Do you hide your online status?

[Cam]

Hey guys!

As I am sure you have noticed, quite a few different types of forum software offer an option for members to log in as with their online status hidden. This means that the public cannot see them online. They are then invisible to the public, and the only people that can see them are the staff members who have the permissions to do so.

What do you think of people who do this? Do you ever do this on forums that you are a member of?

 

[sapett]

I have always seen this as an option but have never chosen to enable it. I do not see a reason for making myself hidden on a forum. I like for people to know when I'm online in case they need me or just want to talk. People have their right to privacy though, so I respect those who do choose to hide their online status.

 

[Cam]

I have always seen this as an option but have never chosen to enable it. I do not see a reason for making myself hidden on a forum. I like for people to know when I'm online in case they need me or just want to talk. People have their right to privacy though, so I respect those who do choose to hide their online status.

I agree with you. I don't think I've ever used the option before. I don't see the purpose of it.

 

[Sharon]

I almost admire those that do use it because it's almost like they do not want to be rude if they do not respond to anyone's posts who happen to be online at the same time. However, I do not think that it's necessary to hide your online status. I've never used the feature myself because I agree with you both I haven't been in a situation where I felt the need to. I suppose if it's a really popular person that everyone wants to chat with and perhaps they do not want to be bombarded with private messages or something. Other than that I'm not sure why else someone would want to be invisible to other users.

 

[Shock]

I've never used it but I can see why some people would (like what Sharon said).

 

[Ashley11]

Hey guys!

As I am sure you have noticed, quite a few different types of forum software offer an option for members to log in as with their online status hidden. This means that the public cannot see them online. They are then invisible to the public, and the only people that can see them are the staff members who have the permissions to do so.

What do you think of people who do this? Do you ever do this on forums that you are a member of?

I usually turn this feature off for everyone. I like to be able to see when everyone is online, and I don't see a reason for anyone hiding whether they are online or not. I have never used the feature except just to see what it did when I first started posting on forums. I can see why it could be good for extremely large forums, but I personally don't see the point for anything less than a massive forum.

 

[JennyorAlice]

Personally, I've never done this on a forum. The only reason I can see a "need" for this option is maybe if a person was some kind of staff member on a forum where they were in charge of keeping the peace (like a moderator, community team member, etc.) and lets say that they knew someone was not behaving correctly or not following the rules and that someone was trying to avoid getting caught by staff.

 

[Ashley11]

Personally, I've never done this on a forum. The only reason I can see a "need" for this option is maybe if a person was some kind of staff member on a forum where they were in charge of keeping the peace (like a moderator, community team member, etc.) and lets say that they knew someone was not behaving correctly or not following the rules and that someone was trying to avoid getting caught by staff.

Yeah it's good for a specific scenario like that, but most times people trying to break the rules are going to get caught no matter what because the posts are there permanently. Even if no Mods are online, the posts made by users will just be seen by Mods when they get online. So I think whether or not a Mod appears online isn't really that important because if someone's going to break the rules, they're going to do it regardless.

 

[jonnybrobot]

no never. I don't like the fact that people don't want to be seen online.

 

[Slider]

I don't understand why people would not want to be seen online. If they don't want to be seen online, why be on the forum at that time? I say it's always best to see who is online.