Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Al
Thanks for posting this. You've confirmed my growing suspicions. I was advised by the person at our church who showed me this forum to NOT give out our church name, not even the city. I did use my real first name and title. I'm older and don't know a lot about the internet and forums in particular so I have been doing some online research on them. If even half of what I've read about forums tracking people, selling info and putting malware on computers is correct it's enough to raise red flags.
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I don't use my real name here because as the Internet gradually becomes more integrated we're already seeing automatic connections being made between social media sites, retailer's sites, and even sites like this. Not to mention that everything here is searchable via Google, Bing, etc. Once you post something on the Internet it is there forever. With a few exceptions it's very difficult to expunge it. So it's wise, I think, not only to avoid using one's real name and exact location but also to avoid using searchable phrases that are particularly unique to you.
I simply want the ability to say what's on my mind without much risk that it will eventually be connected to my LinkedIn account for all my clients to ogle, or to my FaceBook account for my extended family to peruse. Or just for a more computer-savvy relative to track down. It's not that I'm saying anything I wouldn't stand behind, but I do say things that some people can't handle.
I think you'll find this pretty typical on discussion forums. People want to converse without parsing everything as if the whole world were watching. The flip side is that sometimes TIFS can kick in (Total Internet F--kwad Syndrome) which states that normal person plus anonymity plus a huge audience sometimes turns the normal person into a jerk. It's a phenomenon similar to "road rage".
But it's a trade off I can live with.
As a software developer I can assure you that a reputable forum like this is a safe place to be and you needn't have any particular worries about picking up a virus or something. You probably aren't clear on how those are contracted. Most of the time these days the infection vector is an email crafted to try to get you to open it. If you avoid opening emails from unknown addresses, and have good antivirus and anti-malware installed on your system, you should have little difficulty. If you're using a Mac rather than a PC then you're even better off.
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