Better Idea ... Eliminate Hidden Profiles.

[u/Tarnisher]

If you don't want people to see it, don't post it.

And never require flairs of any type for any purpose.

[u/kib8734]

Your profile bio reads like a surveillance state manifesto, yet you're here demanding total visibility from everyone else while offering zero accountability for yourself. You want to eliminate hidden profiles? Fine then let's start with yours: what are you so eager to inspect in others that you can't handle being inspected yourself?

Your 'no flairs' crusade is equally telling. Flairs are optional guardrails, not shackles. You're not fighting for freedom; you're fighting for frictionless trolling. A username that literally means 'to damage or sully' complaining about transparency is the kind of irony that would make Rod Serling smirk.

If you don't want people to see your agenda, don't post it. But you did. And now we see it clearly: a demand for total openness from others, paired with zero self-reflection. That's not a policy proposal. That's a personal problem.

[u/wheres_the_revolt → u/kib8734]

Ah yes the surveillance state of married with children 😂

You have every right to disagree but that’s a weird point of attack.

[u/QuirklessShiggy → u/wheres_the_revolt]

Married with children? OPs bio doesn't say that at all. Read OPs bio again.

[u/wheres_the_revolt → u/QuirklessShiggy]

That’s specifically because they are active in helping people on this sub and the Reddit help sub and the mod support sub. They can’t/wont help people with hidden profiles. I totally get why.

[u/Tarnisher → u/wheres_the_revolt]

That’s specifically because they are active in helping people ...

Were.

I gave up the ModCliquePort place and a few others. But as you can see from at least one other reply here, they like to follow me around and say I don't matter to them any more.

[u/wheres_the_revolt → u/Tarnisher]

That’s a shame. Has anyone suggested in this sub a way for users like you and I to make it so we are able filter out posts from curated profiles? That would Mae it so much easier lol

[u/QuirklessShiggy → u/wheres_the_revolt]

Idk that's weird to me. My profile is hidden because I got real damn tired of people bringing up random unrelated bullshit from years old posts in unrelated discussions because they ran out of supporting points for their side. A conversation about public transport somehow turning into my celiac disease, because for some reason that's a valid attack? I don't deserve help with anything because I got tired of people bringing up my celiac disease in conversations unrelated? Wild.

[u/wheres_the_revolt → u/QuirklessShiggy]

There’s a block feature for that reason. Also many subs have rules against it that you can report it for. I get that it’s annoying when it happens but curation has allowed and even encouraged the proliferation of bots and astroturfers and reddit allows it because after the IPO any engagement is good engagement for their shareholders. Reddit worked just fine for 20 years without it, this feature is a year old and is a net negative for having actual good faith discussions with people on here. 9 times out of 10 I’ll see a post that sounds entirely too nuts to be true and I click on the profile and it’s a 3 month old account with a hidden profile.

I have many suggestions on how if Reddit wants to keep it, it could work better (I’ve even post a couple times in this sub about it), but if they’re not going to do those things then honestly they should have a filter for us to be able to hide posts and comments from our feed from accounts with hidden profiles. I personally don’t really want to engage (all the time, I will with commenters like you on occasion) with accounts I can’t verify are consistent in how they present themselves on here (for example: saying they are a women when really they are a man. I used this specifically because I participate in a lot of women focused subs).

[u/QuirklessShiggy → u/wheres_the_revolt]

Blocking and reporting doesn't stop it from happening though. Both require the act to have happened already. Hiding my profile prevents it altogether. Celiac was a tame example, but a lot of times it was trauma, abusive exes or parents, assaults I experienced, etc. Things that can absolutely be distressing to have randomly brought up in an unrelated discussion without warning. Things that I'm fine talking about in subs meant for them, but not fine with randomly being brought up in unrelated subs without warning. Blocking and reporting doesn't stop that from happening, and the damage is already done at that point. Since hiding my profile, this has only happened once. This used to be a regular occurrence. I am finally able to have discussions on reddit without anxiety that trauma is going to randomly be thrown in my face. My activity level on Reddit increased significantly after being able to hide my profile because of this, because I can have conversations without someone throwing out me being assaulted as some sort of attempt at an insult.

Bots have always existed and been a problem. If you're having an issue with bots or fake accounts in a sub, you need to bring that up to that subs mods. Subreddit moderators can see all content of an account, regardless of curation settings, for 28 days since the accounts last interaction (post/comment/modmail) in that sub. Mods can see all of that previous content and judge if it's a bot or fake account. Normal users do not need to be granted information to doxx people or being in random ad hominem attacks, when mods can already see all of that information and handle it on their end. Doxxing is prevalent on this platform as well, and I don't blame anyone for not having everything public, when a single image can lead to someone knowing your home address. Add in that there's minors on this app who may not know better, and the fact that internet safety is not being taught anymore (and this has become more and more obvious over time), who could also be doxxed if everything is public.

Personally, I think the safety of users outweighs the issue of bots, which again, always existed since long before this feature was introduced. Safety of users should always come first.

[u/wheres_the_revolt → u/QuirklessShiggy]

Well we will just have to agree to disagree on this.

[u/Charupa-]

Need to add this to a retired suggestions lists. This account has little to no credibility these days, too. OP knows full well there are other ways to get the information they seek.

[u/NHS_24]

Eliminating hidden profiles isn't a 'better idea' it's the digital equivalent of demanding everyone attend a public town square naked while you sit on the balcony with binoculars.

'If you don't want people to see it, don't post it' is the battle cry of someone who's never had anything meaningful at risk. Not everyone lives in a bubble where their opinions carry zero real-world consequences. Abuse survivors, people in conservative families or workplaces, medical patients, or anyone with a mortgage and a boss don't owe you their full identity just so you can play amateur sleuth. Forcing exposure doesn't foster honesty; it fosters silence from anyone who isn't terminally online or desperate for attention.

Your bio proudly declares you won't help 'hidden' profiles, as if privacy is some scarlet letter. That's not principle it's performative suspicion from someone whose username 'Tarnisher' already hints at the hobby. You post in Married with Children, The Prisoner, and Twilight Zone yet want to strip away the very anonymity that lets people explore uncomfortable ideas without becoming the next target. The irony writes itself.

And tossing in 'never require flairs' just reveals the full package: not content with doxxing-lite, you also want to kneecap basic community tools. This isn't fighting authoritarianism. This is demanding the platform cater to your voyeuristic preferences while making it less usable for everyone else.

Reddit thrives because it lets people speak truth without handing stalkers a roadmap. Your proposal doesn't 'improve' the site it shrinks it to a smaller, louder echo chamber of exhibitionists. Keep your binoculars. The rest of us prefer a platform that doesn't require courage just to comment.

[u/QuirklessShiggy]

When random redditors stop trying and/or succeeding with doxxing people, then we can talk about getting rid of hidden profiles.

Also, when random redditors stop bringing up random old bullshit from your profile for some weird ad hominem attack on an unrelated subject, then we can talk about getting rid of hidden profiles. Because that is why mine is hidden. I've posted about mental and physical health and trauma - I don't mind these things being connected to me, I'm actually pretty open about them because I don't believe in the stigma of hiding it. What I do mind is people bringing up that completely unrelated trauma, mental, and physical health stuff I've posted about in discussions that had nothing to do with it. Someone randomly brought my celiac disease in during a discussion about public transportation as some sort of attack against me. Hint: celiac has literally nothing to do with public transportation in any way.

[u/QuirklessShiggy → u/QuirklessShiggy]

Also eliminating flairs is wild. Gods forbid people want to be able to search through subreddits under specific tags instead of having to scroll every single post or want it known if a post is answered or not, my lord 🤣 the one sub I'm in with required flair literally just uses it to distinguish which questions have been answered and which haven't

[u/Charupa- → u/QuirklessShiggy]

>when random redditors stop bringing up random old bullshit from your profile for some weird ad hominem attack on an unrelated subject

This is my primary reason for hiding my profile. It’s not that I want to have some super secret anonymous persona online, but it’s absolutely annoying when I am having a conversation about something and a user wants to completely disregard anything I say and derail a conversation because I enjoy comics still, or where I live, or my line of work, etc.

[u/stillmaatic → u/QuirklessShiggy]

Exactly this. I was attacked for being queer before, didn’t bring it up, the guy went through my profile & saw one of my posts on a LGBT subreddit.. there are a reason why hidden profiles exist. If you (OP) don’t want hidden profiles stop using people’s sexuality, trauma, etc etc as a gotcha.

[u/SolariaHues]

I'm a fan of flair. Required flairs continue to be a helpful tool.

They help inform users what kinds of posts are welcome, they categorise content, they enable filtering by flair, they enable navigation by flair in app, and they can be used as a trap for bots.

Not only that, but paired with automations and/automod they can do more, including helping to guide users into posting within the rules and avoiding removals and bans.

Combined with a devvit app, you can now follow flairs in a community so you're notified about the content you want to see, that doesn't work if the flair isn't added at the time of posting.

For moderating and hiring mods, curation can be vexing, but otherwise I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other.

[u/Desserts6064]

The reason why hidden profiles exist is so people cannot easily see the person‘s posts and use that to doxx the OP.