Hidden profiles should be disallowed

[anticitizen13.7]

Sometimes I browse a user's profile when they have posted something unusual or rated my post negatively without explanation. On some occasions, I get this message:

"Tesla Motors Club - Error
This member limits who may view their full profile."​

This prevents forum members from seeing what kind of feedback a particular forum member has received. Some people, particularly those who "dislike" others' posts repeatedly for no apparent reason, are using this feature to hide the fact that they are trolling. Hidden profiles should be disallowed.

 

[EinSV]

Sometimes I browse a user's profile when they have posted something unusual or rated my post negatively without explanation. On some occasions, I get this message:

"Tesla Motors Club - Error
This member limits who may view their full profile."​

This prevents forum members from seeing what kind of feedback a particular forum member has received. Some people, particularly those who "dislike" others' posts repeatedly for no apparent reason, are using this feature to hide the fact that they are trolling. Hidden profiles should be disallowed.

I completely agree with this. Also, the profile as it currently exists can be and usually is created in a way that reveals essentially no personal information so blocking the profile doesn’t accomplish anything.

 

[CuriousG]

Or at the very least prevent them from being able to give dislikes or posting.

 

[thegruf]

the upside of this feature is it means that when out of curiosity you look at a person's profile you can see they have something to hide.
Don't need to bother any further then.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Yeah, I see this sometimes too. Even if the profile is hidden at least the rating history should be shown. Or if it is not, then disallow the user to give any feedback (it should not be a one way street).

 

[anticitizen13.7]

@Eclectic,

Honest question: why do you choose to hide your profile? I notice that you gave 3 disagrees in this thread, but did not state why you disagree.

 

[outdoors]

@Eclectic,

Honest question: why do you choose to hide your profile? I notice that you gave 3 disagrees in this thread, but did not state why you disagree.

Didn't see a requirement in the forum rules that one has to put a reason for disagreement within the thread. Maybe there is just something he/she disagrees with.

Could one imagine how long the threads would be if a rationale had to be provided for every love/informative/like/dislike/funny.

We all have different reasons. Mine was pm'd to you a couple weeks ago.

Minor stalking attempt by a local automotive company employee. It took me a week to figure out how they got some other information of mine. I chose to go dark till I could figure out how.

I tend to be more concerned about my posts. I also don't wear my likes/dislikes as a badge of honor. Just here to get and share information.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

I certainly agree that stalking is a good reason to hide one's email address and other contact info.

I don't think people have to provide a rationale for every feedback/rating, but this is the "Site Feedback" sub-forum. If someone like Eclectic disagrees with my perspective on a site feature, I'd like to know why, particularly as this person used the disagree function not just once, but several times in this thread.

The issue isn't whether likes/dislikes are a badge of honor. The issue is that some people appear to hide their profiles so that other forum members can't see if they (1) are accumulating large #'s of dislikes, which is a flag for troll accounts and (2) are engaging in activity such as repeated use of the dislike function for the purpose of harassment. For example, going through another user's history and "disliking" numerous posts for no reason other than to flood them with alerts.

If people choose to hide their feedback ratings and activity, they should not be able to give feedback.

The privacy settings also appear granular enough for people to hide their contact info without also hiding their feedback ratings.

 

[juancrabtreeio]

Hidden profiles should be disallowed.

I agree with this as well

 

[Joe F]

This spot-on thread is almost a month old. Why no moderator feedback?

I'd go so far as to recommend those who throw their negative ratings around on even members opinion posts be put in a time out corner. How can one disagree with another members opinion?

Destructive forces on an enthusiast forum like TMC serve little purpose with their negativity. I'm fine with having different views, even being negative, but not when it escalates to the point of being destructive. Not looking for unicorns and rainbows here, just moderation.

And I wholeheartedly agree with the OP observation...

 

[anticitizen13.7]

Another problematic issue is that accounts with hidden profiles cannot be reported for abuse.

While individual posts can still be reported, this is sometimes not effective if a particular account needs to be reviewed in its entirety for issues like spamming.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I think it’s bad form to disagree without leaving a reason, simply because I’d like to know the specifics of why someone disagrees. They might have genuinely misunderstood my post, and I’d like the chance to clarify.

Having said that, some people are more concerned about privacy than others, and if they don’t want their profile disclosed I think they have that right.

This just leaves the issue of trolls, who are the termites chewing at the structure of the community. Surely moderators can be alerted if someone has a high ratio of dislikes given to posts made, or something like that.
For example, anyone who gives 20 dislikes in a row should just have their account removed and IP address logged, because they are contributing nothing to the community.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

This spot-on thread is almost a month old. Why no moderator feedback?

As far as I know, the Moderators don't have the power to address site-wide administrative issues. This is something that has to be taken care of by Admins, if the forum software package allows it.

This just leaves the issue of trolls, who are the termites chewing at the structure of the community. Surely moderators can be alerted if someone has a high ratio of dislikes given to posts made, or something like that.
For example, anyone who gives 20 dislikes in a row should just have their account removed and IP address logged, because they are contributing nothing to the community.

I've reported people for "dislike spamming", where another forum member searches my old posts and marks many of them "disagree" in retribution for a comment I made that they didn't like, or a "disagree" that I gave them. Sadly, I don't think anyone has been banned or even reprimanded for this kind of harassment.

 

[Alketi]

Agreed. A user's posting history should be available to everyone. There's absolutely no reason to make that private.

 

[dhanson865]

a certain previously banned user who "dislikes" dislikes tends to "dislike" my posts in retaliation of a dislike I gave a year ago. He has his profile hidden and strikes from the darkness.

For those saying the posting history should be viewable I'd remind you that you can still search for all posts by a user even if the profile is hidden.

• click search at top right
• type name on the second line (leave the first line blank)
• click search to get list of results