If you have a hidden profile it is more difficult to follow your arguments

[Johnny_Bravo]

I didn’t realize this was here and posted my own thread, so I’ll just repost:

@Johnny_Bravo

Profiles in this board serve almost no purpose. If I hide my profile, I am not removing the ability for other posters to look at my activity. I’m just making it inconvenient.

Specifically, if I hide my profile, other posters can’t click the “only show Johnny’s posts” button. This is a super convenient feature for quickly reviewing what a poster has been arguing in a thread. I can still do a search for @Johnny_Bravo inside the topic, but the results aren’t nearly as easy to parse.

There are no requirements whatsoever to include personal information, email addresses, or other identifying material in profiles. As best I can tell, the only people who benefit from hidden profiles are those who want to obfuscate their activity from other members of the community, not those who want to protect their identities.

So - what value is added by letting posters hide their profiles?