OK everybody, hopefully this helps calm some user fears and/or answers some questions.

The topic of anonymity and privacy at Step Talk has risen out of a users fear that their ex's wife has found her on Step Talk.

First, let me address the topic of privacy. Blob posts and Forum discussions are not private at Step Talk. Every word that is posted to this site, outside of private messages, is accessible and searchable by anybody on the Internet (that's a lot of people).

There is a very good reason Dawn decided to make Step Talk an open forum rather than requiring everyone to create accounts and login before you could read anything. We want people to be able to easily find topics and discussions that are related to problems they may have. We also want people to be able to read these discussions without necessarily having to create an account and interact with the site. Some people don't want to talk about their problems but they may gain a lot from being able to read about other people's problems. The best way to do this is to keep the discussions open.

Now, the topic of anonymity. You have as much anonymity at Step Talk as you give yourself. You should have very (very!) little fear of being "found" here as long as you don't post using real names, nicknames or specific places that could be linked to you, or tell someone you don't trust that you talk about your problems on Step Talk (that should be obvious). The Internet is a VERY big place and there are literally hundreds of parenting and step-parenting sites out there. Without something specific to search for, they're never going to find you!

In the case linked to above, the user chose to create an account using her real name. If she was found here, it was because of this alone.

You can safely interact with and contribute to this site without fear of being found unless you give someone the ability to find you. Don't use your real name, initials, nickname or names of specific places unless you don't mind someone who knows you eventually finding you here. It's as simple as that.

If you have done one of the things I listed in the previous paragraph, you can always go back and edit your posts to remove or replace those things. You can even change your user name if you want. But be aware, the search engines have most likely already indexed every word you typed. It can take months before your changes actually show up and replace what is already in the search engines, but eventually most traces of what you posted will be removed from Internet history.

The beauty of the Internet is that it allows someone to be as anonymous as legally possible if they want. You can be who you are or anybody else you want to be. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a few men pretending to be woman here (or vice-versa). It doesn't really matter as long as it allows them to be open and discuss their problems and possibly help someone else along the way.

We are very grateful to all the dedicated users here at Step Talk. Without all of you and your willingness to share your experiences with the world Step Talk would not exist. It would still be Dawn's personal blog on step-parenting. Hundreds, if not thousands, have found help at Step Talk. We hope millions more benefit.

Thank you,
Step Talk Staff

P.S. We are working on a F.A.Q. page that will answer these and other questions you have been asking.