Allowing members to hide their email address from the group?

I am owne/moderator of a restricted group that some people have joined under false pretenses in order to obtain members' email addresses and solicit them. I'm considering selecting the option that allows members to hide their email addresses. I don't use the Polls feature so that doesn't matter. My questions are:


1) If I allow members to hide their email addresses will I, as owner/moderator, still be able to view them?


2) Will members who hide their emails be able to respond to other members' posts via email?


3) Is there a better way to prevent people from joining and obtaining member emails?


Thank you,


Dorlene

Allowing members to hide their email address from the group?
1) No, you will not be able to view their hidden email addresses. It will just say "Not Disclosed" Even if they post a message via the web site, it will still not show up. The only way you could know their email addresses (which could easily change without your knowledge) is for you to save their original request for membership email. Of course as soon as the person's is approved, they quickly go in and edit their membership to hide their email address. In fairness though, honest members do use this feature to prevent spammers from getting their email addy.





2) Members who hide their email address will not be able to respond to other member's post via email. They can only post messages directly on the web site.





3) I wish there was a better way to prevent spammers from joining just to harvest email addresses. There are lots of spammers who join groups, actively participate for long periods of time, and still are harvesting members email addresses. %26lt;Sigh%26gt;
Reply:Dorlene, on #2, it would depend on how you have the message reply set up on your group. If you have the down arrow, he/she could send it only to the one member or post it to go to the whole group plus appear on website.





moekittykitty Report Abuse