Quote from John Freeman on February 10, 2021, 9:07 pm

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on February 10, 2021, 8:28 pm

Hey John,

I realize my previous messages might be either be misinterpreted as framing you as irrational, or might be miss-communicated from my side.

The intention of those posts was to present and interpret data relative to forum indexability, and privacy.
And the intent of course was not to frame you -or anyone else in this forum- as irrational, but that the proposition of making the forum no-index is irrational if the goal is to increase privacy by a significant -or even decent- margin.
"Significant" and "decent" are relative of course, but based on the data above, the increase of privacy on this forum by making the forum no-index would be insignificant.

So I stand by that initial proposition: based on the data, making the forum private with the goal of addressing privacy concerns adds little to no value.

If presented with different data, proof, or even good logic that shows otherwise, I stand to be corrected -in which case the proposition that I ascribe to becomes irrational-.

Thanks for your clear explanation. I don't think it's a matter of irrational vs irrational. I think it's a matter of efficiency. I think the question is: is it worth the effort to improve the privacy, based on the current data?

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW

If we're talking about the psychological point of view of "I just feel safer", then it's different.

And I'm willing to consider that if several users express the same need / want / wish.

Alright, that is quite clear. Yes, it's about "feeling safe". That is one of the basis of leadership: leaders make people feel safe through providing certainty. Trust is built through this feeling of safety. If a leader disregards this need, then trust is lowered or compromised.

That being said, that is partially addressed by the private area of the forum, which is locked to a few restricted members.

Those who want maximum privacy can write there -with "on your honor" limits for that area, since posts that do not contain heavy elements of personally identifiable information should be in the normal part of the forum-.

There are a few people already who correctly used that area when they wanted to post screenshots (including me), or copy-pasting a chain of texts.

Yes, I thought about it. However, as I said, I'm not considering my own personal desires only. I'm looking at the general problem.

What I think would be fair is that for people to know the level of privacy that is provided by this forum. That could be written here or in another sticky in "Welcome!: Start Here".

That is why I was surprised: I assumed a given level of privacy, then wrote quite a few posts and learned afterwards that the level I was expecting was not the actual one. I'm not blaming anybody here, I'm sharing my experience. It's my fault: I could have asked in the first place.

So I think that if it is announced somewhere, then it's more transparent and I know you value transparency.

Then, as you said, once people know that the default level of privacy, they can write in the private section of the forum. However, it is also reserved only to Power University users. So there is still no free section where people could talk about sensitive issues where they could (or the people they talk about) be identified.

I think the more safety you provide, the more people will feel comfortable to open up about personal topics.

That is why I talked about encapsulation: if you guarantee a certain level of privacy, then it offers this feeling of safety and trust.

That is why I was also surprised to see some of my posts linked from PU without my knowledge nor my permission. I felt a bit used. But it's fair game: this is your business and you want to grow it. This is not an association. I'm a user, you're the owner. I get it. However, I would have liked to know in advance and asked for permission.

So, as we can see: trust and safety are closely related.

Now I know better the social contract that binds us to one another on this forum. It's important to me to know the terms.

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on February 10, 2021, 9:19 pm

Great point, John.

I think I will add a note soon in the section "Start Here", as well as linking here.

Then, as you said, once people know that the default level of privacy, they can write in the private section of the forum. However, it is also reserved only to Power University users. So there is still no free section where people could talk about sensitive issues where they could (or the people they talk about) be identified.

I think the more safety you provide, the more people will feel comfortable to open up about personal topics.

Yes, it's true.

But I see a silver lining to it.

I remember one of your first messages when this forum went from "guests free to write" to "only registered members could write".
Back then I wasn't too happy that spam had forced me to do that.
And you commented: "quality over quantity".
And I liked that a lot, and since then I thought "yeah, we lost some freedom and some free-flowing thoughts, but John was right about the quality".

Too easy for people to write and hide does overlap with quality.

In my view of seeing the world, if a user is too afraid of being "found out", he's not mentally ready yet for true self-development and for power dynamics.

That is why I was also surprised to see some of my posts linked from PU without my knowledge nor my permission. I felt a bit used. But it's fair game: this is your business and you want to grow it. This is not an association. I'm a user, you're the owner. I get it. However, I would have liked to know in advance and asked for permission.

Got it, sorry for that man.

The goal of the PU's links wasn't even to sell more in that case, since people had already bought PU and one link more or less wouldn't make much of a difference.
The goal was to provide a better product.
But I see your point, it's valid, and I will be more careful about that going forward.

Quote from John Freeman on February 10, 2021, 9:30 pm

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on February 10, 2021, 9:19 pm

In my view of seeing the world, if a user is too afraid of being "found out", he's not mentally ready yet for true self-development and for power dynamics.

That is a great point. And that is why your first message with the four arguments got me thinking. I'm already going in this direction (being open and transparent) so I do think it's very important. To be at the point where you have nothing to hide. That's a mindset I'm working on. However, we may have nothing to hide, but still have something to lose. (Back at the beginning of the loop ;) ) You can be a honest man and the World can make you look like a demon.

Edit: This helps me realize that I am reacting like that also because I've been hurt a lot by rumours and smear campaign since I started to study my profession. So now I know how powerful reputation can be. Some people lost their career based on a tweet or an email. And my profession is quite sensitive to attacks on reputation.

That is why I was also surprised to see some of my posts linked from PU without my knowledge nor my permission. I felt a bit used. But it's fair game: this is your business and you want to grow it. This is not an association. I'm a user, you're the owner. I get it. However, I would have liked to know in advance and asked for permission.

Got it, sorry for that man.

The goal of the PU's links wasn't even to sell more in that case, since people had already bought PU and one link more or less wouldn't make much of a difference.
The goal was to provide a better product.
But I see your point, it's valid, and I will be more careful about that going forward.

Thank you so much for your consideration and respect. I appreciate it very much. Communication is important.

(Please) Have a great evening!

Quote from Matthew Whitewood on February 10, 2021, 10:41 pm

 Dear Matthew,

I think there is a misunderstanding. I never asked to delete my posts.

I was proposing this as a middle ground because I had to consider Lucio's interests as well.

It's like the ability to delete cookies on our browsers. It gives us a sense of privacy knowing we can clear our cookies at any time. And history as well.

In a way, it's giving you control over your data which was why I went further to explain why ownership of data is important in privacy.

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on February 10, 2021, 11:26 pm

First draft:

• How safe is the forum?