Why don’t/didn’t you add a biography to your profile? When I see someone post to thread and they have given an interesting; or contentious, post, I would like to read more about that person. So, I click on their name and 90% of the time, the poster has added no further information!
I wonder why we’re so secretive about who we are and what we’ve done?
Probably because it’s never a good idea to post too much personal information on the internet, especially in a more or less open forum type site, like this one.
Carl
witness protection program.
charlie
I did and while it’s information about me it’s nothing that isn’t already available to the public.
regardless of moniker, real name, RR name, or whatever used, or biography posted/not posted…does it really matter if the content, as you say, is what is important?
It stems from the old idea that one should not post too much about oneself online, and an era when one chose a moniker instead of real name to do so. That one’s online persona should be kept private, ANd for good reason.
Nowadays, with sites like Facebook or Living Social, people are REGRETTING what is/has been/ will be posted about them there or on any other social media!
Also, even without publicizing my personal info, and even with NOT being on facebook. I have had my : screen name, aol account, Credit Card, checking acccount, internet account, and all COMPROMISED. !!! {MORE THAN ONCE too!} So, I don’t need to have a 50 page Biography out there as well to add to the personal information GLEANED from me used to steal my IDENTITY and MONEY!!!
[2c]
[8-|]
You really really really really would not want to know…[X-)]
I have also seen people post things that expressed strong opinions in “biographies” that were not helpful because they tended to polarize people.
I just updated mine. I’m older, and the parakeet died.
Maybe that’s why people don’t bother with biographies much.
I’m just lazy. Or it was a low priority. And I hate writing bios. When I’m interviewed they have to drag a bio out of me. I have needed to update my bio on my biz page for years.
Come on! If your that paranoid about Identity Theft, why even participate here on these forums? I’m not saying you need to tell your life story and I’d also strongly suggest you leave your specific location off your profile page and not make statements like: “Yep, I’ve spent $119,522.00 dollars on my collection of rare and expensive brass locomotive and rolling stock”. However, general information about your interests in the hobby, what your up to and how long you’ve been doing it, is pretty general information that doesn’t make you any more delectable a target for a thief than the rest of the folks posting here. It is certainly your right to keep information off the internet if you choose and I can respect your right to do so. But, I would wonder why some feel it is safe to put general information in a profile here and others feel this is so unsafe?
LION posted (brief) Bio.
ROAR
Purely and simply, I have participated in other forums, including the Atlas Forum, where I was actually posting very honest information, some of which came in part from my friends at an actual train manufacturer–yet some of the individuals on the forum, who do not know as much as they think they do, accused me of all kinds of things like being a manufacturer’s “paid shill”, of misrepresenting facts…and other things that were a. not very nice and b. completely inaccurate/untrue.
Now, we all have our opinions, and writing on internet forums does not always convey the tone in which the post was authored. That means sometimes people get rather heated, when no malice was intended by the author of a post, and sometimes people might think the author is more emotional about a given issue than is actually true.
I am the kind of person, who when someone asks a question, will attempt to be helpful.
However, my opinions are just my opinions, and are not necessarily worth much more than that.
For all of the above reasons I will never, never provide personal information about myself online again. The less people know the better off we all are. Some of the people who read my posts obviously know who I am or was on other forums, and that’s fine–but I don’t care to share that information in the future.
Some model train forums like the both Atlas Forum and the Atlas Rescue forum do contain some useful information, but there is also a lot of inaccurate, worthless garbage on there too. Some of the high posting individuals do not even have an operating layout upon which to actually run anything, so their opinions about what performs well or does not are of questionnable value–and the manufacturers know that now, know who those individuals are, and
I went back and forth for years on the privacy vs “hello world” approach to my bio here. Finally served up one that focuses on my model railroad “self” while including just enough to understand who I am and where I might be coming from, leaving out the sort of info that could be used illicitly by unsavory elements.
Certainly, I don’t see how the reasons one is a model rail, the prototype you choose, or other non-opportunistic info that hints at your interests is gonna help someone do you wrong. Now, if you put up something like, “My brass collection comes to 250+ pieces, all stored in a display case in the living room and I leave my doors unlocked when I go on vacation…” that might not be a good idea. [;)][^o)]
I’m not certain how there would be any correlation between participating in this forum and being concerned with identity theft. I personally don’t post any biographical information because I try to keep a low personal profile and that information is no one’s business but my own.
I second, third and fourth that motion…
[8-|]
Let me turn it back around. Why don’t people use their real names at the bottom of their posts? While I have a profile name like everyone else, I sign my name at the bottom and prefer to address others by their names, when possible. Some folks have been on here for years and I only know them by their profile name.
So, NP, you shared with us your personal bio in your profile and your strong opinion that anyone who doesn’t share that in theirs is “paranoid”, how about including your name in your bio. Seems easier to be harsh on people when one remains anonymous; an observation I’ve noted in my stint here as a member and as a mod.
Tom
Could the same question have been asked why Samuel Clemens called himself Mark Twain? For me, I think it’s fun to use an alias tied to my hobby.
Whale… I always sign my real name to PMs. My real name is found on my web site, which is listed, so nobody should have any realy problem trying to find out who the LION is.
You have know people for years, but you have not PM’d them? OK.
Besides, the LION is not good with names. I recognize an avatar before a name, real or ahem imagined. Imagine that.
You write to LION, LION will write to you back.
ROAR
NP,
Or, as I noted in my response above, is it easier to say things publicly on a forum (that you might not necessarily say in person to someone) when you remain anonymous? At least Samuel Clemens went by an alias by which you could call him Mark.
You aren’t paranoid, are you, Sam? [swg]
Tom
I treat “biographys” like I do Facebook, which I have no interest in participating in. [2c]
I assume everyone has the same opinion I do about them, in most cases I have no interest in your biography, nor you mine, what you had for breakfast, pics of your house, car, your dog doesn’t really intrigue me at all.
In PM’s where I have established friendships with fellow forum members I will always sign my name, and if the need exists (meet up for a train show) I will exchange information. I met up recently with a member from another forum to go to train meet. [tup] These folks are typically someone that shares the same interests, era, and modeling scheme ( logging, mining, geared steam engines, etc)
Being wise doesn’t make you paranoid, and I never type anything that I wouldn’t say face to face. It’s a good rule that works for me, and I won’t hesitate to tell someone, as we said in the military, “it’s a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know” [alien]