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> I guess mom made the right decision coming here Where's here? Oh, from your Hacker News profile -> Twitter profile (https://twitter.com/doreen_michele https

> I guess mom made the right decision coming here Where's here? Oh, from your Hacker News profile -> Twitter profile (https://twitter.com/doreen_michele https://twitter.com/doreen_michele) which says "Southwest Coastal Washington".

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BatterMarkupL 9y ago
bradfitz: eighteen years later and still too personal.
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dang 9y ago
I'm sure you were just making polite conversation but it's maybe not so great to follow two pointer hops to someone's personal details. People have many reasons for being sensitive about these things. I've never thought about it before, but your comment made me realize that maybe the best thing is to feel free to mention what's in someone's HN profile but leave it at that. On the other hand, I broke that myself only this afternoon: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15947396 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15947396. So I don't know.
- Johnny555 9y ago
  Those that are sensitive about such things shouldn't post such details online, and having that veil of secrecy penetrated and posted publicly might be a wakeup call. There's no point in protecting someone's imaginary privacy, if their personal details are a google search away, they have no privacy and if that's important to them, they shouldn't post their private details in their profile.
  - dang 9y ago
    Those are good points too, but it's so much more complex than that. To see how, try the thought experiment of someone digging up absolutely everything that can be found online about you and then posting it as a dossier in some place you care about. If that doesn't make you shudder, you're a rare one.
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- c22 9y ago
  I would probably feel a little weird if someone combed through my posts or combined things I've said with search engine research to dox me, but anything posted publicly in a profile seems like fair game. If I put a link to my personal website in my profile and on my website I publish my address I have no problem being contacted that way, but if you find my address through the DNS and send me a letter it might be awkward.

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BatterMarkupL 9y ago

bradfitz: eighteen years later and still too personal.

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dang 9y ago

I'm sure you were just making polite conversation but it's maybe not so great to follow two pointer hops to someone's personal details. People have many reasons for being sensitive about these things. I've never thought about it before, but your comment made me realize that maybe the best thing is to feel free to mention what's in someone's HN profile but leave it at that. On the other hand, I broke that myself only this afternoon: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15947396 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15947396. So I don't know.

Johnny555 9y ago
Those that are sensitive about such things shouldn't post such details online, and having that veil of secrecy penetrated and posted publicly might be a wakeup call. There's no point in protecting someone's imaginary privacy, if their personal details are a google search away, they have no privacy and if that's important to them, they shouldn't post their private details in their profile.
- dang 9y ago
  Those are good points too, but it's so much more complex than that. To see how, try the thought experiment of someone digging up absolutely everything that can be found online about you and then posting it as a dossier in some place you care about. If that doesn't make you shudder, you're a rare one.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
c22 9y ago
I would probably feel a little weird if someone combed through my posts or combined things I've said with search engine research to dox me, but anything posted publicly in a profile seems like fair game. If I put a link to my personal website in my profile and on my website I publish my address I have no problem being contacted that way, but if you find my address through the DNS and send me a letter it might be awkward.