I never understood.
The public cannot access it at all, and if you don’t want info on there, leave it blank
For me I like seeing the stats, and when someone like @Aziz goes quiet, I never know if they have been suspended, or left the forum
Personally I do not think anyone really has much to hide on a well moderated forum such as this one
Paranoia
151515
@Aziz is not suspended. I talked to him about a week ago. He is just taking a break.
As for your primary question, I have no idea. It does seem kind of pointless to fill out a profile and then hide it.
I like seeing stats too.
I’ll tell you why my old profile was private.
I’d get lurker likes on selfies I had posted like years ago.
It was creepy and happened all the time.
@Joker - Yeah I wish we could still know if someone is suspended even if their account is private.
Personally for me, I have nothing to hide so my account stays public.
I was a little afraid of being judged by my profile. But I decided to put some information about myself to socialize and be more friendly with the people on this forum.
The reason I hid my profile was because I was being harassed by a former moderator whom kept flagging my legitimate posts. He hated me because my views were opposite his.
It is just a way to reduce the chances that someone irl I know can go through my whole posting history. Like if they make an account here. Yes I know, extreme thinking but hey that’s me
Just so you know, if someone is suspended, their profile will say why, even if their profile is private. But no other info would be displayed. Just their profile pic, their username, and if they’re suspended (and an explanation for suspension).
But yeah, the other stuff you said… I agree. I don’t understand why people make their profile private. I like seeing when someone last posted and when they joined the forum.
I don’t get it either. My profile is not private, I have very little privacy left on this forum other than my real name, and some people know that in private messages.
anyone can make an account to click on profiles. i like the hidden feature
I’ve clicked on people that I knew were suspended and all it said was that their profile was hidden. If you’re correct, then a hidden profile is not hidden.
One thing I like about hiding my profile is that I can reply without my avatar showing. Also, I thought that my hidden profile would prevent PMs, but maybe not. How can a person send a PM to someone who has a hidden profile?
You can send a PM to anyone that has PM enabled. All you do is go to the main PM page by clicking on the little letter icon twice. Then it will have an option to create a new PM. Just type a user name in the proper box.
Thanks, @anon4362788
No problem. 
hope it helps.
ummm @Zoe
I only see one result, this thread.
I can see her entire posting history.
Go to the main form page, search @Zoe or anyone else and sort by latest.
You can see the entire posting history of anyone.
Yep everything. I’ve never done that before.