Posted by 10derHeart on March 26, 2006, at 12:40:23
In reply to privacy, posted by lostforwards on March 26, 2006, at 9:37:45
Well, this is a public site. Yes, we have to register to post, but not to read. Anyone can read, just as anyone can read anything on any public site on the internet. Some others here are also definitely concerned about their privacy, too, so you are not alone. About people IRL being able to match up their posts with who they actually are, follow their cookie trails on a shared or public computer and see they've been on Babble, etc.
It's a real concern. There have been a few threads on this board discussing the pros and cons of Dr. Bob perhaps making parts of Babble non-Googleable (sorry - not a real word but...).
I know it's very important to him that new people can find Babble through search engines like Google, so he's seemed inclined so far to lean toward not restricting the boards from Google's search ability. But he may well still be considering that suggestion - I'm not sure. I think many (most?) posters found Babble by searching for a medication name, or maybe using a phrase like "tranference in therapy," etc., which will get you hits on the main board and/or the Psychology board. That's how I found this community.
As to exactly how Google works in adding new pages it can find, I'm not techie enough for that one, although I understand in general it's an automated process where 'spiders' walk the web and add new pages to the search engine continuously.
One thing you can do, if you like, is change your posting name from time to time, or as often as you like. Some people do that to hopefully decrease the liklihood someone IRL will figure out who they are. You should follow the steps in the FAQ if you decide to change your name:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#names
Hope you are able to keep connected to Babble in a way that's comfortable for you, despite privacy issues. I've been reading your threads on other boards and people do care about you here. :-) Be well, lf.
poster:10derHeart
thread:624773
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20060317/msgs/624799.html