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Home › Miscellaneous › Forum Help! › Can I set my profile to private?

Can I set my profile to private?

Started by rowdyscout8 · · 👁 2 views · 12 replies

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Participants rowdyscout8northernpilot2Nicholas Kingloneraven25Matthew Adams3Brandon Lopez6Henry Adams3
rowdyscout8 rowdyscout8 MemberOP
11 messages
joined Sep 2013
#1 ·
I'm not sure if there's already a thread about this or not.

So, here's the thing. I recently realized that anyone can basically see my posts along with everyone else's—especially any open threads, which are just served up on a silver platter.
I get why it works that way, but I was wondering if there's any way at all to limit those links so nobody can see them.
To be honest, it doesn't really matter much; we're all anonymous here and I don't know anyone, but the whole concept just feels a bit off to me. Hmm...
I don't have any experience with forums, none at all. I've never even been a member of anything before.
If it can't be changed, then whatever, I'll just stop posting. It isn't a big deal. I'm just asking out of curiosity because my private business will basically stay on the internet forever even though we're all anonymous, but still 🤣 anyone can read it, whenever, and wherever.
northernpilot2 northernpilot2 Active Member
201 messages
joined Oct 2013
#2 ·
If you check out this link - here, you can actually set things up so that your 'about me' section and contact info are only visible to registered users or your actual friends. It's a decent little privacy tweak, I guess. But just a heads-up though, there isn't really any way around the fact that your posts are always going to show up in the Reddit search results, so there's not much you can do about that part.
Nicholas King Nicholas King Regular
716 messages
joined Jan 2023
#3 ·
rowdyscout8 said:I’m just asking out of pure curiosity—since my private life is going to be stuck on the internet forever even if we're all supposedly anonymous—but still, 🤣 anyone can read it, anytime, anywhere

The point (not just for this post, but for every single one) online communities is precisely that—whatever you write can be read "anytime, anywhere, by anyone." Given that reality, I find it somewhat baffling why someone would bother posting something only to then wish they could hide it—it’s simply an impossible goal to achieve.

The advice regarding profile settings is really just about those specific sections where people seeking a shred of privacy leave everything blank anyway. What you're actually looking for is an impossibility: you can only keep your private business to yourself by—well, keeping it to yourself and not posting it on a Reddit thread.

BTW, don't go putting any faith in the anonymity of forums, nor in the anonymity of the Internet as a whole. There is no such thing as true anonymity on the web.
rowdyscout8 rowdyscout8 MemberOP
11 messages
joined Sep 2013
#4 ·
Nicholas King said:The whole point (not just here, but with any online community) Reddit subreddits is that what you write can be read "anytime, anywhere, by anyone." In that sense, I don't really get why someone would bother posting something if they then want to make it unreadable—it’s basically impossible to achieve anyway.

The advice about profile settings is mostly about those sections that people looking for even a tiny bit of privacy usually leave blank anyway. What she's really asking for is the impossible: you can only keep your private life to yourself by—well, keeping it to yourself and not posting it on the forum.

BTW, don't count on anonymity from forums, or even the Internet in general. There's really no such thing as anonymity on the web.

I mean, I know, but it just feels weird that everything is visible in one spot and available to everyone.
I get what you're saying, but fine, I'll just ask them to delete that one thing.
When I put myself out there...🙄 I didn't even know this was an option!
Thanks for the answer.
loneraven25 loneraven25 Active Member
77 messages
joined Jul 2013
#5 ·
Once you go ahead and mess up,
there’s just no taking those posts back.
You get a maximum window of 90 minutes if you want to self-delete anything you've written.
Nicholas King Nicholas King Regular
716 messages
joined Jan 2023
#6 ·
rowdyscout8 said:Look, I get that—really, I do—but I just find it incredibly frustrating that everything is consolidated into one single spot where absolutely anyone can just go and see it all.

Well, yeah... it's the internet, isn't it? 😕
Matthew Adams3 Matthew Adams3 Member
13 messages
joined Apr 2013
#7 ·
rowdyscout8 said:Look, I totally get what you're saying, it just feels kind of weird to me that everything is laid out right there where anyone can see it and basically everyone has access to all that info at once.
I definitely know what I'm talking about, though, so fine, I'll go ahead and ask them to just wipe that one little thing out.
When I'm feeling all scattered...🙄 I honestly had no clue this was even a thing!
Thanks for getting back to me.

Well, you didn't actually put your full legal name in there, just your handle, so you could always just make a brand new account and leave this one floating around for whoever wants to make up their own stories about you.😁
Brandon Lopez6 Brandon Lopez6 Regular
656 messages
joined Feb 2010
#8 ·
Didn't you actually read the rules before hitting register? The second point says right here:

Welcome to Reddit!

Reddit is the biggest forum in America and the go-to spot where hundreds of people swap opinions and jump into interesting debates every single day. Signing up for Reddit is free, and participating doesn't cost a dime either. We hope you find a community here that you actually want to hang out in.

I mean, what kind of discussions are we even having if half the posts are private? 😕

Maybe try a quick Google search on how a forum works before signing up next time. 🤷
Henry Adams3 Henry Adams3 Member
13 messages
joined Jun 2012
#9 ·
Elizabeth Davis said:Didn't you actually read the rules before signing up? Item number two is pretty clear on this:

Hold up, so you’re telling me you actually read the fine print before hitting register? 🙂

What would those discussions even look like if half the posts were private?😕

From what I gather, that wasn't her point. The posts would still be in the threads; they just wouldn't show up when you're checking out someone's profile.
northernpilot2 northernpilot2 Active Member
201 messages
joined Oct 2013
#10 ·
There isn't really much you can do to restrict things based on search engine results alone, I guess.
The whole point of having this forum is just to make it a bit easier to track down the specific discussions you actually care about, or even just certain individual posts if you're looking for them. 🙂
Brandon Lopez6 Brandon Lopez6 Regular
656 messages
joined Feb 2010
#11 ·
Henry Adams3 said:Hold on, so you actually bothered reading the rules before signing up? 🙂

Yeah, I 🤷
did.
I went through all those rules pinned at the top of the forum. Honestly, I got burned once on some other site, so ever since then, I make sure to read the fine print wherever I sign up. 😳 🙂

From what I gather, that wasn't her point. The posts would still be under the threads, they just wouldn't show up when you're browsing someone's profile.

Aha. Still feels a bit sketchy to me—totally "potato." People could still dig up what she wrote just by searching for a keyword (since if someone quotes her, her handle becomes a searchable term anyway).
Matthew Adams3 Matthew Adams3 Member
13 messages
joined Apr 2013
#12 ·
I mean, I’ll be honest, I just kind of skimmed through the rules at first because I’d heard those horror stories about people getting burned by accidentally breaking some obscure policy, so I figured I'd better play it safe, but then I actually sat down and gave them a proper read-through a few times, though honestly, most sites have pretty much the same stuff anyway so it’s not like it’s rocket science to memorize 🙂. And you really can't get rid of that. I don't even get the whole logic behind deleting or hiding posts, especially when it comes to hiding them... I mean, if you're posting something on a public forum like Reddit where everyone can see it, why bother trying to hide it? Just follow the guidelines and you'll be fine. Plus, nobody even knows who you are here 😉. I mean, if you were posting under your actual legal name, sure, I might see your point, but it's not like that... Nobody knows your identity.
Nicholas King Nicholas King Regular
716 messages
joined Jan 2023
#13 ·
Matthew Adams3 said:If you're going to post something on a public forum, why bother trying to hide it?

It’s really just the gap between the moment someone hits "post" and the moment they actually realize what they've done.

People tend to vent or pour their hearts out when they're in a specific headspace—maybe they're emotional, maybe they've had a few drinks—and then later, looking back at the digital trail, they feel a sense of embarrassment. Or perhaps they get too carried away with some deep, dramatic confession on a site like Reddit, and suddenly find themselves uncomfortably linked to some random guy on an internet message board 😁
Nobody even knows who you are.

For your own sake, I wouldn't bank too heavily on anonymity anywhere on the internet🙂.

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