/t

[CreekDog]

73. a profile doesn't have to have your real name in it

not the same thing.

[CitizenPatriot]

71. ditto to the some of us have good reasons..

my profile isn't turned off, but I don't list my state. if that makes me suspicious, I'm sorry for it. I hope to be judged on my posts. I'm new here, so I guess that makes me double super suspicious. but you can just read my posts and discover for yourself if I'm a visitor from another planet or not.

[Fox Mulder]

72. Maybe some people don't want everyone to know their personal info?

Just a guess. :shrug:

[Festivito]

74. Noticed one name had several similar names each w/o profile.

Can you say sock-puppet. Or, the ability to multiply recommend.

Pretty sure it was a troll. never answered responding posts except to be obtuse.

[Nikki Stone1]

76. Stalking.

It happens. It is best to give out as little information as possible. Some women won't even designate a gender because they don't wish to be harassed on line.

[RedShoes]

77. to avoid the stalkers who wanna know why people hide profiles. nt

[CreekDog]

78. wouldn't ask if it wasn't hidden

just sayin'

[Kire]

82. there are a lot of hidden profiles in this world

sounds like a lot of work to me

[Hangingon]

79. People without profiles or with empty profiles...

raise big questions for me. I usually discoount what they have to say.

[EFerrari]

80. It finally doesn't matter very much.

After a while, you know the people in your neighborhood.

Some people don't feel good about putting their stuff out there and that's their choice. I think we key too much to that and to post counts instead of to our actual exchanges. But, that's just my .02.

[bvar22]

83. Some may have good reasons, but....

...I automatically discount by 99% anyone with a hidden profile.

I also refuse to answer my phone if someone blocks their caller ID.

[noamnety]

84. Potential reasons

1. Stalkers

2. People being able to piece together odd details you've posted, and confirming them through items in your profile. We had a local teacher fired from anonymous blog postings - no names, places, anything was used in her posts ... but a couple of random details were recognized by someone in her area, she was outed to the principal, and was fired because she made a blanket statement about students annoying her (no names, no specific descriptions), and the principal decided if one person could figure out who she was, eventually a student might, and her remarks were inappropriate for students to hear from their teacher.

3. A history of nasty abuse and stereotyping of women who declare their gender online.

4. To hide that we have an embarrassingly low post count

5. To hide that we have an embarrassingly high post count

6. All the info besides post count really isn't anyone's business online, unless we chose to make it their business.

It's funny to me when people get full of themselves slinging accusations that are false - and would have been cleared up with a click of the profile button. My favorite is a full run of abusive posts about not having a clue what service to country is all about - unlike the veterans and a long condescending lecture of what service means - all directed at someone whose profile makes it clear they are a vet. :D

[miles 2 go]

85. I hid mine last time I had joined DU

just to make those people who always answer with Maam and sir work just a little harder for it.

true story.

[LostinVA]

106. Who were you on here before last time you signed up?

[no limit]

88. they are government agents

just kidding (or am I?)

[undeterred]

90. Because other people are assholes.

[DaveJ]

91. Well I leave mine on but I can see why.

I've never run into anyone here who said, hey dude nice profile, or wrote a friendly IM saying they have the same interests or anything like that.

The only thing people seem to want to use my profile for is ammunition when they feel like flaming.

So I guess that's the reason.

[Ex Lurker]

92. I don't know whether I have a profile

or whether it's on or off. I just signed up and skipped all the other stuff.

[Phentex]

102. LOL! I can't remember if

I knew about profiles or not when I joined. I don't think I gave it much thought. However, I realized quickly that it matters to some people here. They did not fail to point it out!

[bridgit]

93. Dunno...

[Orsino]

94. Too lazy simply to fake them like so many other people? n/t

[AwakeAtLast]

98. Especially when you can control the info that is shown

I don't get it, either. :shrug:

[wildbilln864]

100. I see....

a lot of that in dungeoneers here.

[Kablooie]

101. I hide mine so my little brother doesn't get into it. He always messes up everything of mine.

[jane_pippin]

103. When I first got here I didn't fill mine out.

Mostly because I'm lazy and I just don't care about filling out interweb profiles. I never look at anyone elses, and never think to fill mine out because as I said, I just don't care. Then I got a couple lovely "no profile...hmmm" posts, so I filled it out because I didn't want to hear it. I don't get why not having it filled out or not is such a big deal and frankly I think it's a little rude for people to make assumptions about another poster just because the profile is lacking. If someone doesn't want to fill it out who cares? In some cases it could be the mark of a troll I guess, but some of us are just plain lazy or have no desire to share information, however boring/generic, with strangers. I don't think those people should be essentially bullied into doing it if they don't want to. Let the lazy be lazy, damn it. :D

[noel711]

105. Because I'm a 60's radical...

long sought by the FBI for harboring
extreme thoughts, and bad boy associations.

Because if I'm associated with Obama,
he'll no doubt become the target of Fox news, et al,
and my association with him will mar his changes.

If they find me, then I'm toast.

Aren't you scared of me?