Do you use your photos on Similar Worlds?

I may, or I may not. And I don’t care what the mods or admins think.

Frankly I don’t see how “verifying” anyone in this way will improve the conduct of some members, or change their behavior.

The fact is some “real” people are real assholes, in real life as well as on sites like this one. I seriously doubt this feature will do anything to curb the worst trolls and hacks.

For the rest of us who simply value the anonymity SW allows and interact and express ourselves more freely because of it, this seems like a lousy trade. We’re told that “verification” is optional and we can chose not go along if we want. But the official statement clearly creates the implication that if we don’t we’ll be considered suspect, and probably labeled that way .

So what’s really going on Nuno?
SW is your creation, your property, and all of us are here as guests. You can do whatever you want, including kicking any or all of us out - I get it. But what do you want actually? Are you trying to cope with the very real security issues facing Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms that have been manipulated and exploited by fake news/propaganda bots? Or is this some new marketing move that gives you a way of selling our habits and preferences, and identities, to advertisers?

It’s just not clear enough right now. And I’m not in a mood get in line.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
Please see this new post for updates addressing these concerns: https://similarworlds.com/100-Admin-Announcements/2098530-SW-Verification-Mark-without-Public-Photo

This is kind of good change. Less drama.

Hopefully it won't make people think less of those who choose to not verify their accounts and keep it anonymous.

Are you folks turning this into a dating site ? I noticed the profiles now indicate marital status. It probably won’t suit my needs if that’s where things are headed. I’m not trying to date anyone or scam anybody, and have liked being anonymous, like I was on EP.

☑ SW Verification Badge - New Privacy Settings Released! 🌟

Read more at our new update post: https://similarworlds.com/100-Admin-Announcements/2104784-SW-Verification-Badge-New-Privacy-Settings

I like the idea of everyone that wants to be verified to have credibility about their pics ... But I think also that the ones that aren't verified could feel or be seen by others as less important... Or fake perhaps, and they are still authentic but they aren't comfortable with posting pics of themselves, because they don't have the verified sign . Just a random thought. 😖... Random randomness.

Can you please get rid of the poop my pants groups along with the pedophile inspired groups such as "I sniff my little boys dirty underwear" and related groups..
There is ZERO socially acceptable reason to allow them here.. the VAST majority of members will agree, we as a group are sick of these extreme groups..
Just because they came from EP doesn't mean they can't be deleted..
Show some social responsibility and get rid of them..
They're a deterrent to new members...

The problem I have with this is that the second verification option is actually dangerous for some of us. I have a stalker here. I had to close my old account and make a new one blocking all of his profiles that I knew of. If I go putting my picture up, it's possible that he will see it. But if I don't, I'll be treated by the SW community as a fake. This seems.... like an unfair predicament. I know it's not required, but choosing not to verify will carry a certain stigma. There must be another way, other than asking us to put our photo up publicly, on a site based on anonymity.

"Hello, we're going to hold basic features found on every competent website hostage behind sending your face to some random guy called Nuno who, lets face it, the users don't actually know they can trust."

This is scummy as hell. I understand letting people verify if they want to, but what has resetting a forgotten password got to do with this at all? I don't understand why you would do this. It's so, so scummy. Incredibly disappointing.

I've paid you money to support you, but no, you think it's appropriate to potentially cut me off from my account because I don't want you to see my face.

Also yeah, that reminds me, INTERESTING THING. Apparently, if you want the tick, you have to have a picture of yourself available for everyone to see. I don't fundamentally mind this, what I do mind is that YOU AT NO POINT ADVERTISE THIS. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me.

You market this as 'an option for people who share pictures', but you've built it as a tool for creating an SW elite, and punishing anyone who dares to not join it.

I'm, honestly, disgusted. You found a way to implement a potentially good feature in the most obtuse, and frankly rude way you possibly could.

Unless something changes, I will not be renewing my VIP membership.

I appreciate this feature. While I understand people’s skepticism, I think it’s great to offer this option to those of us who regularly post pictures of ourselves.

This is actually such a good idea. Farewell catfishes

Hmmm...no? If you can't trust my words this relationship ain't gonna work haha.

Not a fan of this at all. Would happily provide photographic evidence to admin to verify my account, but I don't want a face pic of me on my profile. It takes away the luxury of anonymity which enables me to share things (And pictures) I wouldn't share elsewhere.
It's going to create a two tier system of users and invite more catfish comments for those of us who don't want to share face pics.

there's so many questions here, i think maybe you guys should consider clarifying them on the actual page, not just here on the thread

also, are you guys saying we need to send a pic of ourselves to you simply to be able to recover our account if something happens to it?

Lol. Should keep incessant whining about fakes and catfishes at bay - finally.

Good job, lads.

I understand what you are trying to do here but please offer the service (for those who wish it) of verifying gender and birth date from customer credit cards for your paying customers.

I suppose that whether or not I am a fake dependends on what one considers "fake" to be.
Since I never intend to post another human's photo with the intent of passing it off as myself, and I am only here so the direction of my social interactions are not dictated by my physical appearance, I suppose that I will not be getting verified.

Your instructions in account settings don't say anything about a photo being made publicly available..

I’m starting to rethink this...I use my pics here but I do think for some people they don’t want to use their pics even to be verified. It does defeat the Anonymous side of the site. Perhaps another method for those that don’t want to use their pic can be used.

I love the idea but I don't agree with the part 2 step instructions and I prefer if it would be private just as the first picture we send but only concern is that someone viewing my profile, see my face, and steal my picture pretending to be me or a "catfish" I read about how this had already happened to one user and most of all I have bad aniexty sometimes I'm not comfortable with people seeing my face. I misread the instructions I thought you only need to do the first step to get the verify mark.

Why must I verify my account with a foto? If I lose my log in details that's my problem.

What if someone verifies their account. And then just upload pics of others haha. After all it's verified 😖🤣.

Will you be checking frequently about that?

fugheddabowditt!

I will do this, I just can't right this second so I'm going to write this so I remember to do this.

good but not enough catfish protection.
how to know if the photo is fake or not?

As a paying member presumably my account is considered verified by my credit card details?

I love love love love love this feature!!!!! I didn’t shower today but tomorrow I am doing this first thing!

Hmmmm.... I dunno :?

It's not that hard to find pics on internet of people holding pieces of paper, and anyone with a little Photoshop know-how can edit their username, etc on that piece of paper.

I guess it could work, if more than one try to use the same pic though

Yay!!!
The end is hopefully near for many of the sick pedophiles, bestiality people & others that spread their hatefulness. ✅

LOLLL

I'm confused about this. I mean, what does it really mean to be verified? you send a pic with a piece of paper and then what? you get verified here? how does that verify anything really? then you post a pic or send an image via message of yourself, how do other users know that the posted pic is legit and not from anyone else?
what is it for?
who's going to verify the pics? who has access to them? the admins? the mods? the pics are going to be stored forever in the servers? what if users want them deleted?
this raises many many questions....
kinda confused tbh
still think it can be a good thing. for example to keep spammers and bots out. not trying to bash or anything. I'm very glad sw is improving. and admins seem very smart because they are willing to change things if they don't work. kudus

haha

If it cuts down on the whole catfish hysteria, knock yourselves out. Now on to the next thing for people to complain about!

What about the users who aren't even active at the moment and won't even know about this post?

So what do verified accounts will look like?🤔

But it literally says no one will see that you are verified

I dont get it but you're cute😊. Have a nice day.

Thanks a lot for letting us keep it a little more private with the option of seeing it only on our profiles

Surely there are other ways to verify that you are a real person, other than having to upload a selfie. Jeebers 😱

How long does the process take to get verified?

Do you offer an verification for being sane 😕

where are the public photos posted?

...And now I see "Nuno" (if that's really his name) has stopped allowing people to reply to his posts on this thread.

Suspicious behavior. Can someone please verify ??? 😏