Going underground....

I decided to take my name completely off of my profile. I'm so thankful for the support this site offers. The reason for the change is because I haven't shared my WLS decision with everyone in my life. When I'm ready for the people around me to know, I will tell them. I've been able to admit some of my most personal struggles on this site anonymously. I'd just hate for a few snoopers to look me up on this site. Hope this doesn't sound too crazy...

Girl- Many, many people post here annoymously. So it is nothing to be concerned about. Actually, you will have a great deal more freedom with your name off your posts and profiles. Plus your posts and profile will not show up on google searches and the like. A lot of people think that this is a secure site -- but it is not; consequently your information can be, I think the term is mined by the webcrawlers. Now all that being said it will take a while for your information to drop out of the cache at google and such but it is my understanding that eventually it is. Red

Thank you so much for reassuring me! You know what caused me to do this? A friend of mine had a blog (on a different site) where she didn't even provide her last name. Someone wanted to find it and they did. She had a lot of personal information. The person that found her page showed everyone. I felt so bad for her. She was using her blog as a diary. It's one thing to establish online friendships...it's another when a real life so called friend snoops just to be nasty. If I need to talk about my food and weight issues the last thing I need is that same nasty person finding my page. The personal stories on OH have really helped me. I'm glad that anonymous or not, people are willing to share.

Not crazy at all............and believe me, I think we all understand. I had my weight loss surgery with only my husband and three children knowing what I was doing.....I can totally relate. Best wishes,

Im new to OH and you have just opened my eyes. Im going underground as well thank you so much.

Hello again... I just wanted to let you know that your full name still appears when you post messages. In addition, you can be searched by your name under the people search (and probably google, too). I see that you've changed your profile to just show your user name. Here's how you can remove your name from the rest of your profile if you so choose..... Click on My Account at the top of the screen, then select General Info. You can change your first and last name to whatever you choose and save the changes. This will make it where you cannot be searched by name. Being anonymous or public is definitely a personal choice. I sincerely appreciate everyone willing to share your story publicly. Hopefully I will be as brave as some of you in the months to come.....

Hi B, Not crazy in the least. The Internet allows complete strangers into your living room, but you don't need to give them the keys to the liquor cabinet, if you know what I mean. Sometimes my name and my wls blog bites me in the butt, but not too often. Kristen

Hey do what ya gotta do to stay safe. Stay well, Kim Boca Raton, FL