Make filling in your location compulsory
 

Grumpy old git rant from someone who normally believes people have the right to anonymity on the web but the number of times people post on here something that can only be replied to or has any value is when they have put their location is making me think it should be part of signing up. You can of course put somewhere you are not or you might be on the road but a country of origin affects many of the posts on here and a lot of people, especially new comers don't seem to realise that and are possibly not being replied to as a result.

Completely agree & its my pet hate, takes two seconds to put your location & for paranoid Americans USA will do just fine. :rolleyes2:

Mezo.

Agreed, I have changed my profile :thumbup1:

Never occurred to me that it would be valued, and honestly didn't realise I had not added a location. SO, I've just updated the information. Thanks for pointing this out.

PS: Putting "USA" is fine for Americans who are from the USA, but for other Americans it would be better to put their own country (Canada, Colombia, Argentina, wherever...).

Paging Grant...

Half the fun is reading the ads on what you can buy in "Springfield" :rofl:

I don't have a problem with making it a requirement. If the CIA are after you, just put something vague or vaguely wrong, no street level stuff required. It does help put axlot of questions into context.

Andy

I'd vote for it just to wind up the paranoid pseudo-libertarians ;)

Not sure I see how any of this really holds up. Is an absence of declared location really the only thing that stands between you and the taxman, your ex, the bank, or local legal authorities? I'm trying to imagine how this could be true, even in extreme cases.

I'm not taking a stand on whether this should be mandatory--I'm just curious about the reasoning here. I've always offered enough information so that anyone who wants can easily find not only my specific location (in a town of 85,000 people), but my name, and therefore profession, home and business addresses, educational attainments, recreational pursuits, volunteer work, and much more.

What's to lose? Anyone wishing to do me harm--the CIA, say, or the Lord's Resistance Army--is unlikely to be thwarted by a bit of vagueness in my HUBB registration.

Hello

Put in the location is for fun, if you want it as help for others to answer more accurate put more than the town.
Wessex, sorry I would have to google it, as many might for Bern CH.

For an accurate answer regarding travelling it may need more than location:
-nationality, passport (1 or more?)
-country of vehicle registration
-a lot more...

All of that you can poste when asking something, none of that is important if you don't need it.

:thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1:


sushi

Oh the irony!:rofl:

I would think unless it's a compulsory drop down list of maybe half a dozen options - Europe, North America, Oz etc you're going to end up with a lot of people in 'the space between thought and action', 'far out man' or 'livin' the life'. Cholo would probably be 'one step ahead of the cops' :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Who would have thought that this post would be so controversial? I have in the past replied to quite a few posts that needed a location or nationality to answer properly and none given, two in the last week so it is a useful detail that people often miss when asking for information or trying to sell or buy something.
I have updated my own profile with more information as it seems it was a little too specific.

life is all about face masks + Two needles !

Discussion is good! :)
I am all for people putting in at least their country - what harm can that do, unless maybe you're in Tuvalu with a population of 10,000? And then who would care?
BUT making it mandatory, sorry no go. We firmly believe that you have a right to be anonymous, and if you don't want to put in your location you shouldn't have to.
Having said that I'll see what I can do with the new system about making it more obvious that you should, and why it's important.
Thanks for bringing it up and discussing the pros and cons! Your feedback is crucial, and a gift to us that we greatly appreciate.

I cannot imagine any location or signature that might cause such grief with the authorities.
Or if they do, these people should not be on a nice family-oriented forum such as this.

Mr Big.
The Cocaine Refining Factory,
Medellin,
Antioquia,
Colombia.

whoops, don't think I meant to say that.

Totally agree.

And on a travel forum, that location can change daily.

Now where did I put my tin foil hat..:smartass:

But on the other hand if we knew where the spammers were located .... :rofl:

Nudging, that's the way to go. The promise of a carrot rather than a stick.

When this topic started I wondered how many people inhabiting the flip side of the HU coin (Facebook) were including their location in their profiles. The answer (from my 30 sec survey anyway) was ... not that many, and with a noticeable gender bias. Personally I'm not that bothered about including it but if others are and prefer not to say then chalk it up as one small victory against the monolith that is the internet. It's not as if those that really want to know don't already.

I also think most people don't even think of it - MOST people are in a personal bubble - they and all their friends know where they are, always, so it doesn't occur to people that not everyone knows where they are, or remember that there are more than one city with the same name. I live in Vancouver, and an internet search for something in Vancouver often gives me Vancouver Washington USA - REALLY annoying!
All we can do is encourage people to put it in, and that it will HELP THEM and does nothing for any bad guys.
BTW - did anyone notice the new "notice" at the top of the page? OR does it need to be bigger and yellow highlighter?
I have also edited the joining email to highlight this for newbies.

I only found out about Vancouver WA when I bought a train ticket from Fresno to Vancouver only to find out it did not take me all the way to BC and had to buy a supplimentary ticket.

In some ways it's more alarming when Google figures out which one you're interested in and stops giving you leads to the other. I used to search for, say, restaurants in Bellingham (WA) and get results in Bellingham (MA), or even Bellingham (U.K.). Pretty quickly, the Google overlords figured out who I am, where I am, and what I like to eat, and they now only return local results to foods I approve of. They didn't learn that because I posted my location on the HUBB; they learned it because they learn everything, in the end.

Grant, I didn't notice--and probably wouldn't have noticed--the new text at the top of the page. Consider that one very small datapoint, and do with it what you will.

Mark

I can understand why some people don't like putting out this kind of information - and if you make it mandatory, some folks will just lie about it anyhow.