Privacy While Online

Lately, it's been brought to my attention a couple of times that people from this board are being found through search engines. This can definitely happen. Unfortunately, there is nothing that I can do on my end. I cannot block all search engines from "crawling" the board here. Some of them follow the directions I give to leave the board alone, and others don't.

Since this is such a very private issue, there are ways to make sure that no one finds you.

1. Use a new screen name. Don't use the screen name you use all the time on Ebay or on other message boards. Use a brand new screen name. This way, no one will know what to search for on Google.
2. Do not give away identifying information. You can probably get away with using a first name (unless your first name is particularly unique). However, if you're going to give out your name, your husband/boyfriend's name, your age, and your city and state, this makes it more likely that someone might "recognize" you.
3. Do not give your general instant messenger information. Yahoo, MSN, and AOL instant messengers are great to use, but I would advise signing up with a new screen name on any one of the IMs if you'd like to talk to someone here with them. Otherwise, someone can see your general Yahoo IM name if you post it.

Email addresses are safe. Your email address is not displayed anywhere on the site. So you do not need to set up a private email account for your emails from this board, but you're welcome to if that makes you feel more comfortable.

If you're reading this and start getting concerned about your messages on this board, you can email me to discuss options. I don't think this is a concern for everyone - rarely are you going to be "stalked" online, but for some, it is a major concern, and one that I certainly understand. I'll do my best to be sure that everyone is safe here, but being proactive always helps.

Thanks!