Hi
In light of the number of posers who have been outed recently, particually those posing as women I would like to put forward a suggestion that Middy and I came up with prior to his departure.
We had an idea where members submit a picture of themselves holding a hand written sign along the lines of "Hi to UMD members" or something similar as a form of authentication. Our logic was that if you were happy to post picture of yourself something like this should be easy and hopefully prevent those who find pictures on the internet of other people and use them for themselves. Of course we realise not every one wants to post pics of themselves and where no pics of themselves are posted then it won't matter so much. This need not apply to producers of course as they usually have lots of proof in their work.
I can tell you Middy and I have used this ploy many times before and it works well.
Please let me have your opinions and votes.

Cheers Jonn

By the way the whole idea of this is it's voluntary, optional, there would be no obligation for anyone to take part but for those who do I think it would be positive.

If the photo could just be submitted to the mods, who would then 'verify' their profile (a bit like Twitter) that would provide authentication and protect people's privacy at the same time.

Agreed.

There should be then a logo implanted on their profile that say's user is Authentic! Does he/she come with a Letter of Authenticy? Just one you can click on and read on here the umd.. Just like on some websites you can check if the verification is real, etc... We just want to do the same on some Members. Jokingly.. But hey, if some one liked that idea, then so be it!!

--Chris

There's no way to fake photos, or get a friend to stand in.
Criminals (used here to suggest the disingenuous) always follow the law, and never look for a way around it.

I charge you with the crime of sarcasm.

One big problem. The only people who will need the authentic stamp will be females. To be blunt I would feel discriminated against. Take a look at most females pics and you'll find they're either not of their faces or of them so messy as to be unrecognisable. Most cross dressers could pull off at least one shot that would fool people.

Yeah, it's likely bound to be a logistical nightmare.

It's likely best to just go by the motto "If someone seems too good to be true, they probably are". And then we can "out" them and make fun of them.

I agree it could be a good thing, but I still have the following concerns ...

1) it could easily be circumvented by a clever and determined person

2) it would take valuable moderator time that might be needed somewhere else

3) I don't really see the serious harm done by posers; we all have to assume, on the internet, that nobody is what they appear to be. Otherwise, you're just asking for trouble.

However, I agreed with the idea because I hate that people create profiles with no information about themselves, whatsoever, and it would be nice to be able to search verified profiles only to find people who at least made an effort ... even if it wasn't a foolproof system. Of course, I'm actually an internet savvy octopus from another solar system who has been holding a human hostage for 20 years and using his identity, so I probably wouldn't submit myself to verification.

yam i'm in total agreement with you

Hey
I'm pleased to see this has become a discusion, I'm all for it. I agree there are some short falls.
Firstly yes it is possible to do things to get round this issue but I think that most of those who are into posing are not that advanced as a simple photoshop job is not good enough to fool and most of them don't seem to be that determined. Also it is just an idea for a simple measure that may help, rather than a fool proof idea.
Secondly I know what you are saying Wam in Bed but the idea is meant to be a voluntary status that could be achieved by all members men or women if they wanted too and those who don't post pics of their faces are under no obligation. But like I say it's just an idea and I'm pleased to see it being discussed in the spirit of Middy our patron saint

Cheers Jonn

I like some kind of verification. When I applied at a video rental store, many moons ago, they took a photo of me holding my drivers license. That way they had my ID, signature and photo all on one shot! If someone came in and said they lost their card and gave a name, they could just look them up and see if the photo matched the person making the request.

I am not for posting of these photos publicly though, as I wish to keep my identity somewhat anonymous. Marlicious will verify my identity, it's her body I wrote my CSJ on in my profile pic!

Seriously though, this is a good thread.

If someone were -highly- motivated to deal with this on a personal level, there are techniques for recognizing the gender of an author through the study of writing samples. The big stumbling block here would be the months or years of serious study required to transform understanding basic knowledge into a useful skill. Also, I have no idea what level of detail occurs in these sorts of chats . . .

If it is all "I pie U," then "I pie U twice. LOL!" then it seems hard to imagine gender would even matter. On the other hand, if it is more like, "I take the pie in hand, its oozing surface glistening wetly under the summer sun. The scent of custard wafts into your nostrils as I brandish the sweet pastry inches from your face. My free hand plays with the collar of your shirt, tugging gently as if to provide a distraction. The last thing you see is the wink provided my grinning face. Then thick yellow goo oozes everywhere, rushing into your mouth and nose while spreading out across your face. Great clumps of pie and crust fall away. Some decorate your shirt, quickly adding a sensation of dampness to the touch of satin. Others fall inside, gliding along your flesh with cool clinging sensations . . ." then this sort of analysis might prove useful. I would recommend Deborah Tannen's Gender and Discourse as a starting point for people determined to learn the ways of distinguishing masculine writing styles from feminine writing styles, and also to always keep in mind that this sort of thing, while scientific, will always be somewhat inexact.

Regards,
messydom

lol, Watch the mods queue up to manually verify the 13444 (correct at time of posting according to a blank user search) subscribed users.

I'll call it. My money is fairchild is a guy if that's what spawned this.

Messydom is right, a couple of glitches in there language wise (ie grammer errors made in a way young males rather than young females make them anyone can use the x key and emoticons ) plus the smell - a "hacked" account AND technical problems?



omg its so hard to believe guys wud PRETEND 2 b girls just by using bad grammer and txt spk and no punctuation or spellchecker and abusing smileys a real gurl wud never do that

xxx luv and hugs xxx

noise :

XXXxxxxXXXX

No. Absolutely not.

Women already get enough pounding by eager guys who ask for pics.

If this gets put in place, it will give these rude guys a "perfectly valid reason" for their off-putting, intrusive, totally out-of-line behavior..."When are you going to post pics?" "I hope you post pics next time you get messy."

"But you're not real if you won't post pics!"

Even if the pictures are kept from being public, some men will misunderstand the policy when they hear about it, because they don't read carefully. I'm sure it'll result in suggestions that a woman who posts words must next post pics.

Either way, public or not, females who won't "prove it" would now be suspected posers. The actual poser, meanwhile, will totally unfazed. He'll happily be posting, or sending the mods, somebody else's picture, probably without permission too, and if he's inventive, a totally phony biography will go with it.

Question:

Why should women have to go through this? And you know it's only women.

And if she does, what assurance does she have that the photos will never be made public?

I ain't saying I don't trust our mods. I guess I do...but that's me, and I've been here awhile.

When I was new here, though, I had no idea who the site owner was or the slightest clue of what the mods were like. So why should women who value their own privacy send their pictures to people they don't even KNOW?

And if she won't do this thing to be authenticated...is she a poser?

No way. Forget it. Discriminated-against is right. Even if it's voluntary, methinks the volunteers will be treated much better than she who declines and men won't ever be asked about it.

Nessie

And so begins another future UMD anecdote.

Why just women? Why not have anyone that wants to prove they are real be able to?

We are also getting spammed with new producers... and have some untrusted kicking around... well, if people are making financial transaction (Membership sites and more importantly customs), wouldn't a validation process allow people to make more confident decisions about who they deal with?



As for discrimination... you know who are being discriminated against if it was just asking women to validate?

Men.


This thread so far is making the assumption men are being dishonest.




Anyway, I could see validation being a good thing if open to anyone who wants to enhance their reputation.



And if you are worried about trusting mods... here's the thing. They know your IP address, they know your email address. IP address is enough to track you unless you have taken precautions. Also, my lovelies, depending how you filled out your personal details they have enough to track people. Hook that to both messmaster and Soundguy running D/L stores that get very identifiable information (Easily cross referenced to IP addresses)... we trust them all ONE HELL OF A FUCKING LOT ALREADY.


Honestly, if anyone truly values their privacy disconnect your computer, encrypt your hard drive in 128 bit then destroy with a hammer, fire, water... then bury it somewhere no one is ever going to dig.



Point is, a validation system would be valuable. Does anyone remember the scammer posting here a few years ago as a woman, offering custom shoots for money and several people sending "her" money and never receiving anything? I do, and I remember the investigation that went with it.

We were fortunate enough someone stepped up and said they had been defrauded... the "girl" was relying on the embarrassment factor for no one stepping forward and getting either mods or police involved.



Validation doesn't necessarily mean a picture. There are a few ways.

Retinal scans!

What does MM have to say about this notion?