Hey Guys ans Gals

I'm sure that this has come up before, but well here it is again........

I want to know why it is that when registering at MS, people are not required to fill out the profile questions before being accepted.
How is it that anyone can just sign up indiscriminately?
Geez, the newer members are not even laying claim to being former CSA victims!!!

Being able to view a person's profile gives me some indication of who it is I'm dealing with and how to interact with said person.
Yes, I KNOW PEOPLE CAN LIE, and I'm not suggesting that people give a breif autobio of themselves, but some general info could be very helpfull as well as reasuring.

OCCUPATION - Optional
HOBBIES - Mandatory
LOCATION - Mandatory by country
GENDER - Mandatory
AGE - Mandatory
SURVIVOR, Yes/No - Mandatory
PARTNER OF SURVIVOR - Mandatory

If you don't fill out all the fields, you don't get on!!!

Thanks for considering this..................

OK, I'll be first Joel.
I updated my profile with my location and my birthday. can't find anything to change gender, but I'm a man, and I am a survivor.
But I didn't add any hobbies cause right now about the only thing I do is work.

Thanks for the idea.

Peace,

lars

is this going to become the perennial topic? i brought up this very thing last november in the wake of the tobyreal fiasco.

i thought garnering a bit more info would contribute to reducing the level of deceit.

didn't hear anything back about it, BUT, in light of the fact that the web software has been recently updated, i doubt that there will be any switching to a different kind of software, something more updated.

does this web even require responding to a confirmation email before access is granted? i don't remember.

the troubling thing is that people post messages, even when they seem like authentic people, but they have not even exercised the courtesy of filing out the meager profile questions. i too think that at least a profile should be filled out before someone would be allowed to post, but this software is not set up to with that level of insurance. and i don't think the organization is ready to go back to the drawing board. the chat room is another issue that i don't believe people should be allowed access to without having fulfilled certain requirements [there again, filing out a profile completely, or having posted a survivor story etc.]
one thing to remember, this web community is pretty much a pioneer for these types of forums, going all that way back to 2000. how many of these types of forums existed back then. yea the software is old.

also, with both trish and larry not around as much the safety issue seems more urgent.

but it is what it is, in the mean time ....... onward we press

i don't think this concern is going to go away none too soon, and i am sure that those who are moderating are feeling the same stresses we all feel about it, but what to do, what to do?

respectfully,

ron

Nope, I just signed up and was on the board. I even had two accounts here for awhile. I tried to get the first one canceled, but it never happened.

So come one and all, most of you being of the utmost sincerity to be sure, and welcome to all the thrill seekers, pervs and whatever have you, as well....................

i admit i know nothing about the ins and outs of these things, but i'm pretty certain they do have a way of tracking ip addresses. maybe that is why there does not seem to be a real sense of urgency for mandatory profiling [or, once again, it could be the limitations of the current software]. at any rate, it would seem to make more sense to have a preventative measure in place, rather than waiting until there is a breach and then trying to fix the damage. maybe nathan cold weigh in with his knowledge and expertise; all my comments here are pure conjecture and guess work.

ron

Hi Joel,

I'm guilty of not having much of a profile, I suppose I get a bit jittery/paranoid about giving too much information, but I get your point.

I hadn't thought much about my profile since I joined so I've just checked, I'm a wife of a survivor but there's not actually anywhere you can put that, unless somebody knows better, ive just added a bit to the no.

I'd be happy to put my age and gender ( 33 & Female) but there's nowhere to put that, I don't want to put my birthdate.

I don't want to put my occupation, and I'm not sure about hobbies, if I put reading do you think I will get recognised - lol - just kidding.

Maybe it would be good if there was a statement, one that is just on your profile and doesn't go onto the signatures in posts.

I have been visiting the site for about 2 years, although I read more than post, I originally registered in a different name but got scared off by some posters at the time, I then reregistered about 12 months later under this name.

It does make me feel better when I read a full profile, maybe I should eat a bit of my own cake....

Filling out a profile does in no way compromise anyone's anonimity - you can't be traced by anyone because your hobby is gardening or bird-watching or whatever.......

It just simply is helpfull to know if someone is indeed a survivor, spouse or just curious.

To me age is important as well - I don't do teens and I tend to stay away from women, for the simple reason that I have learned from experience and at other's expense that I tend to be a little too direct in my responses, lack diplomacy, etc. and that has been off putting to some. Not a good thing when you consider that this a support site.

Ron,

I agree that people should be required to provide some info like whay country you are from. sex. age and if you are a survivor.
But more than that is really nobodies business unless I want to share it with them. This is from a guy who posts under his real name.

Michael Banks

Hey a question I think I'm qualified to answer!

I'm the newest member yet to reply to this question.

It wasn't a small thing for me to choose to register as a member. It's another brave and difficult step on the healing path and while there's some assurance to anonymity, I was still giving the site my personal email address, some personal information and, of course, my ip address (everything on the internet leaves a trail).

But I agree with the original poster of this thread. There should be some minimal mandatory questions like gender, general age (it could be age ranges instead of a birthday, ie: under 18, 18-25, 26-35, etc), country and whether you are a survivor.

I considered it a commitment of myself to the fellow members to at least say something about myself, an offering for their trust that I would make at least that much of an effort, offer that much to start a healing relationship.

I haven't the first clue about maintaining websites or what program or code is required for that registration process but I would hope that if it couldn't be made mandatory, then perhaps additional language could be added to that page that many members regard answering the age/gender/survivor questions as a minimum to show your commitment to fellow healers.

My two cents

I agree there should be some mandatory information given, but being in Law Enforcement, I balk a little at putting to much out there. The stuff I share here I would rather not share with my co-workers, And some of the more undesireable folks either. It's very scary how easy it is to get hold of people's personal information. I see it almost every day.
Despite this, I think Joel is right, and some of the fields should be flagged as mandatory.