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Topic: Removing name from public profile

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Subject: Removing name from public profile
Date Posted: 4/11/2009 5:44 PM ET
Member Since: 2/17/2009
Posts: 20
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Sorry, question from a somewhat new member. Is it possible to keep your real name off your public profile? I tried changing the name display settings on the privacy controls page and the various profile settings, but it insists on putting my first name and last initial up there. (I'm sure no one on PBS is stalking me and I don't have a ridiculously unusual name or anything, but it bothers me that I can apparently remove anything from the profile but my name.)

PIZZELLEBFS avatar
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 5:53 PM ET
Member Since: 7/23/2005
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I guess you found a solution?  Your public profile is now private. 

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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 5:56 PM ET
Member Since: 2/17/2009
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Well, yes, and since profiles don't seem to serve any important purpose it will probably stay that way if I can't take my name off. I was just hoping there was a better solution.

EasyForTheEyes avatar
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 6:02 PM ET
Member Since: 12/10/2005
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As far as I know you cannot remove your name from your profile page.

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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 6:03 PM ET
Member Since: 1/12/2009
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Last Edited on: 5/28/09 4:49 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 6:13 PM ET
Member Since: 2/17/2009
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Kimberly: Thanks for the info.

Rana: You never know. :) As a rule, I never display my name online (hence my trying to keep it off my profile), but I thought since people had usernames that I'd have the option of keeping my real name off any profiles (otherwise I probably would have just put down my initial when I signed up).

EmilyKat avatar
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 7:17 PM ET
Member Since: 7/19/2008
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I think you need to contact PBS to do it.  There is a warning when you sign up on how the name you enter will be final.  But folks probably aren't thinking about how public this site really is at that point.

melanied avatar
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 7:24 PM ET
Member Since: 8/16/2007
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You can now hide your name without contacting the site.

Go to My Account-->Settings-->Privacy Controls. There you will see your name and a drop down list on how to show your name. One option is to no display it.

Shavian avatar
Date Posted: 4/11/2009 8:13 PM ET
Member Since: 2/16/2009
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Well, yes, and since profiles don't seem to serve any important purpose it will probably stay that way if I can't take my name off.

 

Backslash, did you do what Melanie suggested? Are you sure that your name appears when other members look at your profile? Whenever I look at mine, this disclaimer appears:

This information is NOT what other members see; you can control what other members see in your Privacy Controls.

As for public profiles having a purpose, according the help docs, they're supposed to increase the number of book requests you receive. That's why I set one up. Not sure how writing "Hi, my name's Bob, I like to read" brings in the customers, though.



Last Edited on: 4/11/09 8:16 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
pvc avatar
Date Posted: 4/11/2009 8:35 PM ET
Member Since: 1/28/2007
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For a long time our first name was "M" and we still got our mail because M. Lastname was a valid shipping address.

EveDallas avatar
Date Posted: 4/11/2009 9:06 PM ET
Member Since: 2/12/2008
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"You can now hide your name without contacting the site.

Go to My Account-->Settings-->Privacy Controls. There you will see your name and a drop down list on how to show your name. One option is to no display it."

This actually doesn't work to remove the name from the PROFILE. It removes it from the forums, but if you want to show a profile AT ALL, listing forum post number, books sent, etc, then your REAL Name will appear. It is quite ridiculous that they finally allow us to remove our names, but not from the Profile. There really is no reason why anyone needs our real name to be shown on the internet here. When they gave us the option for "No Display" it should have really meant NO DISPLAY. I just don't get why this site is so lacking on privacy and internet safety issues.

Time and time again, people have posted on this forum about having trouble with other people online here. People PMing for credits, books, nasty PMs. People posting to another's WL just so they can get their real address and send hate mail, sign them up for junk mail, etc. Yet, for what privacy advances this site makes, it's always, two steps forward, one glaring step back.

I joined at a time when all the forums weren't public. What that means is you couldn't read ahead of time what privacy issues would come up - how much of your personal, private info gets revealed for public access. Who thinks about these things when you're signing up to trade books with individuals? I have never been part of a forum that allows Nicknames then blasts your real name online. Had I known, I would have registered as Jane Doe or a Company name for my mail to reach me.



Last Edited on: 4/12/09 11:12 AM ET - Total times edited: 2
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Date Posted: 4/11/2009 9:31 PM ET
Member Since: 2/17/2009
Posts: 20
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Melanie D.: Thanks, but that was what I meant when I referred to the name display settings above (sorry that wasn't clear).

Shavian: I saw the disclaimer too, so I logged out and checked my profile, and the name was still displayed.

I now see in the help docs that they recommend providing only a first initial if you are concerned about privacy, so I suppose I should have known better. (That said, it's not like I read through random help pages before I signed up, and hiding that info after the fact really ought to be an option.)

Shavian avatar
Date Posted: 4/12/2009 7:12 AM ET
Member Since: 2/16/2009
Posts: 63
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I agree. That's pretty important information they should reveal to you before you sign up, not after.

So I guess PBS is lying. The information you see on your public profile IS what other members see. Good to know. Thanks for alerting me to this.

 



Last Edited on: 4/12/09 7:13 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
EveDallas avatar
Date Posted: 4/12/2009 11:09 AM ET
Member Since: 2/12/2008
Posts: 4,470
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On your My Account main page, at the top, you can click on the button for Public Profile, and you will see what others see.

Shavian avatar
Date Posted: 4/13/2009 7:33 AM ET
Member Since: 2/16/2009
Posts: 63
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When I do that, I see exactly the same thing, including the disclaimer that says, "This is NOT what other members see."