On Flickr, when somebody adds you to their contacts, you get a note that says "If you don't know [username], [username] is probably a fan of your photos or wants a bookmark so they can find you again. There is no obligation for you to reciprocate, unless you want to." This is true on del.icio.us too: when somebody adds you to their network, it's usually a small expression of interest in what you're bookmarking - the person just wants an easy way to see your public bookmarks. Does that help explain the current network/fans system? We can try to make that message more clear on the website.
We originally didn't include a list of "fans" on network pages at all, partly to avoid the impression of a popularity contest, but we found that people were curious about who was paying attention to their bookmarks. Britta del.icio.us community manager intern --- In ydn-delicious@yahoogroups.com, "Tim Schoon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > It'd be a nice start. I don't mind my bookmarks being publicly accessible, > lest I wouldn't have a del.icio.us account, but things like my fans/network > I want to keep private amongst myself and those I wish to add to it (or whom > I approve). Because I don't know who this other person is, or how they know > me or why they would even add me in the first place, it really creeps me > out. I don't know if this sort of thing would be worth reporting for removal > or not, because I don't know them and the fact that they don't have any > links of their own suggests potential spam/abuse (i.e. automated fan bot or > something). > > I guess it isn't so much that this person can see the bookmarks as it is > that any stranger can come along and add me, without my permission, and I > have no way of knowing who it is. I mean if they can access my public > boomarks anyway, there would be no reason to be a fan of mine or even a part > of my network. Surely there has to be a way to control who can be a > fan/network member, or such a thing can be considered for addition. > > > Tim :-) http://nbajammer.epop3.com > http://www.myspace.com/nbajammer/ > ICQ # 5756489 Yahoo: nba_jammer77 AIM: nbajam77 > MSN: nbajam77 Xfire: nbajammer > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Britta Gustafson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <ydn-delicious@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:56 PM > Subject: [ydn-delicious] Re: Network Privacy > > > > Hi! There's no way to remove people from your network right now, except in > > the case of > > spam or other abuse (harassment, etc.), which we're happy to remove if you > > report it > > directly to one of us. > > > > The reasoning for the lack of control over network additions is that > > anybody can see your > > public bookmarks and/or subscribe to your bookmarks' RSS feed in a > > newsreader. A > > person adding you to their network is just another way of viewing your > > public bookmarks - > > so removing that person from your "fans" list wouldn't prevent them from > > seeing your > > bookmarks in any other way. > > > > We've considered adding a way to hide specific usernames from your "fans" > > list, which > > would be useful for example to a teacher who has a "fan" with a username > > that contains > > profanity (or other material the teacher doesn't want his/her students to > > be exposed to), > > but there are some issues with that, so we'll still thinking about it. > > Would that be a > > solution to your problem? > > > > Britta > > del.icio.us community manager intern > > > > --- In ydn-delicious@yahoogroups.com, "Tim Schoon" <gamemaster@> wrote: > >> > >> Is there a way to prevent people you don't know from adding you to their > >> network? >
