Back to the topic I have just carried out a google search on my name ( olebut) and two poems I have published on here come up

one 'moonbeams' which takes me back to here via a link

the other poem 'goodbye' takes me to Toxic Lemon but when I click on the link it wont open I guess my question probably for
David the Bruce is

how can poetry that I post on here on the assumption that it is for the members of this site andpotential members only be available to the world on a google search?

am I being stupid ?

ironically of all the poems I do not want on the public domain 'moonbeams' is one of them so I presume I now must delete it form this site

perhaps you can throw some light on this David please

thanks David

<Added>

after further reflection i have now e mailed david as I am of the view that the access to my work amounts to publication without my express permission. This publication will thus prevent me from entering this work in any competition and negates the views expressed eslewhere on this site ref Is posting on this site construed as publishing a piece of work'

The other question that requires answering is once anybody is directed to the site through a google search then does this provide access to all of an individuals work or indeed everybody's work which by default implies anything posted on here will be construed as being published

I have now received a response from David and it would be wrong of me to paraphrase his reply other than to say David has taken it on board to clarify the situation ASAP.

David

David I did the same last night and was quite astounded that access to this site is available so readily for anyone. I too wonder how much access they have in the site "visiting" ..it is a little worrying that our personal details are so easily available to the world at large let alone any work we may do..

ellie

Until David Bruce can sort this out and having done a google search on somebody's full name on here and being taken straight to their prophile, but without wishing to frighten you or anybody else I suggest everybody should tick the hide prophile box, which I think will prevent access from google. It will also prevent acces form people outside of their group but the inconvenience is porbaly worth it for a while

I of course did have the advantage of having that persons full name which a casual searcher would probably not have.


<Added>

i fyou hide your prophile a googel search still allows acess to your list of pwrk but not to the personal detail

Heh, a google search for "Insane Bartender", including the speech marks, returns more than 30 pages of results.

Have it!

You're famous IB!

Comes with having used the same internet handle for 6 years, I guess....

I always laugh at some of the links google finds though. Like some Imperial (as in Star Wars) story site that I doodled on about 4 years ago with some drivel about a giant duck trying to take over the universe....

OK Guys - sorry I didn't catch up with this thread for a while. Time for an executive summary:

Visibility and the www
Anything you post in the archive on WriteWords is visible to the internet, including to non-members. If you are in a group you can select 'Group Only' for your work, in which case it will be visible only to logged in members of your group.

The most dangerous thing to show to the internet is your email - the recent spate of viruses spread using email addresses found on web sites - also, post your email on a website and you are guaranteed spam. That is why 'hide email' is the default to our members and why we have a private messaging system (WWMail) to allow members to communicate without giving out their email.

How Google works

Google visits the majority of pages on a site like WriteWords, although it sometimes takes a while for new items to be indexed (or for deleted items to be removed). The success of Google is largely due to the fact that it is so good at finding specific words and phrases. That means if you have an unusual name (like most of the user names here!!) you are quite likely to find yourself. Have you ever tried 'Googling yourself' - typing your own name into Google and seeing what comes up. A name like mine is relatively common but I've shocked friends by finding old research papers, conferences they attended and all sorts. This is an issue to be very aware of on the internet in general. If you post to ANY website, ASSUME that anyone who wants to will find it.

Copying Work

Noddy has things about right with regard to copying - there is simply NO WAY to stop people copying things that appear on a website.

If you do see someone has stolen your work, you should be able to inform the website owner and they should remove it. I do think it's easy to get overly concerned about this issue, but generally speaking, if you are very worried about the possibility of a piece being stolen, don't post it on the internet.

Being Published

The notion of what it is to be published has changed since the internet. If you run an online magazine, journal or publisher, then it is fair to consider work as being 'published'. There has been a selection process, and presumably an element of prestige in being presented as a featured writer on the site. WriteWords is not like that -there is no selection involved and all works are to that extent equal.

I would personally therefore not consider work on this site as being published. But as far as competitions go, each organisation may have their own opinion, so you may need to consult them beforehand.

I've removed my email address from my profile, but discovered that my DOB had gone - was that you David? I don't mind anyone knowing I'm almost ancient (1947 was a GREAT year after all), just surprised at the sort of things that Google picks up. Thanks for the clarification too, but it's a pity copy/paste can't be limited to the owners of the works on site.

Would it be possible to have a further choice when it comes to who can see your work?

Rather than everyone, or group members only, how about an option for only registered WW members being able to see it.

If this was possible, then under this option we could still read each others work, but it wouldn't be found through search engines by those not part of the site.

It might make the site less accessable to those just taking a look and wondering whether they should join or not though?

Personally, I'd go for the ww members only option if it was available.

David - sorry to have caused such a furore. Thought it was interesting, that was all.

BJ - that's certainly an idea isn't it. I'll talk to my colleagues here at WW and see what they think.

David

thank you for clearing that up so far

i as you know favour the access to all paid members option for work but it does look as if we need to consider very carefully archiving our work.

Whne i wentto google and searched i then came upon another members profile now it appeared that I could then messagethem using this message system BUT it may have been that the site recognised my ID and would have permitted that would an outsider who happened on teh prophile by chance have the message facility?
I am techno crat so dont understand fully how these things work.

Also would a non memeber in any guise have access to the forums a sthe recent Brighton Rocks pages gave details of where some of us were staying not a brill idea sadly in this day and age.

off soap box now

take care

david

<Added>

ps yes Nell 1947 was a great year

olebut - WWMail is not accesible to non-members. But the forum is visible to the outside world and yes, the details of the Brighton trip were visible to anyone. Of course that meeting wasn't organised or endorsed by the site itself, and perhaps we should have drawn attention to that fact.

The other point about that was that nobody knows who anyone else is on this site and some people may not be what they claim to be at all, so members who arrange with other members to meet in the real world do so entirely at their own risk. That would be true even if the entire site was members only.

ps yes Nell 1947 was a great year

Now I feel like I missed out, having not come about until 1979...