[tony]

Be mindful of what you reveal on-line.

Talk of The Villagers are a trusting, close-knit bunch, but recently I felt members were a little too trusting. They innocently posted quite personal information, really forgetting that they were not involved in a private conversation around a lunch table. That is nice to see, really, but I removed the personal stuff.

I explained that not only Villagers were reading this, and revealing too much could give some not so nice people private information they might like to know . . . where you live and when you will be gone, for example.

Please be careful of what you reveal, and if you want that new couple to stop by to visit you, I suggest you send your address and phone in a Private Message. Private Messaging is at the top right of your forum screen, right under the welcome message. Sending a Private Message is very similar to posting a regular message.

[downeaster]

A couple of weeks ago I posted on the same subject. Following is what I said.

I will try to tread very lightly here as I do not want to offend anyone or start a flame war.
I notice some members include a their email address, street address, phone number and even their photo as avatar. I know this is a friendly forum, you could say we are like family. However, we are not the only ones reading these posts. There are robots out there constantly harvesting email address to be used by spammers.
Other personal information, home addresses, phone numbers, etc, should never be given in the open, either in forums, chat rooms, or elsewhere where people can see the details.
With user names that may be different, but personally I would not give my full name in the open.
If you wish to share personal info with fellow members simply use the "Personal Message" feature provided by the forum.
My apologies for preaching and lecturing but I felt a personal responsibility to my fellow members.

[Donna]

We also have lurkers in the chat room, many times!! As Tony mentioned, we have to realize we are NOT alone!!...