Lack of interest Silent Follow

[Amaury]

When you follow somebody, if the option is checked, they will receive an alert.

Now, let's say you accidentally unfollowed somebody or you unfollowed somebody because you lost interest in their content or didn't converse much, but later decided to follow them again. You don't want to annoy them with an alert or deal with, because some people are like this, them inquiring about it for whatever reason. (I personally wouldn't care, but to each their own.) This is where an option to silently follow somebody, despite their alert settings, could come in handy.

This could be added in the form of a confirmation box coming up after you click follow. "Would you like to follow this user without them receiving an alert?" or some form of.

 

[whynot]

You don't want to annoy them with an alert or deal with,

But you do.
Silent follow would be good but the best would be if they did not know at all that they are followed.

 

[Martok]

I'd have to disagree with this suggestion.

The following alert is controlled by individual members (in alert Preferences). They can choose whether or not to have these alerts enabled or not. To have an option that overrides a user's own Preferences to allow a silent follow IMO is just wrong and frankly is a bit creepy, it's akin to stalking.

 

[whynot]

IMO is just wrong and frankly is a bit creepy, it's akin to stalking.

IMO the creepy thing is this whole following business.
It cannot be switched off.
@Amaury has a valid reason to suggest what he suggested.

 

[Martok]

IMO the creepy thing is this whole following business.
It cannot be switched off.
@Amaury has a valid reason to suggest what he suggested.

I also have a valid reason for disagreeing with the suggestion. I absolutely do not want people following me without being alerted to it. I have those alerts enabled, I want to know about follows, I don't want others overriding my alert preferences.

 

[Ozzy47]

IMO the creepy thing is this whole following business.
It cannot be switched off.
@Amaury has a valid reason to suggest what he suggested.

So you would rather have people stalk you silently, rather than getting a notice someone is following you?

 

[whynot]

I absolutely do not want people following me without being alerted to it.

The difference between us is that I don't want anyone follow me.

So you would rather have people stalk you silently, rather than getting a notice someone is following you?

I do not want anyone stalk me.

 

[Ozzy47]

The difference between us is that I don't want anyone follow me.

I do not want anyone stalk me.

But the OP is not about getting rid of follows, it's about allowing silent follows.

 

[whynot]

But the OP is not about getting rid of follows, it's about allowing silent follows.

As soon as it is silent I cannot proudly show to you that I'm following every step of you!
(Not shown in the profile as well)

 

[Martok]

The difference between us is that I don't want anyone follow me.

I do not want anyone stalk me.

Following someone just allows them to receive your news feed and to see that you're online more easily (avatar in the who is only sidebar box). So you can easily solve your issue by unticking "Receive your news feed" in your privacy Preferences as well as your online status and current activity.

 

[whynot]

So you can easily solve your issue by unticking "Receive your news feed" in your privacy Preferences as well as your online status and current activity.

With that option does it disappear from the profiles as well?
(Following, followers)

 

[Martok]

With that option does it disappear from the profiles as well?

It'll show that they are following you but they won't be able to see anything so it solves your issue.

Anyway that is digressing from the OP's suggestion which is silent following ie following with no alerts, which I and others here disagree with.

 

[whynot]

which I and others here disagree with.

So far it is "I and others here disagree with"

 

[Martok]

So far it is "I and others here disagree with"

If you look at my first post in this thread, others have agreed with my points.

 

[Amaury]

I completely understand the points people have brought up, though I hope people who know me at least know that's not where I was coming from. However, I do see how silently following someone could be taken as such, and it looks like those who disagree would rather receive multiple alerts and potentially be annoyed than not receive any alerts.

Another scenario I can think of is slight server issues as this has happened to me sometimes. I click like, it's taking a while to submit, so I go to click it again, and by that time the like has gone through and I'm clicking unlike, so I have to click like again. Although on that one it seems to vary based on Mike's response here. Not sure if it works the same way with following, though.

 

[upnet]

How about a silent follow for moderators to follow members who are on the radar, without letting them know? Sometimes the alert is good and a member knowing a mod is following them will curb their behavior, but sometimes we want to keep a secret eye on em.

 

[Wildcat Media]

I also have a valid reason for disagreeing with the suggestion. I absolutely do not want people following me without being alerted to it. I have those alerts enabled, I want to know about follows, I don't want others overriding my alert preferences.

I think it was a suggestion here a while back, but I am one who would rather have members approve someone to follow them. Or better yet, give the member an option to turn off following for their account.

And yes, I feel a silent follow is a bit creepy.

 

[RaBBiTaNooo]

I'm trying to figure out how to follow actually lol

 

[EQnoble]

Click the avatar of someone else.
Thousand words.

 

[Sim]

How about a silent follow for moderators to follow members who are on the radar, without letting them know? Sometimes the alert is good and a member knowing a mod is following them will curb their behavior, but sometimes we want to keep a secret eye on em.

This is exactly the behaviour I need right now.

I use the news feed of activity from people I follow to keep track of troublesome members. I'd really rather not let them know that I am paying them extra attention.

If people want members to be able to silently follow others - just make it a usergroup permission so that people who are of the same opinion as @Martok can disable it on their sites, people who like @Amaury's suggestion can enable it on theirs, while I can have it as an admin (or moderator) only function. Then everyone is happy!