[b]Hello to all SW Members! Thanks for the feedback you've shared regarding your thoughts on our recent Verification Photo feature.[/b]
The SW Team has discussed ways on which we can make changes to accommodate much more of our member base.
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Here are some changes/improvements we have planned and are working on to be released soon:
[b]• Show Verification Badge and Link on Profile Only
• Ability to "Heart" ❤ Verified Photos
• Watermark on Verification Photos
• Toggle your Verification Badge & Photo settings/type:[/b] ○ Show Verified Photo to Everyone ○ Show Verified Photo to other Verified users ○ Do not show Verified Photo to anyone
□ Show Verified Photo to Friends I added
Your Verification Badge Icon may change dynamically, depending on the options you choose. Similar to this example:
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Apart from the changes to this new Verification Photo feature, we will also be working on other ways for members to recover their SW account in the case of losing access.
[b]Other SW account recovery options we may have available in the near future:
• Secondary Email Address
• Phone Number
• Secret Question and Answer[/b]
Please note that us adding a new mode of account recovery/verification to SW recently has no bearing on our willingness to add additional recovery options.
Such a complex website has requires immense amounts of development, and a lot of time and work is needed to complete each additional feature.
The order in which we release features on SW will always be subjective to users, as users will always have different needs, wants and priorities.
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Our original idea for having the Verification Photo system was a two-fold approach which helps:
1) In recovering ones account if they were to lose access.
2) For those who are public about their image [i](shares photos of themselves on SW)[/i] they would have some additional validity in their claims that they are the person in said photos.
[b]The Verification Badge is not intended to show who what members are trustworthy or not, [u]only to help verify that someone is who they claim to be publicly[/u].[/b]
It isn't very possible for us to "Verify" someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
We have however planned these changes to this feature to promote more inclusiveness on this Verification Badge feature.
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[c=#BF0000]Please remember above all, [b]such features of Verification or Account Recovery are, and will always be OPTIONAL[/b]. :)
[b]You are not being forced to use this or pretty much any other feature of Similar Worlds against your will.
[u]If you are worried about your privacy, then please simply do not upload any personal images of yourself.[/u][/b]
If you do not claim to be a certain person displayed in shared photos, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about regarding misrepresenting your personal appearance.[/c]
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Thanks again! We look forward to your continued Feedback and Support. [i][c=#005E2F]-The SW Team[/c][/i]
Thank you for listening to and accommodating feedback and suggestions. I know there’s been a ton to sort through over the last day and I really appreciate that the admin/mod team has been present and addressing concerns.
Thank you Andrew and SW team :) i appreciate you guys doing everything to accommodate the comments and feedback! 🍉🍉🍉
SW-User
"will help make you a more trusted member on Similar Worlds." ???(wording on profile page) "The Verification Badge is not intended to show who what members are trustworthy or not, only to help verify that someone is who they claim to be publicly."
@MeisterAndrew yes I feel that it will cause a lot of termoil and resentment between verified & unverified users in that some verified users will more than likely assume that because you didn’t get varified then you must have something to hide so you must be a catfish or troll which is what the process is aimed at getting rid of ,there will be a breakdown of moral within the site and a lot of resentment toward those varified users who make that assumption.
The accounts settings state about verifying your account makes you a more trusted member, many SWers are interpreting this to mean you are not trusted if you haven't verified your account. Could the wording be changed?
even if it is in PM if someone is intimidating another user saying that because they are unverified they cannot be trusted they can be reported. @beckyromero
Irrespective of what is intended by the verification process it will undoubtedly cause misunderstanding and Ill feeling in some and as such is not a good thing for the site and all its members
SW-User
THIS is why I may be taking down my verified status soon unless we can change the privacy settings on our photo
@kingkyri Thanks for the feedback. Please to feel to submit a report about this user detailing what you have explained. If staff can find that the user may be a risk in abusing their verification status, or continues to create trouble for others, we will take action.
I do understand your overall comment. If the user is currently being allowed to use Similar Worlds without restriction, then typically we would not impose limitations like these on their account.
The verification badge is only meant to help validate the person's identity, if they are fine with being public about themselves.
Still, I understand your point in the connection between "Verification", and a member who is misbehaving. It isn't an easy thing to decide which features such users should be allowed or restricted from.
@Andrew [quote]This one is correct: Or only verified users would be able to see my verified pic but my badge would be visible to everyone?[/quote] Perfect! :-)
And the watermark idea I love. I use that on many of my photos already.
SW-User
@SW-User Do you want people to believe your face is like the image you have on your profile picture...? Because THAT is what the verification is about, ok? You dont have any face on your profile picture, so why worry?
"Show Verified Photo to other Verified users" seems to me like an exceptionally bad idea, unless the intent is specifically to enforce the impression of a verified-only clique.
Though I understand the general "dit for dat" principle, but seems wrong direction, since as people have noted it's possible to fake or get someone to fake the verification picture. As such, "only to help verify that someone is who they claim to be publicly" is exceptionally and dangerously incorrect, as it doesn't even prove they're the person in the picture, much less any claims besides their picture.
[b]• Show Verification Badge and Link on Profile Only
• Toggle your Verification Badge & Photo settings/type[/b] [u]Show Verified Photo to:[/u] ○ All logged in members ○ Verified users and Friends/Circle, only ○ Verified users, only ○ Friends/Circle, only ○ Staff only (keep private)[/quote]
"[u]Verified users[/u]" is a very relevant group to this feature, so naturally, it should be included as an option.
Users are free to select which group they prefer to have their verification photo visible to.
@Andrew I do like the fact that you have considered all of the other options for privacy purposes that is very much appreciated I know you all have worked hard on this feature and have taken all of the user feedback into consideration thank you for your hard work
SW-User
So are there plans to change the wording on our profile settings...it clearly says that verifying will make you a more trustworthy member
@Maggimay Please remember, Maggie: the option to have your friends upload their photos claiming that they are you so that you may be verified is always open!
Why are some visible only to verified users rather than to VIP? Considering who actually pays to support the site, with the promise of extra benefits for doing so, that seems fundamentally wrong.
[quote]This does not seem like the right way to go about requesting that a service add new features to your liking. Nor does it motivate us any more into adding this as a new privilege.[/quote]
Then I guess we are both unmotivated/demotivated by the situation.
I hoped the fact some people [i]pay[/i] for the service would be a source of some motivation to you but, if not, then all I can do is take your response into account next time my subscription is due.
@fazer1k Please re-read your comments here. It's just the very negative way you came here and complained about regretting paying for VIP, just because we didn't let you see all verified photos. Have you considered that we are also humans and we might have not had the chance yet to think of including that as a benefit for VIP? Not because we don't think about our VIP users, but simply because we were overwhelmed with so much feedback from our members, and the most important groups (in a user point of view) was to allow Friends and Verified users to see their personal photo.
I'm sure you know very well that we've always followed the philosophy of listening to our members, and we would have very happily considered your suggestion if you had formulated your message as a Suggestion rather than a Complaint.
When you paid for VIP, you paid for the features that were listed. We've been adding new benefits as we think of them (or when users suggest them).
There's also a benefit that every user on Similar Worlds has, that other websites rarely provide (even when you pay): the admins listen to the users and actually INTERACT with them. Your complaint of "why not visible to VIP? that's fundamentally wrong." would only make sense if any of us had already confirmed that VIP was out of question here. But we didn't, simply because no one had suggested yet.
This is what Andrew tried to explain. Negativity rarely brings positivity. Thank you for supporting the website (and we followed our promise of providing you with all the VIP benefits). We will consider allowing VIPs to see verified photos.
SW-User
I'm starting to think this whole verification feature is a joke. So far I've seen "verified" photos that were so dark that almost no facial features were visible, women with long hair covering most of their face, a photo that was washed out with the persons face so contorted that it looked like a cartoon and yet others with filters wich make the person barely recognizable....
So whats the deal? Are you going to be serious about this or not.. because if this is going to be allowed then this entire process is pointless...
@Andrew It's your site, do what you want but what's the point of a public pic that's been obscured to the point that the poster could post pics of entirely different people in thier profile or messages.. ( wich you don't monitor )
Sure, to [i]You[/i] it's recognizable compared to the private pic [i]you[/i] recieved but to the rest of us it's worthless..
I mean seriously, you put this together to curb deception and catfishing.. And then say our aim isn't a public identification service????
@SW-User we've accepted Public photos which we deem to be not modified to the extent that it would mislead users into believing the person in the photo is someone else.
If you can show us real-life examples where users have been misleaded/tricked by the currently approved public photos, then we will review if anything needs to be changed.
As of now, there has been no such problems, so the system will remain as is.
SW-User
@Andrew You know, I didn't bring this up to be a dick.. I felt it was a legitimate observation.. Sorry for annoying you..
[c=#BF0000]If you are worried about your privacy, then please simply do not upload any personal images of yourself[/c]
Hey Andrew you say don’t upload images of yourself but me and other femanine men upload images of ourselves to showcase thier personal femanine style but I as many others don’t include thier face for privacy so how do we show off our style by not uploading these types of images.
But if someone chooses not to show the verification badge and photo to anyone, when what is the point about verification in the first place? I realize it was requested but the option to hide it doesn't make much sense to me.
@FeetAreFantastic hi, There was a lot of discussion, but maybe reading the responses over at this linked comment, helps to answer this question a bit: https://similarworlds.com/100-Admin-Announcements/2098530-SW-Verification-Mark-without-Public-Photo?rid=23291203
@SW-User Hello. You did not follow our rules. We have already told you what is wrong with your private photo. Once you correct that, and once we are able to verify, we will approve your photos.
