So I was just trolling my yugioh forum & noticed that more than a few people like to toggle themselves to be invisible (essentially not get shown as being online to users), and while I rarely do it on forums, I'm almost always set to "away" when I use messengers like msn & aim. For messengers, I started doing it years ago for a few reasons. The first one was to avoid people getting offended when I didn't start conversations with them & whatnot. I know some of this is in my head, but I've had situations where certain friends thought I was ignoring them/not wanting to talk or whatever, and it was really stupid. Another one is sort of related to this & has to do with the fact that just because I'm on the computer, it doesn't mean that I'm doing nothing else. If anything, I'm almost always doing a bunch of other things while I'm online. Also, the people who actually wanna talk to me know what's up & we can carry conversations just fine anyway, and they know that I'll reply if I'm around & let them know when I'm actually gonna be away. It's worked nearly flawlessly for years, and I recommend that all of you try this if you're having problems, haha. Then when it comes to forums, I pretty much only hide my status when I'm using someone else's computer to view the forums because I don't want people bugging me & shit since I can just check my messages when I get home. Other than that though, I've never had stalker issues or anything. ... so yeah, how do you guys handle and or feel about online invisibility?
Sorta this. I understand people wishing for privacy, but I personally don't put anything the internet I wouldn't people to see.
I don't really give much thought about it. I don't really care what anyone else is up to. I use invisible because I hate people commenting on what I do, as has happened many times on this and other sites I used to frequent.
This seems like a pretty good rule of thumb to live by, especially when it comes to personal things. I just wish more people on Youtube thought like this, hah.
Or facebook. "What do you mean I'm getting kicked off the football team for posting a picture of me *Insert illegal activity here* publicly on facebook?!"
Hahahah you're totally right. I still laugh when people post their grow opps, fake ids, naked pictures, etc on Facebook & then get surprised when that shit gets out. Simply put, if you throw something onto the internet, expect it to bounce over the fence.
I don't bother with invisibility, but I don't really have a huge amount of people bugging me, either.
I've never bothered as I don't want people to ask why I'm "hiding" on the site and I just find it pointless for me as it's nearly the same as being a guest, you just get to see links and attached thumbnails as a member while "hiding".
Really? Hiding? Well, if that's how everyone wants to see it. I guess it would be pointless to even say "because I felt like it" because everyone's got an opinion as to why people do things.
And I came here expecting a TOR thread. I occasionally used to set myself to 'invisible' in chat systems and what not. Usually when i was wanting to talk to only specific people and not the vast tides of people I managed to acquire over the years. Over the years I've decided that I'd rather just not use such facilities in the first place, unless it gave me something (facebook being not for friends, but for news/stores/offers). Unless it's a forum I've taken the step from lurker to poster. No point being hidden then.
I wouldn't call it hiding, but I do have my Facebook chat turned off, so I'm assuming that means people can't see when I'm online? Obviously on TFW you are 'green' if you are online but then again, I leave myself logged in all day, so it doesn't necessarily mean I am anywhere near my PC. But yeah, as for Facebook, I just don't necessarily want someone who is only a virtual 'friend' and not a close real friend to be trying to chat to me all the time. *scuttles away and hides before imminent discussion about 'why have people as your Facebook friends if they're not your friends in person'*