I have been a victim... and am now a survivor... Having been there & done that, I do not want to ever be there again. Having said that... I accept every & all "friends requests", I can always delete in the future. If they are going to take valuable time and read what I have there & want to "friend", there must be something in "common". I very much understand & empathize with the need (& I mean NEED) to be overprotective. They are fearfully trying to reach out and I will never slap that outstretched hand away; I will embrace it & give a virtual "hug" in response. If I have a "friend" request & the page is blocked, just accepting usually unblocks the page. If there is something nefarious (& there has been), those people just disappeared after administration was notified. I will never give information about my exact location. I will never put pictures of me, my animals, family/friends, so a savvy sleuth can find any of us, nor use the pictures for pedophiles, nor use them in a "con". My birth date is not real (close enough) & I only use my avatar T. P. The rest of what I say & feel is spot on accurate. A lot of my "friends" I have nothing in common with them... nothing... diversity is the spice of life... They still always have something to teach me... and, as long as they want to be a friend with me, I will absolutely enjoy their company, & be their friend. T P

I spent a bit of time to learn exactly what can be seen and not seen by non-members of NOTH. The only areas that are open to the public are Blogs and Forums. In my opinion, if there is nothing that can be seen to give a "flavor" of the site, I doubt that I would join. I feel the same about invitations that I have received from members who have their profile page blocked so that only members can see it. Unless I can learn a bit about the member first (do we have anything in common?), I don't accept the invitation.

If we want friends and family to visit out page on NOTH, we can send them the link address so they can drop by for a visit.

As the site settings are at this moment, I have no problem with it and will continue to enjoy my time on The Hill.

Mona