Why do you like to put your Q's & A's Private?

Question

Why do you like to put your Q's & A's Private?

Answer 1

If someone is asks a personal question  (like what is this yellow rash on my p***s?) they might not want it to forever appear on their Q&A list.

Answer 2

Because they dont want anyone else to read it?

Answer 3

I don't.  Some people are, however, afraid of what others will think or say about them.

Answer 4

I have wondered exactly the same thing. I considered the 'rash on my p***s' angle but thought that it is very unlikely that so many people suffer from a rash in that area. I wondered if there was in fact something slightly more sinister and less embarrassing going on. There have been several occasions when I have wanted to have a look at 'who is answering what' and their Q+A have been hidden. Is it possible that some of these people are answering each others questions? Is it possible that some of these people are in fact the same people?  Only a thought, but if I had a rash I would head off to the doctor and not ask a bunch of anonymous strangers on the Internet who would  probably answer "chop it off" or "soak it in caustic soda".

.....btw, *If* a friend of mine had a yellow rash on his p***s what should he do?

Answer 5

I have fought hard against making my profile private for a long time. I also fought to keep my email option open too.

The problem with having your questions and answers open is that you can attract trolls. We have lost a lot of great answerers in the Environment section because of this and I am sure the situation is the same in other categories.

Whilst there are ways to address the problem, they are largely ineffective. People just start a new troll account and continue where they left off.

It is possible to appeal violation notices too, but they are often not successful. If you mention somebody's name when you add additional details for example it is now considered Chatting. It is easy for people to go through your old questions and answers and report old closed questions for chatting or other things that are now violations.

The other problem is that people can add insulting remarks on comments. I had a period of going back through old questions and checking out comments. I stopped doing this, foolishly perhaps.

Even if you make your account private and you have a troll who connects to you as a fan, they can see old questions and answers and report you. They leave objectionable comments or follow you around contradicting your answers, thumbing down etc.

The other issue is that even if you block somebody, blocks are easy to get around. Many know how to look into private profiles too.

The same with emails, even if you report abuse, people can just make new accounts to get around it.

I eventually 'gave up the battle' because I was ill and did not have the energy to keep fighting the trolls. However, I do not feel comfortable about having my Qs and As Private as it is against the spirit of learning and sharing on this site. Maybe I should open my profile up, now I am feeling well enough to deal with it again?