Why Invisible" Mode?

[the Sandman]

Why do the people who browse the Boards invisibly do so? - it's usually 10% or more of the members online at any given time (no I can't see them, not on this Board anyway, but if you count the names listed for members online and compare that to the number reported you can calculate how many are currently invisible).

What's the attraction?

[vB3Dev.Com]

Because they think they are special! :D

[the Sandman]

Because they think they are special! :DOn the contrary, people who *think* they are special go out of their way to be noticed..know what I mean? ;)

[MrNase]

I used this feature only one time myself. A user told me he will spam if was gone... I was invisible and could ban him after 1 try :)

[the Sandman]

I can certainly see a reason for Staff to stay out of sight while patrolling the Boards if they so choose. I'm more wondering about members - almost invariably they are not doing anything out of the ordinary but they chose to remain out of sight anyway. I don't have a problem with it, just curiosity as to why...

[MrNase]

...they don't know that my staff can see invisible members. Everytime i see a member with this little * behind the name i think, hm maybe he want to do something not permitted ;)

[the Sandman]

I thought of that, but...on my site when I became able to see "invisible" members I was surprised that there were more than I thought there would be, many of them frequent contributers, who do nothing unusual while "invisible"...

The only guesses I can come up with are:
To avoid certain members (e.g. during or after arguments)
To avoid excessive PM's (i.e. too popular)
A feeling of "power" like a superhero
To try it out simply because it's an option

[thefluke]

It's just a level of privaccy for the users. Some people don't want to get pm's every five minutes asking them for things. On the forums I admin, we are about an mmorpg. People who block messages on the game because they have high levels or are famous and don't want little newbies messageing them would also want to hide thier online status on the boards so people can't see them on thier and ask them to get in game so they can talk, trade, etc.

There are also people who hide their status because they don't want certain forum members to stalk them online (it's happened), or don't want to talk to other people on the boards because of past history.

[poolking]

I go invisible on some sites, because sometimes I just want to surf in peace. :)

[N9ne]

On my forums I used to be on invisible all the time as to avoid getting PMed and annoyed.

[Tolitz]

On my forums I used to be on invisible all the time as to avoid getting PMed and annoyed.Same still goes for me :)

[ABLady]

I use this feature every time. I like my privacy. It's a feature I like, so I use it.

[Bema Jinn]

Well i know a couple of boards with porn forums, and when you're doing the 'dead' you'd rather not let the whole board know what you're doing ;)

[the Sandman]

Well i know a couple of boards with porn forums, and when you're doing the 'dead' you'd rather not let the whole board know what you're doing ;)You meant deed, right? 'Cause if it's dead you're wasting your time browsing those sites.

[Erwin]

Well i know a couple of boards with porn forums, and when you're doing the 'dead' you'd rather not let the whole board know what you're doing ;)
LOL!!! Funny typo that changes the whole meaning...

[ANT.]

LOL!!! Funny typo that changes the whole meaning...

LOL - necrophilia?

-ant.

[merk]

Its called privacy.

A user shouldnt have to advertise the fact they are on your site. In australia tracking users without their expressed permission is illegal.

I totally turn off whos online on my forums to avoid problems that might occur with members and law :|

[Stryker]

I'm always invisible on my own board too. On mine and lots of others I've visited people seem to be somehow offended by other people's invisibility. Live and let live people. :p

[MrNase]

i have only 141 members and one of those is invisible... I pn'ed this user but she didn't replied... Maybe she's a real ghost?!

[Kathy]

I stay invisible in my forum and most other forums. In the past I've had a few weird PMs and emails when I'm "online" so I enjoy laying low. Nope, not doing anything covert, just to keep those odd PMs coming my way.

(They are usually hormonal boys who think that I must be a teenage girl....)

:confused:

Anyway, many of my own members go invisible and I understand their need for privacy on my site.

Currently there is one member that attempts to use it to her advantage.

She posts "emergencies" in a thread: Oh my! This and that is happening to me, I'm heading to the ER!

She then lurks all day long, watching the members hover around all in a dither about her condition, worrying about her...asking her to post as soon as she gets back that she is okay.

She lurks ALL day...watching her thread, reading the replies.

Then, later in the day, she will post she was at the ER allllllll day and they found this and that....and it was horrible and it was terrible
........and you get my drift?

More replies of AWWWW....

A week later, she posts again...now her husband is taking her to the hospital and she expect to be in ICU....

another round of posts...lurking all day for a few days while the members get into a frenzy.

Now, when she's done this, I've PMd her, emailed her that I can see she is "home" and on the site and to please post to the members how she is doing. She ignores my requests. I don't think she understands how cruel this is.

Yesterday, she posted she was leaving the site since she couldn't afford to be a "volunteer" subscriber. (why announce this except to get sympathy attention?)

The members in their kindness reminded her that subscription is "voluntary" and that members can all stay free...and about 4 members subscribed on her behalf so she could have an upgraded membership on scholarship. :rolleyes:

(We do have a subscription scholarship. Its used alot. The women like to subscribe for each other, upgrading their online friends user accounts at our site. Cool, eh?)

Anyway, she posted again saying she now felt worse because people gave her scholarships so she is leaving anyway....and the members carry on some more.

If I could force her to be VISIBLE I think it would stop this. I might create a special usergroup just for her that can not be invisible. :p

[the Sandman]

Perhaps participation in Who's Online/What's Going On should be changed to an option in the User Control Panel - "Do you wish to take part in the Who's Online/What's Going On Directory?". Anyone selecting no would not show up there, nor be able to see who else is online (they would still be able to "Currently Active Users:X+Y (X members + Y guests) Most users ever online was ZZZZZ" - but no names). This would take care of the permission aspect, and make invisibility a two way street. Invisible lurking to watch others on Who's Online would no longer be possible. Admins and Mods (with Permission) would still be able to see everyone.

BTW Kathy, that other tale about your hard drive grenading, and now this sad story...and you always in Invisible mode...you're not the sympathy seeking invisible lurker, are you?? :p

[Erwin]

Its called privacy.

A user shouldnt have to advertise the fact they are on your site. In australia tracking users without their expressed permission is illegal.

I totally turn off whos online on my forums to avoid problems that might occur with members and law :|
Same here. :)

[Kathy]

Perhaps participation in Who's Online/What's Going On should be changed to an option in the User Control Panel - "Do you wish to take part in the Who's Online/What's Going On Directory?". Anyone selecting no would not show up there, nor be able to see who else is online (they would still be able to "Currently Active Users:X+Y (X members + Y guests) Most users ever online was ZZZZZ" - but no names). This would take care of the permission aspect, and make invisibility a two way street. Invisible lurking to watch others on Who's Online would no longer be possible. Admins and Mods (with Permission) would still be able to see everyone.

BTW Kathy, that other tale about your hard drive grenading, and now this sad story...and you always in Invisible mode...you're not the sympathy seeking invisible lurker, are you?? :p

I have my "who's online" turned off except for mods and admins. It cuts down on the lurking to watch what others are doing.

Sympathy? Me? WAH! <sniff sniff> Are you picking on me? ;) If I wanted sympathy I would post a goodbye thread pointing fingers at the meanies who chased me off and would lurk around to see if anyone begged me to stay.

ANd when no one begged, I would weasel my way back into the forums and claim I just called 911 to be taken to the hospital and don't know when they will let me out of ICU.

:cool:

Nopers, not me. In real life I teach high school. I'm a tough old gal...with a tender heart and a high set of moral standards. ;)

[CondorZ]

If I could force her to be VISIBLE I think it would stop this. I might create a special usergroup just for her that can not be invisible. :p

That sounds like a great idea. That's really awful and dishonest for her to make other caring members worry about her like that.

On the forum I worked on, we had this gal that liked to get several IDs and reply to her own posts with them. She was sharp too, didn't use the same servers to do it, so had to catch her with syntax. When I figured out her syntax, got rid of all her identities. Then she went to a different related forum and did it even worse. She was making up new "friends", one had a baby and named it after her. :rolleyes: She even had pictures, it was a riot!