Your online trail

[red*light*special]

I have ben very careful, (well maybe giving my name as a user ID wasn't that clever - how many deborahs are their on the planet!?) for exactly that reason. I would hate to be "tracked" down by the French stripper in Spain for example.
I don't give credit card details, except for easy-jet, over the net and never give personal details in an open forum.
I would never give someone elses info to people who just pop up in a forum asking if anyone's seen Doris, and I expect that all of you to forget you've even heard of a deborah, should anyone ask - not that anyone is looking for me, as far as I know...... I'm usually the stalker

Originally Posted by peachy

Well actually I wasn't criticising the person, in a request for a babysitter it is perfectly reasonable, even necessary, to give your approximate location and the dates.

Do you think there is ways that the Tornados of the world can realistically protect their flock from themselves?

Does it REALLY matter if people know who you are?

Has anybody ever been caught out by it aside from nutters stalking them? I actually had a *reverse stalking* in that somebody I knew in "real life" tracked me onto a forum and started sending me strange PM's. The person tried to test my integrity with regards to Mrs Peachy (pretending I had met them at an event) then when they didn't make any progress just stopped. A year later they sent some more and it got really personal, it was certain phrases and info that revealed who it was.

[swissflygirl]

Fully agree - it's also part of normal forum etiquette. Allow the participants to disclose who they are and any other details should they wish (although I'd discourage it), never volunteer info about another forum member etc etc.
Common sense and manners should prevail.

Originally Posted by red*light*special

I have ben very careful, (well maybe giving my name as a user ID wasn't that clever - how many deborahs are their on the planet!?) for exactly that reason. I would hate to be "tracked" down by the French stripper in Spain for example.
I don't give credit card details, except for easy-jet, over the net and never give personal details in an open forum.
I would never give someone elses info to people who just pop up in a forum asking if anyone's seen Doris, and I expect that all of you to forget you've even heard of a deborah, should anyone ask - not that anyone is looking for me, as far as I know...... I'm usually the stalker

[Jet Lag]

Originally Posted by peachy

Well actually I wasn't criticising the person, in a request for a babysitter it is perfectly reasonable, even necessary, to give your approximate location and the dates.

Do you think there is ways that the Tornados of the world can realistically protect their flock from themselves?

Does it REALLY matter if people know who you are?

Has anybody ever been caught out by it aside from nutters stalking them? I actually had a *reverse stalking* in that somebody I knew in "real life" tracked me onto a forum and started sending me strange PM's. The person tried to test my integrity with regards to Mrs Peachy (pretending I had met them at an event) then when they didn't make any progress just stopped. A year later they sent some more and it got really personal, it was certain phrases and info that revealed who it was.

I do condemn someone for publically posting the exact dates and location of where they live- because it is not safe. A forum is WWW, not your local parish church.

The Tornado's of the world can help those who do not think of risk, but that is all.

If you are online, then you leave yourself open to whatever may happen... good and bad.

[peachy]

Originally Posted by swissflygirl

Fully agree - it's also part of normal forum etiquette. Allow the participants to disclose who they are and any other details should they wish (although I'd discourage it), never volunteer info about another forum member etc etc.
Common sense and manners should prevail.

^^^^I agree with Jane Doe^^^^^

[Ayla]

Guide lines for safety cant do any harm. As an absolute forum novice I had no Idea of etiquette or safety issues until it was duly pointed out to me.

[BigD]

Another important point raised there: not only should one be sensible about ones own details, but also show respect for those of others. I am thinking here of answering those posts like:

"I am trying to track down an old friend who was known "Jane Available", but she may now be married or living under the name Jane "HappyObscurity". It would be lovely to get in touch with her again (cos she stole my husband, and owes me money)

BigD

[Jet Lag]

Originally Posted by BigD

Another important point raised there: not only should one be sensible about ones own details, but also show respect for those of others. I am thinking here of those posts:

"I am trying to track down an old friend who was known "Jane Available", but she may now be married or living under the name Jane "HappyObscurity". It would be lovely to get in touch with her again.

I think we all agree on good sense, and as a small group can maintain it- but as growth as desired, there might be less sophisticated members who do not realize this. Good moderation will be of utmost importance.

[peachy]

Originally Posted by Jet Lag

I think we all agree on good sense, and as a small group can maintain it- but as growth as desired, there might be less sophisticated members who do not realize this. Good moderation will be of utmost importance.

Maybe advice is better than moderation, as a community it is good to look out for one another, including explaining what the problem is. Moderation should be applied in moderation.

[BigD]

It is an interesting discussion, and for those of us that have an analytical mind, doing such detective work can be quite fun to demonstrate what can be deduced or inferred. I expect most people that will join us on our forum are likely to be blessed with some common sense...

Most of us have been around the buoy (not boy) often enough to appreciate what personal stuff is sensible to post.

BigD

Originally Posted by Jet Lag

I think we all agree on good sense, and as a small group can maintain it- but as growth as desired, there might be less sophisticated members who do not realize this. Good moderation will be of utmost importance.

[Jet Lag]

Originally Posted by peachy

Maybe advice is better than moderation, as a community it is good to look out for one another, including explaining what the problem is. Moderation should be applied in moderation.

Of course, advice is nice and possible in a small community, but is difficult to maintain in a larger group.