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Post by lettinggo on Jan 12, 2009 0:03:00 GMT -5
What are "Invisible users"? I was looking at the front page, with the statistics, and saw this:
online
2 Staff Members, 142 Members, 220 Guests, 10 Invisible Users
Not sure I love that.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jan 12, 2009 0:15:59 GMT -5
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"Invisible user" means a member who is online but not advertising that they are online.
I'm one of the "invisible users". I just keep a low profile.
Note: I've done this for ever forum I've ever belonged to ... on ANY topic. Even boring hobbies. I always set myself as invisible. Don't know why. Just part of my natural paranoia, I guess.
You can set your profile here at SOS to read whether or not you want people to know you are currently online or not. If you are logged in and click on "profile" (at top of your screen), you can make this adjustment.
Invisible users are always registered members, or they wouldn't have any profile to set to that setting.
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However, there is one exception. I read on proboards main site that they have a Google Advertising "bot" (Bot = internet robot) as an "invisible user" posted in each of Proboards' thousands of forums. That's what makes the banner ads reflect the topics of discussion.
As of the moment I am typing this, Proboards' statistics:
• Number of boards hosted: 2,698,049
• Number of registered users: 22,268,884
• Number of threads created: 62,310,618
• Number of posts made: 700,677,481
That's a lot of advertising potential.
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Post by lettinggo on Jan 12, 2009 3:55:19 GMT -5
hmm... okay... but I don't get it... why would you set yourself as "invisible", but then post under your username?
Very confused.
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Post by lettinggo on Jan 13, 2009 1:59:04 GMT -5
Sorry, it is still confusing to me. I mean, you can set your preferences to not get PMs, and I'm just very confused about how you can be invisible and visible at the same time. Just trying to wrap my brain around it.
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Post by eagle on Jan 14, 2009 8:07:44 GMT -5
Sorry, it is still confusing to me. I mean, you can set your preferences to not get PMs, and I'm just very confused about how you can be invisible and visible at the same time. Just trying to wrap my brain around it. Well, when set to invisible, a member can read and not be seen. If the member replies, they are still not 'visible', in that the list at the bottom of front page still does not list them as online. Although they posted and the time stamp on the post shows that they were here at that time, they were still invisible when they posted. PM's can be sent to invisible members, BTW. Visibility has nothing to do with wheather a PM can or cannot be sent. Let me suggest that being visible or invisible is a lot like the way we dress in the real world. Some people dress to be seen, while others dress to blend in. Some are exhibitionistic, while others prefer to fade into the woodwork, and still others don't really care one way or the other. It is possible that the invisible user feels the need to blend in a bit more for one reason or another. That is not to say that those who have chosen to be visible are exhibitionists. It is only to say that the members who have chosen to be invisible are being a bit more cautious about being seen. The reasons surely vary from individual to individual. |
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