We have now added "Limited" as a post visibility / audience option, which acts as an intermediate between the other already two existing options of "Public" and "Private" post visibility.
Private (Friends/Circle only) posts have always been completely inaccessible to Google / Search Crawlers / Bots.
The new "Limited Posts" will also cause your post to be inaccessible to Google / Crawlers, as well as anyone else outside of your audience scope of: Friends/Circle + Relevant Users (those you interact with the most).
The current 3 Modes of Post Visibility, available to all SW users:
1) Public = Maximum reach of your shared content
2) Limited = Reduced reach, limited to Friends/Circle + Relevant Users (Cannot be Seen/Indexed by Google/Crawlers)
3) Private = Friends-Only (Cannot be Seen/Indexed by Google/Crawlers)
You can access this "Limited Visibility" feature when:
A) Creating a New Post
Simply click on the default "Public" button in the "Visibility" portion (Step 3), to define the post visibility / audience, if you so wish.
B) Editing an Existing Post (New) โ๏ธ
1) Click on the small โ๏ธ Edit [Pencil] Icon, near the top of your existing post.
2) Then click the "Edit Visibility" option on the resulting prompt.
๐ Available for a Limited Time Only:
Limit Posts Audience of All Existing Posts
To assist users in adjusting their post visibility settings more quickly, to their preferred general choice,
we have now made available for a LIMITED TIME, the ability to change ALL of your Post's visibility settings, in one action.
This can be done by using the "Limit Posts Audience" option, found at the Account Settings page:
Please note that this limited time feature DOES put additional heavy strain on our operating servers, to process a large number of internal changes consecutively.
For that reason, this option will only be available temporarily, for 1 week only.
Note: Changing the visibility of an existing post that is already Indexed in Google's search results, will not cause "Immediate Changes" to Google's list of results. This action of updating the results is only controlled by Google.
While changing your post to "Limited" or "Private" visibility will prevent Google from accessing / seeing your post, it can take some time (days or weeks) before Google updates their search results, and de-indexes your page completely from their listings.
We hope that these changes will accommodate more of our users unique preferences, and that it makes Similar Worlds more easier and comfortable to use and understand.
Relevant Users: Users that you regularly and more recently have Positive Interactions with.
In order to differentiate between what is Positive, Neutral and Negative interactions / relations between users, we need additional data metrics to work with.
Hence the reason why the"Downvote"option was Added. ๐
To "Assist" in more accurately assessing the relationship type between users, and therefore, progressively improve the relevancy and filtering of feeds and content, so that users can see more of the posts and interesting users they wish to see.
For example: Two users may follow each other around, and argue a lot, yet not wanting to Block or Mute the other.
This interaction could incorrectly be assumed as "Relevant Users" (as partially happens now), due to the share volume of various interactions that happen between these two users.
All interactions are not equal, and many interactions can have completely opposite implications.
Once we complete and release our first version of our "Smart Algorithms", users should progressively see less of the users and content they Dislike, and have Negative experiences with.
We know that nothing foolproof, nor can be 100% accurate, however, we use these data-points, combined with the wide range of customization and filtering options available, to provide the best experience we can, for each and every SW user. ๐
Once we complete and release our first version of our "Smart Algorithms", users should progressively see less of the users and content they Dislike, and have Negative experiences with.
i think this is not a good idea. i think this is what makes similar worlds stand out from the other social medias sites that gather information about us to show us relevant topics that we generally like or care about. other sites like facebook, instagram, and twitter are echo chambers that are repetitive in an attempt to make the experience more "pleasant" for the user. When in reality it creates an epistemic bubble.
This is the misfortunate event where relevant voices are actively excluded and discredited. Members of epistemic bubbles lack exposure to relevant information. the user is recycling the same information and never learning anything new because they are not being exposed to any new information.
again please do not attempt to collect information in order to show us content that you assume by your logarithms to be what we "want" to see. This is a very intellectual site and i think one of the most important things about this site is all of the information we are exposed to and being able to ask questions and respond accordingly and we are always learning and elevating
I am thankful yโall did this because it concerned many current and loyal users. That type of privacy has never been my concern but I know it was for many. I would like an answer to two questions Iโve repeatedly asked.
1- with the division the downvote has created why is it still here and why has the membership, especially the overwhelming negative reaction from those who financially support this site, not been addressed? Itโs been completely ignored and that is just not right.
2- when will be able to post stories and experiences directly into groups like we did before? For example, I took a pic of myself nude on the beach today, I went to a group I folllow โI have been to a nude beachโ, I canโt post directly into that, I have to choose a category (or uncategorized), then pick a subdivision of that. Why canโt I post directly into the group most associated with the topic?
Iโve been asking these questions over and over with no response. If I do a body positivity post I canโt post it into a โI support body positivityโ or โI love my bodyโ group, I have to chose from 3-5 options. We follow groups, and posted in groups, because these are our interests. Can I please get an answer?
Yep I saw that. Problem is I follow 350 groups and canโt post a story into any of them. Itโs not about what we want to see reinstated. Why was this option ever eliminated? Why canโt we share into groups? Of course no one from admin has answered my questions at all. Just leads me to say again my days here are numbered. The admin doesnโt care about our opinions. Iโve seen many respond to other comments on multiple threads about changes. Maybe they just want me to go away @OogieBoogie
@Spokeskitties75 kindaโฆthereโs a lot of heavy stuff going on at work so I still have to be very careful about what I post until things shake out but it does mean I donโt have to delete completely ๐ค
@JoyfulSilence I know what you mean. The new option has no middle ground. My profile is hidden but they could explain this option better. I would also have liked the option to only allow specific members access. This idea of people you follow can see private stuff is weird. SW missed an opportunity to have circles like Google+ did.
It seems that with every step forward there's also a step back. That sucks.
@MeisterAndrew What I did is made all my posts "limited" (they had a single button for a short time, to allow this).
For all new posts, I make them "public" so they will show up on the main feed. Then periodically I go through my recent posts and switch them to limited.
SW-User
So... everyone has one week to hide their stuff from the outside world. I predict a site crash, if ".... this limited time feature DOES put additional heavy strain on our operating servers, to process a large number of internal changes consecutively." And some people taking a break are gonna come back feeling they missed out on special treatment.
Sorry SW these are all terrible ideas - I will probably stay but I feel uncomfortable with all these things, especially our posts being able to be viewed by people outside of this site. Awful decision and a temporary fix isn't going to help one bit.
@OogieBoogie I know you meant well. It's fine you tried to help (although the ๐คทโโ๏ธ might be seen in another way) it's just I have to be very careful and while I don't post anything that's not true or that I am ashamed of, I DO have to not be searchable if possible. I am very, very disappointed - it's completely ruined it here for me and I will now have to be much more limited on here
I'm not totally keen on this change. But life does that. I dont agree with it, but then, it's like your neighbour cutting down their hedge... You may have liked the privacy, but it's not your hedge.
All, we can do now use the adaptions they gave us. And be more conscious.
You could always delete your replies on others posts if you weren't sure.
Oh, and the reason I go um.. Is because I type as I speak, and i try to use emojis as expressively honestly as I can.
There wasn't any sarcasm in my reply at all. I was just to trying to be helpful.
@Nuno if this is an issue for people, having their replies possibly seen on google... Would you be able to have an icon visable on posts that indicates the privacy level of a post, you know like the moods?
Is there an icon which indicates that my post has a limited visibility? I tried it out, but unless I check through the edit button, I do not see a difference between public and limited.
I don't need to see it for other users, but for my own posts it would be convenient.
Can we get the option to mass edit all posts permanently? I missed the one week deadline and it's quite annoying. And if that's not possible, will deleting my entire profile get rid of every one of my posts? It is unwieldy to go through possibly thousands of posts and edit (or delete) one by one. ๐
So just to clarify and Iโm sorry Iโm being a pain. I set my preferences to limited so that means only those in my friends list and not those I interact in text only or on the feeds once in purple moon and wonโt show up on google, right?
Never mind. This is for existing posts that it will change to limited. All future posts need to be marked. I got it now!
I was mislead into thinking that "limited" posts would show for everyone on SW, just not show on Google.
So I set all my posts to Limited.
Yet now I see that this means only friends and people I have interacted with will be able to see them. I want all people on SW to be able to see them.
I cannot undo it now.
The key is I did not want my account or posts to show up in a Google search, just like we have the option on not having our profile show up in Google.
So if I want to keep it off Google, yet keep it all free to all on SW, I cannot do that.
If I want it to show up on all SW user's feeds, I must accept it can show up on Google.
Well, at least my stuff will not show up on Google.
The reason for my preference is that in order to see my stuff, I want to force people to join. That extra step may limit nefarious views, or views by bots or people gathering intelligence on the world. Of course, nefarious people can join SW, but it might filter out a lot of nefarious stuff. They at least have to give an e-mail address, right?
Isn't it possible jus to make all posts inaccessible to Google,as most thought we were,if we checked that in the setings..after logging on today I saw about 50 posts,I suppose because everyones hiding their posts
@bookerdana They WERE inaccessible. It was one of the most logical SW safety features; we had the choice to whom we show our posts, or not. But, SW staff have removed it!
And what about our REPLIES to posts which are wide open? We (the responder ) should have the choice to also CHOOSE OUR visibility range. Since it's now a show and tell on SW.
Sorry guys, but you are making some pretty illogical calls with respect to our sanity and safety.
@Nuno I can't reply to all of this text (your reply), I am too tired.
I Know you did have it. It was there, and I used it. I never saw myself in google searches and whenever it stopped being there, well, that's really a huge shame and I feel violated and again, not safe.... So. I am back to square one.
OK. How can I limit visibility on ALL of my posts at once? Yes, that's what I am asking please. Because I can't do it one by one, it's not realistic.
This is great. For the newbies, people with maybe a few dozen posts? Sure. Good on ya!
What about us oldies, who have hundreds or thousand(s) of posts? ......
And further more: The KEY protection feature that SW did have, is the option to NOT be visible on Searches i.e. google. That's gone now. So to ameliorate this, I have to go back to each post and EDIT my visibility, dear SW Staff?
Seriously? Why take away that feature and replace it one, which entails an inordinate amount of work???!!!
I am sure we all have better things to do with our lives than edit thousands of posts, yeah. I know I do.
Thank you for listening to the members concerns. A lot of stress was created and with luck, these changes will go a long way to alleviating that stress.
This is absolutely lovely. I hope it goes a long way to alleviating some of the upset. I also truly appreciated being able to do the bulk change. Thank you! ๐ค
@Keepitsimple Yes. I won't rely on it too heavily though. Indexers are nefarious. Programmatically you can only ask nicely for the crawler to skip over parts and not index them for search engines. The search engine doesn't have to oblige.
