A 'who visited your profile' list ...

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
Just a heads up...I don't think Facebook has anything like that.

There is a link you can get .. not an official 'facebook' link but it's one of those other type links ... that lists the 'top ten followers' etc. I've used it a number of times and it seems pretty accurate to me.

I am wondering what you think the benefit of a feature like this would be?

Just like any other fun and/or informative feature that sites have.
You could say it's one more buzz or whistle to play with.
Or you could say it's informative to the person who has the profile.
Or you could say it would cut down on stalkers.
What benefit are a lot of the features ... depends on who is doing the weighing in .. ya' know?

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
If someone is stalking you, I think you should report it as such.

Dunno if anyone is. But a feature like that could show if someone was.

I don't really care who is viewing my profile ...

Then you wouldn't have to use the feature. Others of us are curious. I know I am ...

Originally posted by Aggie Man
And you are right....I don't know you at all.

Old lady. Army vet. Psychology degree. Mom. Wife. Cat lover who instead has a stinky fat beagle. I love Kim Harrison's books and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I suppose I'm Center-right politically. Can't wait to be etherial. I have a few chronic illness'. MOSTLY I'm really, really hungry and can't eat much anymore (I WANT SOME COFFEE!!) There, Aggie Man, I think that's pretty much all you need to be able to say that you know me better.


Ya'll assume that because someone would come up on a 'who visited your profile' list that it would somehow automatically be a bad thing. Some people like to check other peoples posts because they like how that person posts and it's a compliment. Others follow people around for other reasons - which aren't so good. I'm curious is all ... who stops by my profile and who checks up on where I'm posting. I'm wondering if anyone is following me around. Curiosity.

Originally posted by redoubt
I tend to visit the profile page of everyone I engage at any length.

Sure. I do to. It's not a bad thing. And, as was previously mentioned, sometimes I'll check out the profile of an older poster who hasn't been around in a while .. see if they've posted anything etc. That's not a bad thing at all.

I'm just trying to scratch a curiosity itch .. that's all.
I'm thinking it could be a good thing.

reply to post by FlyersFan

I look at people's profiles for a number of different reasons.
They've just made me their friend, and I'd like to see what kind of friend I've picked up.
They're arguing with me on one of my threads, and I want to see where they're coming from.

There is a user, with the initials MC, who dislikes me intensely, because we're competitors in the same field of study. But I was following his posts almost daily, because I get entertainment out of what he writes and the exasperated controversies he stirs up. Is this the kind of "stalking" that you've got in mind?

I wouldnt care one way or the other.

Ive looked at peoples profiles mainly if Im reading or participating in a thread and someone posts something that really hits home with me or I am curious to see of the person has expounded on an idea or theory somewhere else.... I want to read what else they have written basically. ONCE I looked at a profile when someone was being an incredible ass tome out of the blue and I wanted to see if it was a matter of a bad day or they had a habit of behaving in such a way. Come to find out Id had great conversations previously with the person and it truly was a bad day for them. It changed my mind completely about ripping into them or reporting them for what was being said to myself and others in the thread and I chose to handle it differently.

There are plenty of reasons to visit a profile.. I dont see the sense in having a "whos been viewing".. but I doubt it would cut down on stalking or dissuade anyone form it. The feature I HATE the most as a poster and as a mod was the "who's online" where you can see where everyone is posting thats listed as being online. THAT is a headache when you have someone who decides to make you their special friend of the day and follow you thread to thread annoying the tar out of you!

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
I'm not sure I can articulate why, but I think I'd rather not have this. I always found it a bit creepy somehow on sites that do have this kind of feature and sort of sense that it might even backfire at times and breed stalkers or at least focus on things I'd really rather not focus on when I'm here at ATS. My friends list is enough for me for that kind of thing.

And if this kind of feature is implemented, I would hope it would allow us to turn it off on either or both ends. More specifically, I would want to be able to turn off the list of who's checking my profile out and just not have to deal with it and also be able to turn off tracking if I look at someone's profile. I'd rather stay away from having people speculate about the reasons why I did or did not look at their profile, reasons which would 99 times out of 100 probably be way off base anyway.

edit on 1/19/2011 by ~Lucidity because: (no reason given)

I have to agree with these reasons given. Maybe it's just the fact that we already feel like we're being watched too closely on the net, and our information seems to be constantly mined from nearly every activity we partake in on the internet. This just adds to the paranoia. Even if I were being checked out, I'm not sure I'd want to know. It seems almost liberating not knowing some of these things. It's enough to be paranoid about being spied on, but to know it is a little more disheartening. As they say, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

reply to post by FlyersFan

There is a link you can get .. not an official 'facebook' link but it's one of those other type links ... that lists the 'top ten followers' etc. I've used it a number of times and it seems pretty accurate to me.

Ok...believe what you will. I gave you the official word from Facebook...I could link 100s of articles saying how those applications are fake and just show random people...but I don't think I'll waste my time.


Another reason why I'm don't think ATS will do this...wasted database space for a feature that many may not use. Database space equals money.

reply to post by OutKast Searcher


I haven't used facebook for a few months now, but I remember using the app, and as you say, it was definitely fake- like one of those "which friend are you most likely to fall in love with" app's, and they occasionally give family members, so that's about how reliable they are. Maybe it's real now, but I highly doubt it, just seems like a clear invasion of privacy. Using facebook as a basis for this seems pretty bad anyway, seeing as it's just a semi-nefarious data grabbing tool.

I don't really visit many profiles, so I'm not scared about being outed as a stalker However, I have to say, in my opinion, this is a pretty bad idea- surely it goes against a lot of what this site is about, i.e anonymity. It just makes me a bit uneasy that people could do this without my consent, I know obviously the government/corporations do it anyway, but that's plenty enough. Not really sure what this would add to the site, either.

I used to be on a dating site where this guy used to stalk members precisely because of this feature. He would visit 10 - 20 times a day knowing full well his visits were visible. It was his little calling card.
Overall too creepy and what would be the point anyway?
Plus knowing the paranoia in some quarters, people would be getting themselves in a tizz over who visited and why

I would love to see that feature implemented. I'd really like to know who has been checking out my profile.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
Ok...believe what you will. .

I don't disbelieve you. I'm sure that there isn't an official facebook feature like that.
It's just i used SOMETHING on facebook and it pulled up the 'top ten' ...
looked okay to me at the time.

But whatever ... I'm thinking here it would be nice.
Others disagree.
It's just a thought ...

I think at the very least that a function such as this might only curatil someone to go ahead and look at a profile.
Especially in the minds of those ultra paranoid types such as us!!

Kidding on the paranoia, but still if someone thnks that there movements are publicly tracked, they are less likely to be active.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I like it, but can conspiracy theorists handle it?

I can just see the Board Business thread title now... "OMG! Why is (insert name here) viewing my profile!!!???"

Well .. there is THAT, isn't there?

Seriously .. I just wanna know who is stalking me (if anyone) and/or following me around the boards.
Being a paranoid conspiracist and all ...

Indeed, I would prefer to have the ability to check out who has stopped by my profile....that way, I can stay awake at night wondering why this or that person has viewed it 12,456 times... Seriously tho, I agree with the suggestion in the OP.....

I don't really care if people want to repeatedly look at my profile instead of contributing to the wonder that is ats There's nothing interesting on it anyway. If you are concerned that someone is stalking you on ats, then alert a mod and they'll figure something out.

I don't stalk anyone on here, and I don't think I am being or have been stalked, but I do run into a lot of the same people on threads I post on. I figure it's just people who have the same interest areas as me, I tend to hang out in the same maybe 3 areas so why wouldn't others?

Final thought: I don't think it is necessary, or even useful really.