That Ten To One or So Ratio Guests : Members

[Abigail Genevieve]

From time to time I've looked at 'Who Is Online" and I have consistently noticed that members are ALWAYS outnumbered by Guests by a wide margin, sometimes, like a minute ago, by more than a 10:1 margin.  I have never seen that before on an internet forum.  It can be explained partly by the nature of what this is, that it draws the curious and they are certainly welcome to read here, and to join, but it leaves me with a feeling of being in a fishbowl.  I wonder who ARE these people?  Donald Trump, is that you? Biden? Sinwar? Putin?  We can only guess. 

[MaryEllen]

Most of those "guests" are web bots from China, Indonesia, France etc. looking us over. They are mostly benign.  All they can see or gain access to are the general forums.  Members should be careful not to post anything that could readily identify themselves such as real names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. They do not have access to our gallery, blogs or private messenger. They seem to haunt all forums. Not just us.

I should add that they can make us known across the internet. That's how prospective members find us. Google would be a good example.

[Charlize]

I am also pretty sure that several of them are folks who are "trans curious".  Sometimes folks who are trying to find their own identity, are attracted to trans folks or who are simply interested in the trans community.  

There may also be some who wish to do us harm which is why .........

11 minutes ago, MaryEllen said:

Members should be careful not to post anything that could readily identify themselves such as real names, addresses, phone numbers, etc

I've just learned to smile figuring "i'm on candid camera".  

I'm sure many of our younger members never experienced that show so my age is showing.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Abigail Genevieve]

30 minutes ago, MaryEllen said:

 Members should be careful not to post anything that could readily identify themselves such as real names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. 

Allow me to add that people should think twice about posting pictures of themselves, with the facial recognition software that is out there.  Those in stealth or who are not fully out may discover they are suddenly and unwillingly fully out in ways they wish had not happened.

[kristinabee]

I've seen this on a lot of forums tbh. That's how a lot of content ends up on internet archives. You've got loads of bots scanning the site at all times and archiving it. Forums are actually nice (in comparison to social media) in that the guest count gives you a pretty good idea of how actively the site's content is being archived. Basically just don't post anything you don't want archived.

[Abigail Genevieve]

34 minutes ago, kristinabee said:

I've seen this on a lot of forums tbh. That's how a lot of content ends up on internet archives. You've got loads of bots scanning the site at all times and archiving it. Forums are actually nice (in comparison to social media) in that the guest count gives you a pretty good idea of how actively the site's content is being archived. Basically just don't post anything you don't want archived.

I'm probably showing my age.  I haven't looked at a guest count in a long time.  Doing FB and staying off forums for a while.  Previous forum use had fewer bots if any and guests were actual people, mostly, unlike today. 

 

Any AIs or bots struggling with GD are welcome.  I would love to read your introduction.

[MaryEllen]

Quote

Allow me to add that people should think twice about posting pictures of themselves

Photos posted in the general forums are visible to anyone or anything. Photos in the gallery are visible only to members. non members cannot see them.

[DonkeySocks]

I think some of "them" are just us. If I log out, I might come in and putter around the forums for a minute before I commit to logging in and reading or participating. That probably shows as a guest visit.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Some of them are us.  I view while logged out sometimes.  But I also know that so much of this forum is public.  I really wish more areas were "members only."  I'm aware that stuff I post here is publicly viewable, so I never post last names, first names of other people, pictures, or give my location.  I tend to think my husband and GF would be displeased at the few things I do post here.... and they may be right.   Our times are pretty uncertain, and it seems to be "fox hunting season" out there.