•:~ Should Minors Have to Make Their Profiles Private on Goodreads?

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

A few days ago, I got an email from GR saying that it had "come to their attention" that I'm a minor and it was policy to make my profile "private". I replied asking why that was the policy, and that I thought it should be my choice to make my account public or private. I asked that my account be returned to public, and they declined, saying "please refrain from setting your profile to public". I pressed for more information as to why, but they seem to be ignoring my emails now. Mind you, I was respectful and clear towards them.

I think it should be the user's choice whether to make their profile public or private to other users, whether you're a minor or not. As long as you don't give out personal information (real name, age, location, etc), it should be up to you. The point of a profile is so other people know who they're friending, so making it private just makes it more difficult for others.

By the way, when your profile is "public", that means your bio and recent activity is visible to any Goodreads member. When you profile is set to "private", only your friends can see your bio and activity. Other people will only see your username and profile picture if your account is private.

What do you think?

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

No, they should not always be "private" and we should have our own freedom for others to see our bio, books, and more instead of it being hidden. I get 50 different friend requests (normal) and a bunch of those people that I know RIGHT NOW have their account as "Private" because of damn GR!! I have mine as public but I might as well take down my current age and just put "not a minor" (totally....jk I'm not gon' do that) But for real though, they SHOULDN'T have to make out accounts Private JUST bc we are minors! I get the safety reasons and shit by REALLY?!?!

[Thari]

I really think it should be our own choice if we want our profile to be public or not. Barnette and Nimona basically already said everything I would say, but tbh I may have put another age so my profile wouldn't have to be private 😅

[butterfly is back (barely, mostly on insta)]

I didnt know the goodreads staff were still around and monitoring 😂😭😭

[⁴ Bella ⁸¹]

No, you shouldn't be forced to have it private. I might have to take my age off of my bio if they are doing this..

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

To specify something, I didn't even put my age on my bio, just that I'm "a teen". I have said my age on some chats and in DMs but I'm not exactly sure how they found out my age.

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

MidnightButterfly wrote: "I didnt know the goodreads staff were still around and monitoring 😂😭😭"

Lmao same

[butterfly is back (barely, mostly on insta)]

Theyre stalking us
Goodreads is no longer safe 😭😭

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

MidnightButterfly wrote: "Theyre stalking us
Goodreads is no longer safe 😭😭"

😭

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

I can see why they want to, but no minor is stupid enough to put a bunch of personal info on here. I don't use my real name on gr and the zip code I put in for my location is for my old house--- I don't even live in that city anymore. And even if I did live there, there would be no way you could find me; 152,000 people live there. It's just stupid. And are you forgetting that we could accidentally friend some shady stalker too? Which would make the whole thing pointless? 😭😭😭 literally now the only stalker is gr

[butterfly is back (barely, mostly on insta)]

Fr lmao
Idk, it isnt just gr. Its just any general social media. Most of the time it is 16, though

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Thari wrote: "I really think it should be our own choice if we want our profile to be public or not. Barnette and Nimona basically already said everything I would say, but tbh I may have put another age so my pr..."

Me too as well. And thx lol

[Ella✨(booktrovert)]

GOODREADS IF YOU'RE STALKING US LOOK AT THIS TOPIC

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Sai :) wrote: "I can see why they want to, but no minor is stupid enough to put a bunch of personal info on here. I don't use my real name on gr and the zip code I put in for my location is for my old house--- I ..."

FR THOUGH!!!!!

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "GOODREADS IF YOU'RE STALKING US LOOK AT THIS TOPIC"

FR FR!!!! LIKE WHYYYYYYYY?!?!? Not only that, I'm surprised I haven't gotten mine turned to "private" yet lmfao

[Ella✨(booktrovert)]

Нимона (Nimona) wrote: "Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "GOODREADS IF YOU'RE STALKING US LOOK AT THIS TOPIC"

FR FR!!!! LIKE WHYYYYYYYY?!?!? Not only that, I'm surprised I haven't gotten mine turned to "private" yet lmfao"

lol

[Ella✨(booktrovert)]

I just haven't put my age anywhere so I'm good :)

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "I just haven't put my age anywhere so I'm good :)"

I took mine off a few minutes ago :3

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

But most people know it anyways XD

[Ella✨(booktrovert)]

Нимона (Nimona) wrote: "Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "I just haven't put my age anywhere so I'm good :)"

I took mine off a few minutes ago :3"

smort

[Thari]

I don't even know if I put my age on my profile tbh

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "Нимона (Nimona) wrote: "Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "I just haven't put my age anywhere so I'm good :)"

I took mine off a few minutes ago :3"

smort"

Exactlyyyyy >~<

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Thari wrote: "I don't even know if I put my age on my profile tbh"

lmaooooo

[Thari]

Oh, yes, I did. But it's the age I said I was so my profile wouldn't be private. As of today it seems like I'm officially 19 😂 lol.

[Ella✨(booktrovert)]

Thari wrote: "Oh, yes, I did. But it's the age I said I was so my profile wouldn't be private. As of today it seems like I'm officially 19 😂 lol."

lol congrats

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Thari wrote: "Oh, yes, I did. But it's the age I said I was so my profile wouldn't be private. As of today it seems like I'm officially 19 😂 lol."

Congrats XDD

[Thari]

thanks 😂

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Thari wrote: "thanks 😂"

Ur very welcome (I'm tryna hold in meh laughter irl) XDD

[Thari]

now I'm laughing too and my brother just asked me what I'm laughing about 🤣

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Thari wrote: "now I'm laughing too and my brother just asked me what I'm laughing about 🤣"

Omg my lil siblings do that too XD
I'm thy oldest in meh family T^T (except my 2 older cousins who live 2 states away lol)

[Dead $mile ⚠︎︎♡Freaky Girl♡⚠︎︎ [Nimona]]

Ava wrote: "I doth think that my account should be visible to people who are adults, but other minors should be able to see my profile"

I have a mutual friend who is in his 40's and we've talked here and there and he's really nice and I've read his bio and made sure to be careful and he's quite the person to feel like you don't have to be shared of older people <33
I have a best friend (also meh god-brother) who is 21 years old right now and another friend who is 18 I think by now and I love them both!
But I do understand what you're saying and I doooo kinda agweee with you though lol

[Khadijah]

I am a teenager myself. And I've never had a problem on Goodreads. I just want a safe space to vent about literally anything. I have written my age in my bio but I want others to view my profile.

[l i z [save the sharks‼️]]

Ella✨(booktrovert) wrote: "I just haven't put my age anywhere so I'm good :)"

lmao same 😭

[Thari]

Khadijah wrote: "I am a teenager myself. And I've never had a problem on Goodreads. I just want a safe space to vent about literally anything. I have written my age in my bio but I want others to view my profile."

yep, same here

[⋆✧Maddie ✧⋆]

I'm a teenager as well and I think it should be the persons choice in rather they want their profile set to private or public. I mean I don't have anything of importance on my page or anything that I'm worried about anyone seeing so I don't care if someone sees my profile. I mean I would rather it be public so if someone is interested in becoming friends with me they can see my bio or books I've read to see if we have things in common. So I say that we should have the choice to make is private if we want and not have it forced on us.

[Shi]

I think it should be up to you on weither you put your profile on private or not I mean it's your stuff

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

agreed!

[⯌Sky⯌ ~take from you like you took from me~, Assistant Moderator]

I think there should be regulations. I think if you are a minor your birthday should be on private, maybe even your gender, but probably not. I for one am completely comfortable with my acc being private, and if it were up to me, I'd make minor accs private, but I see that none of y'all agree with that. Sai, some people are in fact stupid enough to put a bunch of info on here, or they just haven't been informed of the dangers of online activities. Personally, I prefer to have my birthday and especially where I live on private, and I'd advise others, minor or not, to do the same. I also don't go by my real name, but I think quite a few people know it anyways because its what Rhyleigh and a few others call me, but I prefer to be called Sky and for most to not know my birthday and I certainly would never tell anyone where I lived. So imo, minors should have their acc on private, or at least have their birthday and where they live private, though I wouldn't even put where I live on my acc.

[Ophelia ˚࿔]

No, they should not be! Goodreads isn’t like other social media where you post photos of yourself and videos anyways, so there’s no real point of it. You can choose not to put personal information on your bio, especially since most minors on here are over 13, at that age you should be responsible enough to know not to put your address or anything on your bio. Plus, it’s extremely annoying to have to set your bio to public every time it changes it, to the point where I had to change my age on here

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

Ava ˚࿔ (the fate of ophelia) wrote: "No, they should not be! Goodreads isn’t like other social media where you post photos of yourself and videos anyways, so there’s no real point of it. You can choose not to put personal information ..."

YESS!