Private Groups are not private enough...

very good article

That sucks. But, I don't really say anything that I'm embarrassed about on-line. But, it does totally defeat the purpose of a private group.

Yikes. That's a big bug.

Poor Cicada doesn't have a voice to defend itself from such a comparison - so I will, because unlike alot of humans, this bug is representative of a tremendous metamorphosis, associated with resurrection and change.
But I totally agree with the rest.

It seems to me that private groups, and blacklists are what started some of the fiasco that is going now. I have nothing to say that needs to be hidden behind the curtain. If you cant say it in front of everyone, maybe you just shouldnt say it.

Ladies and gentlemen, my conjoined triplet, Jody H.... :)

Great Lydia, what do I win?

I didn't even know there WERE private groups here. Though I did hear something a while back about hit lists, etc formulated by a private group.

What is the purpose to have private groups!

I never thought about that but it is so true.

When I first joined Gather I set up a private group for some friends that wanted to be able to write stuff but wanted their writing kept private. Just for friends to see and read and comment not the whole world. Thing is, since doing that, no one is utilizing the private group. So there it sits....

TK - Ah, I pick on CICADA only because of it's size and impact. Ironically, one of our programmers at work named a program CICADA and it's actually an acronym.

Landen,

There may be several legitimate reasons for this to occur. You can have a private group (which means you can't see it on group listings), but with public content. Also, you may be given the impression that others see the comments because you see them in comment listings, but only if you are a group member.

I explain this in greater detail within my article at the link below.

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Private articles appearing in public? - Learn why HERE.

Hi Landen,
Rest assured that your group is actually private. Only Gather members who have permission to view the content in your group can see the comments on content in your group. Because some content posted to your group by your group's members can also be shared with other groups you may have been led to think that this is allowing others to gain access to your group. This really is not true.

If someone isn't a member of your group and they have permission to view an article that might also be in your group the group list at the top of the page of content will not contain your group name. I can understand why you might have thought that the group privacy may be at risk but in reality what you are experiencing is simply that the content author may have shared an article or image with others outside of your group.

Try this test. Locate a comment made by you to an article in a private group on your "comments by me" page. Then sign out and close your web browser. Come back to gather and look for the same comment as someone who is not signed in on Gather. You shouldn't see the same comment. If you do please send a message with the exact comment, article, and the group and I will have our tech team look in to this.

Jim Bostick, Gather User Experience Architect

Thanks for getting attention Landen. It's nice to see there's a way to check it.

Aren't messages really the only thing private here on Gather?

I noticed that my articles to private groups showed in the articles list.

Are you refering to moderated groups when you say private? I believe you have the choice in membership if you click that box. You also have the choice to decline an article. You cannot however stop someone from viewing or commenting on your group, is this what you are refering to?

JoAnne - See Kevin and Jim's comments above. A 'private' group is not visible under groups and is limited to members only... or should be. It's different from a group where content is moderated.

thanks for sharing.

I didnt know this, so much for the word private

good article