Why is that no one fills out their user profiles? I mean I understand not putting your social security number on the net, but come on! I want to know who I'm talking to. My guess is that people expect this forum to be like others. They expect it to an inhuman interface from which to beg for information and then run away quickly. On forums like that I guess that the amount of information I'd give out would be small too.

This forum isn't like that though. The people here are cool, informative, and generally helpful. So here's my call to action. Fill out your profile, add to the community, and God bless America.

I feel like I'm running for office...

Fill out your profile, add to the community, and God bless America.
What about the Europeans, or people on the other 5 continents (anyone have an empeg in Antarctica? ) not to mention the other nations on this continent?

Come on... We all know God only loves America.

Edit: I see this thread digressing quickly, so before we move on to homeland bashing/defending please fill out your profiles.

I agree, I find it interesting to know more about the people who post on this board.

Hmm, I'll update my bio soon, and I should have an avatar image too, I just never used to view the board with avatars, so I never thought to add one.

I've been putting it off but since you asked nicely.

I updated the text a bit to put in a bit more info...

I don't fill out mine because someone will probably send me a bomb in the mail.

mine has been completed for a long time. maybe one day, I'll actually put something a bit less vague on there.

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Why is that no one fills out their user profiles?

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I've had mine filled out for ages. But I think the answer is that most people, even in this enlightened BBS, are still apathetic. And a good many are just browsing or posting here because they're curious, and they don't have any particular loyalty to the Empeg BBS Community [tm].

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... and God bless America.

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Yes, it needs all the help it can get *runs and hides*

But I think the answer is that most people, even in this enlightened BBS, are still apathetic

I find that hard to agree with, in the last 24 hours, around 30 people have posted, the person with the least posts was around 120, the predominance about the 250 mark (yours), and many had a great deal more: That doesn't speak of passing interest.

Any more than the time and care people have taken to come up with answers to the questions that I've posted.

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I find that hard to agree with, in the last 24 hours, around 30 people have posted, the person with the least posts was around 120, the predominance about the 250 mark (yours), and many had a great deal more: That doesn't speak of passing interest.

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Well, there are over 2000 people on the BBS. So we get about 1.5% of the subscribers - those who have gone to the trouble to register a name presumably to post something to the BBS - who do so on a regular basis, if your statistic can be generalised. It sounds to me, from the tone of the original post, that among these 30 'regular posters' there are still fewer who have actually filled out their profile.

I do believe that this percentage is pretty much similar wherever you go amongst forums on the internet. There are the hard-core fans, the casually interested, and the passers-by. The former usually only make 1% to 5% of the numbers of the total. This is probably a good thing, because given the amount of rubbish out there on most [u]other[/u] chat forums, I'd hate to see any more of it.

"56k dialup sucks. 56k rules. Leeches suck. I hate people that kick me off for leeching stuff. X-box rules. X-box sucks. LAME is lame. Sluggy Freelance rules. Collecting your toenail clippings and keeping them in specially marked matchboxes is the only true hobby in the world. People with more than one email address are frears of natuke."

Yadda yadda yadda.

Paul

Half-empty for you?

I don't think it has to do with apathy. I think I can remember two previous threads on this topic, and the common sentiment was the fear of putting too much information about yourself on the internet. That's all.

If there's anything that isn't filled out on my profile, it's because I'm lazy, not apathetic. There's a difference

Personally, I find that a combination of apathy and lethargy works best...

Bryan.

apathy and lethargy

I work better on Guinness and Bushmills.

Not in the same glass, I hope - that would be a waste of both.

Bryan.

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Half empty for you, eh?

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Sort of. I'm a pessimistic optimist - my glass would be half full but it does mean I've lost half of it. I think people worrying about how much information they put in obscure, out-of-the-way places on the internet is somewhat paranoid, but that people that think that way are the majority.

"A person is smart; People are dumb" - K from Men In Black.

Paul

Well, all the relevant parts of my profile were filled out. I just didn't fill in the rest because I didn't have much to say. Now it is totally complete.

Well, any information I put on this website is visible to anybody. I've used this screen name for a number of years in quite a few different places, including several thousand BBS posts. Also, when I eventually stop coming back to this website, which could be months or years from now, I doubt if I will remember to purge old information or change my Screen Name.

I value my privacy and right now, there is no easy way to attach my screen name to my personal information. I would prefer to keep it that way. The more privacy you have (or at least feel you have), the more open you can be about posting. Sure, a court order or an in-depth investigation could probably put together every possible peice of personal information on me, as well as a complete psych profile and who knows what else, but I don't expect that to happen any time soon. In the meantime, if some of my personal information is relevant to a discussion, I will probably disclose it. Otherwise, I feel no compulsion to fill out feel-good forms.

Changing the subject slightly, we could always follow the example of the DSLReports Stars Watercooler and have endless threads with topics like "What are you doing right now?" "Post screenshots of your desktop," "Whats your favourite thing to do on the weekend?" and "Describe your physical appearance." Frighteningly enough, most of those threads end up with hundreds of replies.

-Biscuits

Interesting trichotomy: ``screen name'' vs. ``nick'' vs. ``handle''. My guess, Biscuits, is that you're 25-or-under. AOL has had waaaay too much influence on ``us''.

"Post screenshots of your desktop," [...] and "Describe your physical appearance."

That's what the galleries on riocar.org are for.