Profile Pics on 7Cups - Staying Safe Online
Hey Everyone!
Misty Here!
I am writing this discussion post because of the importance of choosing the safest profile picture that you can!
This applies equally to members and listeners.
I am a mentor here at 7Cups and part of the welcoming team too so I have a lot of new listeners and members that contact me.
Sadly a lot of these people that are new to 7Cups have problems caused by their profile pictures, that could easily be avoided.
We all know that it is very important to stay anonymous on 7Cups and one area that we need to be careful about is choosing the right picture.
I know that there are threads that have already been written, one in fact was written almost 4 years ago to the day but the internet has changed since then. We all know about internet safety, or we think we do! But do we really?
Basically remember that anything posted online stays online.
So let's use that and discuss profile pictures and how to choose a safe one?
Q. What is a 'safe display picture'
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A picture that cannot be traced.
Did you know that it is possible to take a picture and trace it back to where it came from?
So please, think about that for a moment.
Do you really want some internet stalker turning up outside your the front door of your home?
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A picture that does not reveal your true identity
Imagine that you share your true mental health problems and then your boss reads your thread
and sees the picture and recognises you?
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A picture that has not been used anywhere else on the internet ever!
You take a lovely selfie and post it to your social media accounts. You are proud of it. You want everyone to see how beautiful you are and how clever at taking selfies. You use it as your profile picture on 7Cups and then start sharing about your problems with your relationship, next thing you know your whole family recognise the picture and know all about your personal problems.
Q. But I want to show how attractive I am, lots of other people show their faces why shouldn't I?
š”You can of course! In fact a lot of 7Cups guidelines appear to encourage the use of a face picture! (but perhaps those suggestions should carry safety warnings or be amended to reflect the current state of internet safety). However, please bear in mind all the points above and then also these:-
āSometimes people join us here and they are bullies or unkind people and they like to target those that are new or inexperienced.
They will look at the picture and maybe even actively seek out people to target.
Choosing an anonymous picture can help to limit the possibility of this happening.
Instead of a young blonde female they see a picture of a daisy or a cat.
Instead of an attractive male they see a picture of a wolf.
āFor New Listeners in particular- consider this point whilst you gain experience of handling different chat scenarios. Do you really need to have a pretty picture and your gender in your profile, and say you will listen to anything? Wouldn't you rather know that those things weren't why you were contacted?
Q. If this is all true then surely this applies to ALL pictures we post on 7Cups then?
ā
YES YES YES! posting pictures of our own dogs or cats or Christmas tree can leave us all open to taunting, personal attacks, bullying or worse, tracking and stalking.
Q. Ok, so if it applies to all pictures what about other details in our profiles? Are they safe?
- We all need to take responsibility for our own safety online.
- Any details we give should still allow us to remain anonymous, so please think carefully.
- Giving some personal details may help people reach out to you because of shared experiences but also they may attract the wrong people and unwanted attention.
- People often think that they are safe if they only give out tiny bits of information here and there but that adds up and up and up.
Q. So what can I do if something goes wrong? How do I get help here?
- 7 Cups works hard to keep everyone safe.
- There are three Community Managers @Heather225 @ASilentObserver @Hope
- You can email community@7cups.com
- You can change your profile in your Settings (use the browser version www.7cups.com then top right profile settings)
Safety is Your Responsibility Too!
Profile Picture Policy changed October 14th 2019 see This Thread
Listening .... One Step At A Time
Sometimes others think we can help others with a sexual inducement to have them open up. I do not agree with that approach but maybe reach out to that person and tell your support is based on your presence not your body. Your beautiful but rather see you different then just your chest because I know there is more to you..
@MistyMagic
Very useful... I have completed changed my mind about using a profile picture shoing myself :(
@MistyMagic
Very interesting!! Thanks so much for this info :)
@MistyMagic thank you for this useful information regarding how to set the profile picture. :)
@mistymagic,
thank you so much for this wonderful information! Iām new to the site and Iām exploring everything here at 7 cups I never though that putting a profile picture of yourself could be so dangerous. This is why I donāt put pictures of myself in any social media I just post pictures from the internet that have flowers or hearts on them. I didnāt even know that people could be that interested in going that deep and investigate a internet picture. Iām not even sure if I have or not a picture of anything from the internet like I said I been trying to upload one but donāt see anything that I actually have. But after seeing this I will be extra careful and itās very important to be extra careful. The other day Iām not going to say name or anything I was actually talking to a listener that came a cross with me and we start talking and everything that person seem kind and nice so I had confidence since I taught itās 7 cups and heās a listener so what could go wrong. Well I was wrong as we started talking he ended up saying to me if I had another social media so we can talk and well I actually fall for it so I did add him outside 7 cups as a friend. And what did this person do after I added them they started talking to me in a way that I didnāt like so i immediately unfriended that person and block him. I wanted to report that account to 7 cups with I was not able to fully think at that moment. I was i donāt even think they are going to listen to me so I just left it alone. Now I feel very dumb because even though itās a site to help one another we still need to be extra careful and we might be having scammers between us. So please people if you read my posting be extra careful with the listeners in here to some of them you reach out to are not what you expect and they end up hurting you like they did to me. :(
@Lasweetbaby34
Thank-you for your kind words. I am so sorry that this happened to you and I have pm'd to offer some support 1-1,
@Lasweetbaby34 Your all the wiser for it so try not to beat yourself down about the situation :)
@Brittanny17 *You're
@Lasweetbaby34
I have listened to more ppl than I recall on here over my years that have shared the very same experiences and resulting impact negative in respect the cups experience.
I commend you š for this post and striving to engage others in this critically important issue that need mitigating actions to minimise going forward.
As a 'male' listener hearing these horrendous experiences from so many I listened to, I was actually encouraged to replace my cartoon like previous pics, to my own face. Please feel reassured picking me as your listener. Here is my face. Search it. If you find anything on the internet untoward or negative about me, please report it immediately to cups admin.
My background prior to illness and volunteering here as a listener was with local and regional Governments with a stint at the National Housing Corporation as an Audit Inspector Northern Region. I was often in local newspapers as the Director representing my company. My face should be around online, unless its been deleted from this Universal Net thing mi Bob job I don't really understand. I'm a golden oldie at 53 after all šØāš¦³šš¤£
@MistyMagic
wonderful info!
@MistyMagic thank you
