# If you have a hidden profile it is more difficult to follow your arguments **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [October 15, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302 "2022-10-15T20:02:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/101 "2024-05-30T23:47:14Z")
I did not know that. Is that what people are asking for here in the thread? I got the impression people wanted that feature disabled globally for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/102 "2024-05-30T23:48:29Z")
It appears we can only make a global change. So correct. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/103 "2024-05-31T22:10:25Z")
I’m getting mixed messages here. Some say we can’t get to know you as a poster aka RU legit if your profile is private Some say private profile = troll trock sock Others say I can’t make sense of a long topic if I can’t easily bring up one’s posts. Mods say we can easily hunt trolls with or without your profile. Private long time member says they want their presence here on the board to be low key. Aka I’d prefer not make my brilliant contributions easily readable especially by those whom I have on ignore. My mileage sometimes varies on this. I say deal with it. Put the newbies on probation and disallow private profiles for a period of time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/104 "2024-05-31T22:16:28Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I’d prefer not make my brilliant contributions easily readable Checkmate, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/105 "2024-05-31T23:35:41Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I’d prefer not make my brilliant > contributions easily readable Why post them, then? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/106 "2024-06-01T04:01:30Z")
Indeed. If you prefer your posts not be read, maybe you should use a diary and not a public chat site. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/107 "2024-06-01T04:09:28Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Some say we can’t get to know you as a poster aka RU legit if your profile is private Naw. It’s a few more clicks, but not wildly different. > [@chela](#): > > Some say private profile = troll trock sock That’s not true. There are lots of clueless posters who believe they get some privacy from it. What IS true is that most troll trock sock posters set their profile to private. > [@chela](#): > > Others say I can’t make sense of a long topic if I can’t easily bring up one’s posts. This can be true. This is, IMHO, the real argument against private profiles. > [@chela](#): > > Mods say we can easily hunt trolls with or without your profile. This is true. If anything, allowing private profiles makes it slightly easier for the mods to spot trolls, as it’s so common for trolls to do it. But it’s an extremely minor issue for the mods. > [@chela](#): > > Private long time member says they want their presence here on the board to be low key. Aka I’d prefer not make my brilliant > contributions easily readable especially by those whom I have on ignore. My mileage sometimes varies on this. I say deal with it. I don’t get this at all. You aren’t “low key” by being private. Each post is exactly as prominent as it was either way. Wanting your posting history to be hard to read suggests you shouldn’t be posting, honestly. The point of this site is to share and interact. If you aren’t on board with that, maybe try a less personal site, like reddit, or a newspaper. I don’t think we want to support people who want to post but want to make it hard to read their work. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/108 "2024-06-01T08:09:17Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If you aren’t on board with that, maybe try a less personal site, like reddit, or a newspaper. If anything, on reddit it is _easier_ to view posting history. A single click on the username brings up the profile page, instead of the two clicks needed here. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/109 "2024-06-01T15:36:45Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Private long time member says they want their presence here on the board to be low key. Aka I’d prefer not make my brilliant > contributions easily readable especially by those whom I have on ignore. I believe you are misconstruing two separate things. Long time members wish to be able to hide their online status, _not_ hide their profile. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/110 "2024-06-01T15:37:42Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t think we want to support people who want to post but want to make it hard to read their work. So maybe you’re saying you’d rather not respond to flags from a member with a private profile or respond to a request to fix a typo in a title? What support are you alluding to? I’ll ask it again how hard is it to read my posts as I’m posting in real time? Are you speaking as a mod or a poster. I’m seem to think you guys can un private a profile if not go for the plugin what’s it to view it and I believe you can even get into PM’s. Go ask some other respected posters who I know also have private profiles for their input. NTL I’m done defending my personal preferences with you. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/111 "2024-06-01T15:55:21Z")
> [@chela](#): > > What support are you alluding to? Allowing private profiles to exist. That’s the whole point of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/112 "2024-06-01T15:55:27Z")
It seems like “hidden profile” and “can’t follow arguments” are two separate issues. It seems like a better change would be for Discourse to allow the posts to be found the same way regardless of whether a profile is hidden or not. When clicking on a person, it could show this box regardless of whether a person’s profile was hidden or not: [![](https://i.imgur.com/gehZjXF.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/gehZjXF.png) (I realize this is a code change in the Discourse code and we don’t control that.) I don’t think that being able to easily see all of a person’s posts is important enough of a reason to disable private profiles. If someone has to do a search and click on posts, they can still see the posts they want to see. It’s more convenient to be able to see them all together, but I don’t feel that convenience is worth disabling private profiles. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/113 "2024-06-01T15:56:33Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I don’t think that being able to easily see all of a person’s posts is important enough of a reason to disable private profiles. It is if it outweighs the practically nonexistent benefits of private profiles. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/114 "2024-06-01T16:00:36Z")
Is this topic actually up for discussion or is the decision already been made? I prefer private profiles because I prefer my profile to be private. But if they are going to make them public no matter what, then I guess just go ahead and flip the switch. Lots of message boards have public profiles, so it’s not really that big of a deal. But some people would prefer to have more privacy when that is an option. There’s nothing more to it than that for me. The people who have turned on private profiles have done so because they prefer it that way. It’s not necessarily because they’re trolls or trying to hide something. They just may prefer to have the option for more privacy when that option is available. I don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but of the active members, how many of them have private profiles? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/115 "2024-06-01T16:46:35Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I prefer private profiles because I prefer my profile to be private. What sort of information do you think is being hidden by hiding your profile? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/116 "2024-06-01T17:13:52Z")
It’s a global preference on the internet. I’ll pretty much always select the option with more privacy just because it offers more privacy, and I prefer more privacy on the internet. It’s not that I have anything to hide. It’s just that I prefer more privacy over less. Some people are fine with sharing and will be known as their real name, will link to their social media, will post their home address, etc. That’s fine for them, but I’m not like that. I would prefer to be as anonymous as possible for the simple reason that I prefer to be as anonymous as possible. It’s no big deal if profiles are public here since that’s the case on many message boards,. But if people have set their profile to be private, then they manually took that step because they wanted that feature for whatever reason they wanted it. Disabling that feature for something functionally unrelated (listing posts in a thread) seems like overkill. I know these features are linked in Discourse, but there’s no reason for them to be. It seems like it would be better to ask Discourse to allow this box to show up when clicking on a person regardless of whether a profile is hidden or not: [![](https://i.imgur.com/gehZjXF.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/gehZjXF.png) That way people could have hidden profiles and other people could easily find their posts in a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/117 "2024-06-01T18:09:09Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Some people are fine with sharing and will be known as their real name, will link to their social media, will post their home address, etc. That’s fine for them, but I’m not like that. But none of that stuff is available unless you specifically put it there. Other than the presence feature (which can and should be disabled) your use of a hidden profile is giving you zero percent additional privacy. > [@filmore](#): > > Disabling that feature for something functionally unrelated (listing posts in a thread) seems like overkill. Disabling a useless feature for the sake of increased functionality isn’t overkill. Overkill is retaining a useless feature because some people erroneously believe it’s creating privacy. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/118 "2024-06-01T18:14:24Z")
It’s a two-fer. You want to hide your online presence you also get a hidden profile. It’s one option that hides both features. Find it in the interface section of your profile. Whatever reasons members have to want to hide their online presence is their business not mine. MYOB. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/119 "2024-06-01T19:37:53Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Some people are fine with sharing and will be known as their real name, will link to their social media, will post their home address, etc. That’s fine for them, but I’m not like that. Neither am I and I don’t have a hidden profile. I just don’t put that stuff in there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302/120 "2024-06-01T19:54:34Z")
It was only quite recently that I learned that a hidden profile was a thing here. There was a poster who was making lots of contributions to a thread, and I hadn’t remembered seeing that poster around before recently. I wondered whether they were new, or had been around for a while and I just hadn’t noticed them before, or what. So I clicked on their avatar in hopes of seeing how long they’d been here, only to find that their profile was hidden. So then I wondered why anyone would want to hide things like how long ago they’d joined or how active they’d been, unless perhaps they were a sock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-hidden-profile-it-is-more-difficult-to-follow-your-arguments/973302.md?page=7)