Privacy, real names, and other thoughts

[Matt Sellers]

1. How do you currently feel about our real names policy? Do you have concerns about it?

2. Do you have concerns about what the general public reads (or might read someday) in your posts?

3. Do you see any need for making some areas of Stormtrack private? Which ones?

4. What are your feelings about Target Area being viewable by the public?

1. Keep that policy. I have no concerns about it - I think it's great that this forum requires real names (as the vast majority of online forums do not)... and as others have posted before, this adds an aspect of personal accountability for one's posts that tends to self-police itself, for the most part.

2. No.

3-4. B&G should remain private. I think Target Area should remain public. Joe Blow with his case of beer isn't likely to visit this site, nor 'chase' more than 5 miles away from home; but the EM in his county might be interested in ST and what we're saying about severe weather prospects for his local area. The EM might not be a chaser, nor have any 'social' interest in ST... but he/she shouldn't be forced to register simply to view the Target Area thread.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

I think Target Area should remain public. Joe Blow with his case of beer isn't likely to visit this site, nor 'chase' more than 5 miles away from home; but the EM in his county might be interested in ST and what we're saying about severe weather prospects for his local area. The EM might not be a chaser, nor have any 'social' interest in ST... but he/she shouldn't be forced to register simply to view the Target Area thread.

The problem in the past when it is public is that you had 50 members and 700 guest trying to view it during an event and then it lagged out the server and nobody got to see it for a while.

 

[terra seright]

I used the Target Area before membership was opened up. I was also trying to learn, and not just show up to be an onlooker. Now that I am a member, I see why it should be closed to surfers. I saw why it should be closed when we were in OK, looking at the mass amount of vehicles clogging the roadsides. If emergency traffic had needed to get through, it would have been difficult. The roads and niches in Vici were clogged to the point that it would have been easy to get trapped. Most of the people were there because they saw certain vehicles with promotional logos for TV shows. Felt like a parade, didn't it? Plenty of Joe Blow Sixpackers were whistling and waving as we drove by...we were even asked for autographs, for crying out loud! I don't think we should co-promote the dangerous passion that we have....there are plenty of TV shows out there which do that particular job so well!

I think if they want to utilize the work that you wonderful forecasters are doing, they should at least be required to do the work to become members here....even if they are EM. It's not very difficult to become a member anyway. Hell, if they are EM, they should already be members, or at least considering it. If we are using this site to find out where to be, we should be able to contribute in some way, OMHO, by being prepared to assist in the event of emergencies, or tell the NWS the real story, or something other than simply standing in the way.

As far as names, I like the policy as it stands. Everyone knows that if you don't want your thoughts to be public, you don't put them on the internet.

My votes...
Names=real/don't ask, don't tell
Target area=private
B&G=private

OMG Darren, you're Jim Carrey??? rofl

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Hmmm, I'd go with...

names=real
target area=private
B&G=private

 

[czenzel]

- I agree with making the names stay real. Since StormTrack requires a registration that needs to be approved I don't worry about people harassing me here. It has been a great community of people to chat with about weather and storm chasing!

- The target area should be kept private to the members. I think its true about the general public reading it and making some unwise decisions.

- The bar and grill should also stay private.

 

[Ric Burney]

Log another vote:
Real names,
Private target area and B&G.

 

[Karen Trammell]

3-4. B&G should remain private. I think Target Area should remain public. Joe Blow with his case of beer isn't likely to visit this site, nor 'chase' more than 5 miles away from home; but the EM in his county might be interested in ST and what we're saying about severe weather prospects for his local area. The EM might not be a chaser, nor have any 'social' interest in ST... but he/she shouldn't be forced to register simply to view the Target Area thread.

I disagree with most of what you said there... I have had personal experience with a "Joe Blow" who stumbled on stormtrack by mistake and now just likes to gawk... He's not a chaser but thinks "storms are cool"... So I think there are more "Joe Blows" out there than you think... Also, I would be really surprised to hear of a non-storm chaser EM that gets information on the severe storm threat for his/her city/county from stormtrack... Not saying it's not possible or that it's not happening, but having been around a lot of EM's in different parts of the country, this site has never been mentioned by someone in that position... And I would imagine that very few have time to wade through the chaff to get information about his/her specific area of interest, when there are other ways to get more concise information...

As for using real names...

I'm all for keeping that policy for many of the reasons mentioned above... Odds are that many of the people on here have other "google tags" associated with their names so it's not like taking the names off of here would prevent someone from gaining info from a google search... If someone has an issue with it or a worry about that, he/she doesn't have to list any additional info - like location, website, etc...

 

[Jason Foster]

Time for a poll ???

May be time for an official poll. While the comments here seem to be pretty much in agreement, a poll might let others vote without comment. Although I'm sure some folks here have more pull weight on these kind of issues than others with the moderators. But the poll should be started only by an admin/moderator.

 

[Patrick Romans]

I will echo the comments made by most everyone who posted before me. I like the accountability that goes with the use of names on the forums. I also like meeting people in the field and getting to put a face to the name. I Don't have a problem with the way the various posts are available to the public. I also would have to agree that the FCST portion be left open. Many times I have been approached by others wanting to know what to expect with upcoming severe weather and I have steered them towards that thread. In fact a few of my friends began following the discussion on the thread and developed an interest in forecasting and chasing.
My two cents worth.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

1. How do you currently feel about our real names policy? Do you have concerns about it?

Keep the real names.

2. Do you have concerns about what the general public reads (or might read someday) in your posts?

Not really. Don't want others to read it, don't post it. Simple as that.

3. Do you see any need for making some areas of Stormtrack private? Which ones?

Bar & Grill, and Target Area

4. What are your feelings about Target Area being viewable by the public?

Could slow the server down due to too many viewers on active days, especially with the increasingly popularity of chasing. Mainly an issue only for the forecast/nowcast section of TA because that is what most chasers/STers are looking at before or during their chase. Reports are after-the-fact, so it does not matter if that section is slow to load. It usually takes a while for a chaser to post a chase report after the day is done anyways due to driving back home or to the motel, getting some dinner and sleep. Besides, this has been Stormtrack's motto for years.... Serving Storm Chasers since 1977.

 

[N. Shaw]

I wholeheartedly agree with the real names policy.

On a related note ... is there a way to change one's user name? For reasons I cannot remember, I signed up with only my first initial. Any way to correct that?

 

[B Ozanne]

I like the current policy.

It builds a sense of community, increases the posting quality, and makes for an overall better forum.

 

[Jesse Risley]

1. I don't see any reason to get rid of real names in favor of pseudonyms, handles, etc. I agree with others that this usually lead to more "wreckless" posting behavior by some who feel less accountability for their actions. This is a fairly well-behaved forum compared to many others, and I have to think that some of this is related to the use of real names.
2. I don't see how anyone, including ST, could assume liability for target area posts. However, keeping them public will certainly lead to the presence of leeches.
3. I like the idea of keeping the B & G private too. I had a situation where someone on here, as a state taxpayer, sent an email to my employer with some dates, times and comments that I did indeed make on several threads. While I think that's an underhanded, uncouth move, we are ultimately accountable for anything put on the Internet under our names, and as adults, we have to pony up and accept that responsibility.

 

[Keith Mullen]

2 cents

Wholeheartedly agree with use of proper names.

B&G shouldn't need to publicly viewed discussion.

EM's do occasionally browse this site. I live in the Pacific NW where storms are a rareity - but the county I work for has a few who scroll through here time to time.

Information and discussion is a great thing, even when you are only observing vs. participating.

In all honesty, this is one of the best moderated and most cordial sites/boards I have had the pleasure of participating in. This includes all genre's however - but still top-notch.

Just my two cents.

Keith

 

[Brian Barnes]

What about just adding the code to the site to ban the search engine bots so the forum isn't indexed? StormTrack is well known by anyone within the community, and those who will be joining the community in the future will easily learn about it via word of mouth anyway. On top of that, you would probably save some bandwidth from the search-bots as well.

I would actually put my vote to keep real names, but lock down the entire forum to only members. Once they join and you know who is who, then members can read the forum. By allowing people to use pseudonyms, I think you're opening up to a problem that if a stalker did it then it would be hard to identify them.

StormTrack did after all start as a newsletter - if you weren't a member it was a bit tough to get your hands on it because Dave didn't have your name and address. I would without a doubt though tighten up security on the forecasting threads. As a StormTrack supporter, I wouldn't even mind having to subscribe to it!

 

[Steven Marshall]

I like the real names only policy. It was chaos before that and was one of the reasons I left years ago. Things are much more professional and friendly now. I have to agree that keeping most if not all the forums locked down is a good idea...helps keep the fleas away.

 

[Michael Bishop]

1. How do you currently feel about our real names policy? Do you have concerns about it?

Keep real names is my vote as well. This will help us keep names straight while out in the field as well. Hi, I'm Mike Bishop. Not, I am Mike Bishop, or michaserXYZ on ST, or Michigan_Chaser on someotherweathersite123.com, etc.

2. Do you have concerns about what the general public reads (or might read someday) in your posts?

Not really, if I don't want everyone to read it then I PM the person directly or don't post at all.

3. Do you see any need for making some areas of Stormtrack private? Which ones?

Agreed on the B&G/SDS. Mixed feelings on the TA.

4. What are your feelings about Target Area being viewable by the public?

I have mixed feelings about this as both sides have good points. If it is private, then other people that are interested in learning have to find another website to learn from. Also, some saavy locals may find the TA more useful then the local TV weather stations. But, some people are just plain tired of having to create accounts for every website they click on.

On the other hand, this site is very informative and some thrill seeker can stumble upon this site and get to a big event, possibly hurting others on the way to a target area or hurt themselves. In our modern litigious society, could ST be held somewhat responsible?

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

I add my vote for keeping current policy, though I have mixed feelings on keeping Target Area open.