How do you feel about “Members” that do not post their location or e-mail address? They must have both to access this board but for some reason are “SCARED” to post the information!
I’ve never had a problem with this and have made some very good friends through this site.
My Rant is on the “Members” that post but will not tell us who they are!!
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
Cactus AKA “Lucky Dog (Pirate Name)”
Jack, I gotta agree…especially when the posts don’t seem like something a new member would post…
Hey Jack,
Part of me is in complete agreement with
your post. I get to know someone here on
FAOL. Feel like old friends. One day we
arrange a meet. Oops, I’m late. Hmmm. I
guess I could get the manager to page Olde
Fly Flopper for me over the PA.G But in
all seriousness Jack, You didn’t post your
street address, or phone number, or your
wifes first name and middle initial. But it
took me less than 60 seconds to get them.
If I called your phone and told your wife
that I was delivering a fly rod and quoted
some tidbits from the boards, and pulled up
in the driveway with a rod tube, would she
open the door to me? Maybe not, but you
gotta admit it’s a scarey scenario. I can
understand why some folks are reluctant to
do so. That said, I remain Jim Hatch.G
I yam who I yam and thats who I yam.
Warm regards, Jim
i dont really see it as much of a priblem unless a sale is involved. without enuff info it can get scary then
roger
princess anne, eastern shore of md.
i only use my real name and where i am in my signature because i live in a very popular trout fishing destination. i figure if someone one wants to come out this way, its nice for them to know they “have a friend”.
my email is always available to give me a heads up, of course.
i guess with all the freaky-deaky people in this world, its sometimes wise to protect your identity. i wouldnt be so free with my personal info, if i didnt so completely trust 99% of the people on this site…
Everyone dies. Only the lucky ever truly Live. Take your time.
Chris-Bishop, CA, USA
[This message has been edited by tyflier (edited 17 October 2005).]
If a person, for whatever reason, doesn’t feel comfortable giving out non-required information then he/she shouldn’t. If, on the other hand, that information is ‘required’ to enter a site or participate then that person will have to weigh whether to give it or not. Since FAOL does not require the information, then it’s our individual choice.
Regarding sales, I look at longevity, how that person has responded in posts, chat room conversations and any personal contact I’ve had with the person.
Allan
J.C. you are a kind and generious man and very probably right. No, you are right! We may just expect too much of new members.
I have had the priviage to meet some of our members, fishing, grouse hunting, Cabela’shopping
As tyflier will atest to I have a VERY unique last name and after have a theft of Identity I am very cautious.I have always like some anonimity on the web.When conducting business with a private indevidual though They recieve any and all Info Needed.As to the boards the most many will recieve from me is my first name.yes it may be a touch of Paranoia but tis life.Besides WE are feeling MUCH BETTER since they changed my medications!!!
Dennis, from a hick town in Southern Illinois
I also believe that an important piece of info is “general” location. I have no problem stating I’m Mike Flanagan from Canton, Ohio and understand some folks notr wanting to divulge that much information, but divulging “Mike from northeast Ohio” isn’t exactly compromising a family’s safety, but it sure helps in answering questions for a general geographical area, & IMHO shows a measure of trust in our community.
Mike
This site’s about sharing!
[This message has been edited by ohiotuber (edited 18 October 2005).]
but mike, doesn’t that jepordize your place in the witness protection program?
It’s not so much the members that I worry about getting my personal information, but the “lurkers” who are not members.
A unique last name doesn’t help matters, nor does some pretty heavy spam and telemarketing (but luckily no identity theft) experiences in the past when I’ve posted personal info. I completely trust JC and LF, but the bad guys just get better and better at what they do.
It would be nice if everyone at least put in the State or, if not in the States, what country they are from like you do in the chat room. I click on member’s profiles to see where they are from all the time. Some times folks are looking for something that I have a lot of or don’t use anymore. I learned my lesson a couple of years ago to always look because one time someone was looking for Fiz Hair it was the longer hair they wanted not the short. I opened my mouth and said I had a lot of it and didn’t use it and would send it to them (gift) if they would send me their address. Just send me a fly you tied with this stuff and a card with your signature I’d said. So I boxed up a pretty good amount of the stuff and got it ready to ship…The email came back to me with an address…It was some where in South America…I don’t remember exactly …but I do remember that it cost me an arm and a leg to ship it…Never got a fly back neither. I am much more aware now of the profile info.
[This message has been edited by mantis (edited 18 October 2005).]
I think maybe a lot of people for any number of reasons choose not to give out info.Privacy,none of your business would fit into that catagory.Unlisted phone numbers come to mind,are those people scared?I believe JC has all the e-mail addresses.
I also have met some great people on fishing sites who just enjoy fishing,but there are others.
Mike
I can understand their not wanting to post some of these things but posting an email address or regional location shouldn’t be a big deal. In this day and age there are lots of agencies, some of them government, that are more than willing to give up your personal information. Some of this is done legally and some is not. Think about the forms you filled out for a loan or insurance. All of that info ended up in some corporate data base. A few years back DoD hired some of the top hackers to crack their new high security data base. If I recall correctly it took them about 5 minutes to defeat all of the security protocals and hack the entire data base. Even if you enter an unsecure DoD web site now they now instantly who you are and where you are at. Sorry, didn’t mean to steal your post. Just my two cents worth.
Eric “nighthawk”
It’s a great day for fly fishing!
personally, I don’t pay attention to it, and think some folks get a little carried away about it. it’s easy enough to ask someone where they’re from or for their email address if it’s necessary to do so.
I’ve seen the paranoia escalated to the point that some hereabouts freak out over a hotmail or yahoo email address as if those of us with one are hiding behind pseudonyms. that’s paranoia run rampant.
I’ve dealt with enough folks on these boards that they know who I am and where I am and I know the same info about them.
mgj
Hey Folks,
I recently had occasion to look up some
old Navy Buddies with whom I’d lost contact
over the years. My search was successful
and we are enjoying updating the intervening
years since we lost contact. It would have
been hard to do without the internet and
some of the people finder sites, but was very easy using available free resources.
But these same tools are available to
those less scrupulous and could be used for
harvesting info leading up to an identity
theft, or worse. I can understand the
reluctance of folks to post personal info
on a website.
That said, a persons home town along
with a first name for your signature should
provide nothing to harm anyone. That will
give us the opportunity to address you by
name and detail any responses based on
knowledge we may have of your home waters.
If we are fortunate enough to someday meet,
we will already know you by name. If we
are perhaps going to be in your town for
business, perhaps we can get the opportunity
to put a face to the name of one of our
FAOL family. All in the interest of
perpetuating this fine sport and sharing it
with the folks with whom we share this
flyfishing resource of FAOL.
As to spam caused by listing ones email
address, I know of only one that I receive
that I could attribute to this site, and my
ISP always catches it for me and removes it
to a list that I can check and delete at my
leisure.
Prudence and caution are not a bad
thing. But I believe we can still be
fairly open with our friends here on FAOL
without opening a Pandora’s Box. Warm
regards, Jim
I like being completely anonymous on these boards.
I to have a yahoo email but it is also the same email I have had since the inception of yahoo. It is also the only email that hasn’t changed in who knows how long Years and Years and Years.I have changed ISPs so many times it is silly I had a casino in Germany bill me a couple of years ago from somebody else and it cost me ALOT.Was the money returned?Only a percentage.The rest of a life savings went down the drain to some son $% a %$#@!. with my credit card. If it offends that I use a yahoo email and a nick,to bad,thats life on the information highway but I will try everything in my power to protect my Ident. Though I will allow the administrators any info they need for I trust them. However there are lurkers and you would be amazed what can be obtained from a name and city.Especially to someone who wants it bad enough.
A lock is only good to keep Honest people Honest and will only slow a determined THIEF.
Dennis
Some of our younger members may not be able to supply more information even if they want to. I know that if my niece tries to type her real name, address or even home town the parental overide program will automatically scramble it. That is. she sees what she typed but what I get in the e-mail is a random set of symbols.
all leaders tangle; mine are just better at it than most. Jim
Generally I put my area in my profiles, but I no longer put my email that is actually my college ID number, plus @cornell.edu. With that email, a person could get my phone and address as well. I used to use it, but I decided to create a hotmail account just for the message boards where I still wanted to get emails from somebody on the boards, or from the admins.
I normally trust the people who participate on the boards, but I have had experiences where people don’t agree with me so they continue to harass me on email. Those are not the people that I would like to have my personal information…or even the ability to continue to harass me. That’s why I don’t keep much in my profile any more.
Call me scared if you like (although I wouldn’t call it scared as much as cautious). All it takes is one bad apple…
“If firearms cause crimes and kill people, all of the ones I have must be defective.”