by Simon 263 Replies latest forum announcements
Personally it wouldn't worry me at all. I can imagine it being an inhibiting factor in countries with very low populations of JWs. Any one that posts any thing at all from those countries is probably paranoid beyond reason anyway, they would be very careful about identifying information in any case. I don't think that anyone would be naive enough to say anything that would identify them if they were a country with tiny numbers. It is an imaginary problem in my view.
Thank you very much QC!
Bobcat
Being absolutely selfish, I would put my state up! I'm blessed in that I have nothing to hide or anyone that would care to out me on here. I do think that if folks have given out too much info on one name and Simon decides to let us have our flags again, then maybe they would change their handle and be more discrete in the future. It would be a PITB for someone who is popular here, but I guess that is the risk that any fugitive takes. And how pathetic is it that a person would have to worry about such a thing? Former adherents are FUGITIVES! How messed up is that???
Personally, I'd just throw any accusers accusation right back at them while denying any claims. Think about it-the accuser is using the site enough to recognize an anonymous poster by details given over years of involvement. Just throw the accusation at them while lying through your teeth if you wish. The Elders can't "prove" anything. They are just waiting for your submissive acquience to being 'caught'. Don't give it to them!
Hi Kate, I also check out posters' histories when they are giving advice.
I think it is a wise practice. I find it gives me a context around their comments. Also it gives me a chance to get to "know" them.
I like the idea of a generic flag option for those posters who want to opt out.
I personally think knowing the country adds a little context.
Sometimes phrases or words have different meanings or connotations depending on where you are from.
Miss.Fit
Simon how do we prevent ourselves from getting out'ed on Pro J.W. websites? What you said happened to me when I joined paying service website. A Troll was posting our Internet ISP numbers and our ISP Email Address and put the pieces together and posted our First and Last initials. How was he able to pull this off, was it web links he posted and we clicked on because he did not have access to Admin functions. He was very computer savy, it was said he worked for Optical Coating, Lucent and Cisco before getting fired. The website owner finally kicked him off because he was behaving badly by posting information he was not suppose to.
I think if you educated people it's not a "Flag" that' going to expose them but things we put or don't put inside our web-browser this fear might dispel from people worried. For someone like him, a real Troll, he got off on revealing people's names on the website! How was he pulling this off, was it "tracking software" because he did not have administration access so we must have clicked on one of his web pages and got nailed? Can you explain how and what we are plugging in our browsers that might be revealing too much private data a Troll could use? No Flag symbol has the power to expose what the Troll was doing, how was he doing this?
Is that why people are using "Hide My Ass" and clicking Autonomous and "No Cookies"? What say you?
Showing a country doesn't really narrow down where they are to any great degree but makes them aware that "what, a website can tell where I am?!"
Perhaps they should look into things more and be educated about taking care of their own security. Naively drifting from site to site in the belief that "the internet is anonymous, I saw it on the news" is putting them more at risk than showing their country which may actually help them."
Personally, I think national flags are a good idea.
Do American posters realize that they give away their national identity every time they spell the American way, for example: baptize instead of baptise.
Another thought, following from Kate's, Scully's and EdenOne's posts.
On the previous JWD/N formats, if you wanted to check through a member's (our your own) posting history, you were presented with a dizzying list, page after page, of all the threads they (you) posted on, and then you had search through the pages of each thread to find the post or poster you're looking for. Very time-consuming and laborious. Off-putting for a malicious data-gatherer. I have personal experience of a very nasty piece of work who, 2 or 3 years ago, used this forum to try and get something on me and failed, partly because it was too much work to trawl through countless threads spanning over several years.
This new and improved site has made viewing posting histories so much easier. All a poster's posts are found for you! Nothing wrong with that as this is what some other forum searches do anyway and it's useful. But this also means it's far easier than before for snoopers to quickly read through all your posts. Lots less work for them. Force-adding a country flag on each post, especially one representing smaller countries or tracing a person's travel route, will be a bonus jackpot for any trouble-makers intent on flushing out still-in JWs.
@ Outlaw: Anyone using the Pirate Flag..Has to send me a Bottle of "Captain Morgans Spiced Rum"..
Mail it to: OUTLAW in Canada on a Mountain..The postman knows where I live..
I publicly supported Outlaw's idea and I'm moving next door to him.
Send two.
Force-adding a country flag on each post, especially one representing smaller countries or tracing a person's travel route, will be a bonus jackpot for any trouble-makers intent on flushing out still-in JWs.
What utter nonsense. You already describe the real problem - people posting too much personally identifying information in their posts.
I don't believe anyone who has genuine and serious concerns about hiding their identity goes round posting things that reveal who they are.
And as Trailer Park Pioneer describes, if someone wants to get your identity there are much, much easier ways to get it.
Stop trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.
No one can say that the issues and possibilities relating to this topic have not been aired. It seems to me that it has polarized a small number of posters to the point of intransigence.
The way the topic has evolved demonstrates to me the weakness of committees in making decisions. Simon made the site transformation within a few hours to the approval of the majority of users after a unilateral decision. Had he included the country flags in this iteration of the site architecture there may have been some grumbles but they would have been lost in the overall praise deserved.
It seems to me that this issue has assumed an importance way out of balance with the overall picture. It is time for Simon to weigh up the arguments and make his decision. I for one will back him either way, he is the site owner and the sole adjudicator.
