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Post by mountainma on Jun 14, 2022 11:51:51 GMT -6
On any given day, I or maybe one other site member will be on here at the same time. Usually I'm logged in by myself and maybe there are a couple of visitors. That's it. Yet, as soon as I post something, the "guest" count jumps way up to over 20 and many times the site says these guests are just viewing my post or other areas on the site I just visited but did not post. Even when I'm on the site all alone and don't post anything, suddenly there are a bunch of extra guests jumping on and viewing the areas I just read.
I find this very weird and downright creepy. Who are all these "guests" and why aren't they posting? Are they bots? Are they people just too bashful to contribute to the site? Lurkers? What is going on?
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Post by mountainma on Jun 14, 2022 11:57:24 GMT -6
For example, I just logged in and am the only member on the site. The count says one member (me) and 3 guests. I just posted this thread and suddenly there are 11 guests viewing the thread and 4 more guests on another section of the board where I browsed. I looked and the count now says 18 guests. These cannot all be members who just got notified of a new post?
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Post by eyeofthestorm on Jun 15, 2022 7:59:57 GMT -6
I think they're bots. Not all bots are nefarious. For example, search engines populate the results we use them for using bots.
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Post by ginakay57 on Jun 15, 2022 9:25:44 GMT -6
I was getting a creepy feeling reading what Rebekah posted but you eased my mind. Thanks
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Post by eyeofthestorm on Jun 15, 2022 9:47:01 GMT -6
This is just my thinking (no official kind of expertise here).
Bots are one of those things where, when they are a pain, they feel like the bIGGEST thorn ever. Bots used to leave comments on my websites with links to other websites, spammy content trying to get readers to read another site or buy their (highly suspect) products. It was a big time suck, moderating comments (read: deleting all the bot generated comments). Sometimes I switched to Facebook comments embedded on a website. Facebook has the manpower and software power (because of the $$$ they have) to fight the bots with some success.
Bots annoyingly use cookies (small bits of software written on devices like computers, phones, tablets) to show me the pair of shoes that I really want but shouldn't buy because I don't need them on the next 30 websites I visit.
But bots also show me the local weather. I have my weather apps set to track my location so that if a storm is coming up, I'll know BEFORE I get on the freeway (hopefully!), or when it's anticipated to pass (and I will just hang out in a coffee shop).
The bots I understand the most (which isn't, to say, a lot) "read" websites - any and all they can reach. That is most websites. It's a little trickier than you'd think to create a website that the bots don't "wander" into (for me, that's the best description - they "wander" but they always know how to find their way "back home" to their original seach engine). They send the information back to their "home" (whatever search engine) which, in turn, uses AI (those are just lots and lots of very fancy calculations) to make educated guesses about the answers we need when we run a search. It can seem creepy to feel "followed," but that data also allows Google (or Yahoo, or Bing, or whatever) to show you a store closer to you (when the data is has is correct), or a product at a store that you already frequent rather than a store you don't go to as often.
It's also important to remember that you can set the software you use (usually the browser, but also the operating system of a phone or tablet) to control what information of yours is tracked. My dad was FREAKING OUT on the phone yesterday because all his bookmarks and passwords from home were showing up on his work computer. He didn't realize that it was because he was logged into the browser on both computers with the same account, and he has the settings on that account to do exactly what it did. You can make changes in browsers (for computers) to NOT DO THAT! Also, with Apple products, the current operating systems force apps to ask you for permission to track your data. I always say no. (Disclaimer: I don't know how Android devices work in this respect.)
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