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who is watching me


fatman1969

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Is there a way to see who is watching your caches that anyone knows of. I know if it is a premium you can see who been looking but not on a non premium cache.

 

Ask them to identify themselves. Post a note on your cache listing. They're watching so they'll see your request. Maybe they'll tell you.

Some reasons I watch a cache

  • A cache gets mentioned in a forum and I want to see what the outcome is
  • The cache is poorly placed and I want to see what others say and how long it lasts
  • I placed an NM on the cache. If the CO fixes but doesn't log an OM I'll contact them to let them know it's necessary to get rid of the NM status
  • I placed an NA on a destroyed abandoned cache and when it gets archived by the reviewer I'll go pick it up and toss it or store it depending on how damaged it is
  • I DNF'd the cache and want to see if the next person finds it
  • I placed a DNF and pretty sure it's gone but want to wait for a couple more DNFs before posting an NM then finally an NA
  • The cache is amazing and I'm curious to see what other cachers think

I'm sure there are a ton of reasons to place a watch on a cache.

Edited by L0ne.R
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A cache can be watched in more ways than just adding it to your Watchlist... :ph34r:

 

Very true. The only caches that I have on my "Watch List" are the ones my trackables are in. I am watching many more caches, for some of the reasons already mentioned, by way of Bookmark Lists, which group the caches together by the reason that I am watching them--and there is no way for the CO (or anyone else) to know that the cache is being watched.

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Is there a way to see who is watching your caches that anyone knows of. I know if it is a premium you can see who been looking but not on a non premium cache.

 

Ask them to identify themselves. Post a note on your cache listing. They're watching so they'll see your request. Maybe they'll tell you.

Some reasons I watch a cache

  • A cache gets mentioned in a forum and I want to see what the outcome is
  • The cache is poorly placed and I want to see what others say and how long it lasts
  • I placed an NM on the cache. If the CO fixes but doesn't log an OM I'll contact them to let them know it's necessary to get rid of the NM status
  • I placed an NA on a destroyed abandoned cache and when it gets archived by the reviewer I'll go pick it up and toss it or store it depending on how damaged it is
  • I DNF'd the cache and want to see if the next person finds it
  • I placed a DNF and pretty sure it's gone but want to wait for a couple more DNFs before posting an NM then finally an NA
  • The cache is amazing and I'm curious to see what other cachers think

I'm sure there are a ton of reasons to place a watch on a cache.

I watch a few that are very interesting and/or that I may visit eventually.

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well I think if it is ok for them to watch what is going on with my cache I should know who is watching not that i will go slap them for doing so . I would like to know who my fan club is.

Some of your fans may wish to admire you "from afar." What difference does it make if xyz or abc is watching? :ph34r: I would rather have my cache watched than not watched. :grin:

 

But back to your main question: who is watching you? Big Sibling - known in pre-PC days as Big Brother.

 

:laughing:

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1389313580[/url]' post='5338932']

still the point as the owner we should be able to know who is watching cache

I'm a cache owner. Have been for over a decade. Never wondered who is watching our caches or why. But there are plenty of COs that come to the forums wanting to know but never say why they need the identities. Even when given a benign list of why people watch caches they still want to know who is watching. What would you get out of knowing who is watching?

 

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1389313580[/url]' post='5338932']

still the point as the owner we should be able to know who is watching cache

I'm a cache owner. Have been for over a decade. Never wondered who is watching our caches or why. But there are plenty of COs that come to the forums wanting to know but never say why they need the identities. Even when given a benign list of why people watch caches they still want to know who is watching. What would you get out of knowing who is watching?

Well they can't know, so they'll have to just keep fretting, & worrying, & obsessing from now until Doomsday. End of story. :unsure:

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well I think if it is ok for them to watch what is going on with my cache I should know who is watching not that i will go slap them for doing so . I would like to know who my fan club is.

I like anonymity. Too many dishonest cachers out there. If I want you to know I'm watching I'll tell you. The more and more I see how information is used and abused and am ready to start hiding my IP and only sign on anonymously. Recently caught a car forum doing some pretty invasive probing on their site.

Edited by TheWeatherWarrior
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So many people have tried to "accuse" someone for causing problems with caches based on who is watching, it's a really bad idea to lose that anonymity.

 

Also, with premium membership, I can download the data from Pocket Queries, get notifications from hidden bookmark lists, and use GSAK and the API to download logs. That's three pretty significant ways of getting the same information as watching caches, but the owner never even knows about it. I don't think I've had a cache on my watch list now for about 8 years, yet each day I can get the recent logs for upwards of 6,000 caches.

 

I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

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I'm a cache owner. Have been for over a decade. Never wondered who is watching our caches or why. But there are plenty of COs that come to the forums wanting to know but never say why they need the identities. Even when given a benign list of why people watch caches they still want to know who is watching. What would you get out of knowing who is watching?

 

Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.unsure.gif

 

So many people have tried to "accuse" someone for causing problems with caches based on who is watching, it's a really bad idea to lose that anonymity.

 

Also, with premium membership, I can download the data from Pocket Queries, get notifications from hidden bookmark lists, and use GSAK and the API to download logs. That's three pretty significant ways of getting the same information as watching caches, but the owner never even knows about it. I don't think I've had a cache on my watch list now for about 8 years, yet each day I can get the recent logs for upwards of 6,000 caches.

 

I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

 

In that case, why can't the methods you just said be the anonymous methods? Simply enough: if you'd like to watch a cache, watch it, the owner would be able to see that you're watching it, that's fine. If you'd like to do it anonymously, use bookmarks or pocket queries.

Is this not a reasonable idea?huh.gif

Edited by ADKer
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I'm a cache owner. Have been for over a decade. Never wondered who is watching our caches or why. But there are plenty of COs that come to the forums wanting to know but never say why they need the identities. Even when given a benign list of why people watch caches they still want to know who is watching. What would you get out of knowing who is watching?

 

Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.unsure.gif

 

So many people have tried to "accuse" someone for causing problems with caches based on who is watching, it's a really bad idea to lose that anonymity.

 

Also, with premium membership, I can download the data from Pocket Queries, get notifications from hidden bookmark lists, and use GSAK and the API to download logs. That's three pretty significant ways of getting the same information as watching caches, but the owner never even knows about it. I don't think I've had a cache on my watch list now for about 8 years, yet each day I can get the recent logs for upwards of 6,000 caches.

 

I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

 

In that case, why can't the methods you just said be the anonymous methods? Simply enough: if you'd like to watch a cache, watch it, the owner would be able to see that you're watching it, that's fine. If you'd like to do it anonymously, use bookmarks or pocket queries.

Is this not a reasonable idea?huh.gif

So by your plan, basic members not able to use bookmarks or pocket queries wouldn't be entitled to the same privacy Groundspeak (so far) places on the watchlist for all?

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I'm a cache owner. Have been for over a decade. Never wondered who is watching our caches or why. But there are plenty of COs that come to the forums wanting to know but never say why they need the identities. Even when given a benign list of why people watch caches they still want to know who is watching. What would you get out of knowing who is watching?

 

Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.unsure.gif

 

So many people have tried to "accuse" someone for causing problems with caches based on who is watching, it's a really bad idea to lose that anonymity.

 

Also, with premium membership, I can download the data from Pocket Queries, get notifications from hidden bookmark lists, and use GSAK and the API to download logs. That's three pretty significant ways of getting the same information as watching caches, but the owner never even knows about it. I don't think I've had a cache on my watch list now for about 8 years, yet each day I can get the recent logs for upwards of 6,000 caches.

 

I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

 

In that case, why can't the methods you just said be the anonymous methods? Simply enough: if you'd like to watch a cache, watch it, the owner would be able to see that you're watching it, that's fine. If you'd like to do it anonymously, use bookmarks or pocket queries.

Is this not a reasonable idea?huh.gif

So by your plan, basic members not able to use bookmarks or pocket queries wouldn't be entitled to the same privacy Groundspeak (so far) places on the watchlist for all?

 

It's not a plan. I was just pointing it out.

 

As a plan though, perhaps it could be a premium member feature? I don't really feel it would be a matter of privacy as the term is normally known on the internet.

 

Also, if they would truly desire to be anonymous, the situation would be similar to that of notifications and FTFs. Premium members can get a notification when a cache is published in order to get a FTF. Basic members can still hunt for FTFs, but its more clunky, they have to keep checking the Seek a Cache page and sorting by new. In this instance, premium members could use bookmarks, etc.. Basic members would have to write down a list of the GC codes that they want to watch, and manually check them.

I see basically no difference in these two instances.

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I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

 

This ^^^

 

 

I don't agree. I find it great to know that people are watching my cache. There's always the chance that it's not for a good reason, but still, something about it is like a nice reminder that there are others out there who see you cache page online...:rolleyes:

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Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.

 

Okay, here's a situation - tell me what this would mean to you, how you would react, & what you would do.

 

I have about 25 caches on my watchlist. Some are local, some are far away, & some are international. My interest in each case is a little different, although some reasons are similar. Some of the caches are no longer of interest, & every now & then I delete some on the list. Every one is of interest for good reasons - nothing sinister.

 

Suppose I put one of your caches on my watchlist. Pretend that I'm local, & then pretend that I'm far away. What would your curiosity lead you to do? Would you research my profile? Would you email me and ask why? Would you blame me for problems? Would you expect me to explain why I'm watching?

 

What good would it do you to know that I'm watching your cache???

 

I've seen that I've had people watching my caches from time to time - & I didn't give it a second thought.

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Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.

 

Okay, here's a situation - tell me what this would mean to you, how you would react, & what you would do.

 

I have about 25 caches on my watchlist. Some are local, some are far away, & some are international. My interest in each case is a little different, although some reasons are similar. Some of the caches are no longer of interest, & every now & then I delete some on the list. Every one is of interest for good reasons - nothing sinister.

 

Suppose I put one of your caches on my watchlist. Pretend that I'm local, & then pretend that I'm far away. What would your curiosity lead you to do? Would you research my profile? Would you email me and ask why? Would you blame me for problems? Would you expect me to explain why I'm watching?

 

What good would it do you to know that I'm watching your cache???

 

I've seen that I've had people watching my caches from time to time - & I didn't give it a second thought.

 

It would satisfy my curiosity!!! tongue.gif

 

I might look at your profile, but I do that from time to time when people find my caches anyway. I wouldn't bother you, I wouldn't blame you, I wouldn't demand to know why.

I wouldn't even think that if my cache got damaged that it would be a person on the watch list.

 

I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

Edited by ADKer
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I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

 

The one thing about the Favorite list being visible is, it's a positive experience. It's unlikely that a CO would contact someone on the favorite list to send an accusatory message to them asking why they gave them a favorite point.

 

 

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I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

 

The one thing about the Favorite list being visible is, it's a positive experience. It's unlikely that a CO would contact someone on the favorite list to send an accusatory message to them asking why they gave them a favorite point.

 

Some of you seemed to miss my point. I get the information (including logs) on thousands of caches without having them on my watch list, or even visiting the cache page. So essentially, I'm "watching" thousands of caches and many may not have ANY people listed as "watching" it. Many of the accounts that are "watching" a cache may be inactive - people that signed up for Geocaching years ago, started watching a cache and then lost interest in Geocaching.

 

So the "number of people watching this cache" isn't even accurate, and the people that do have it on the watch list may not be watching.

 

So why is this number (and the list of accounts) meaningful?

 

Edited by Markwell
Corrective coding
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I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

 

The one thing about the Favorite list being visible is, it's a positive experience. It's unlikely that a CO would contact someone on the favorite list to send an accusatory message to them asking why they gave them a favorite point.

 

Some of you seemed to miss my point. I get the information (including logs) on thousands of caches without having them on my watch list, or even visiting the cache page. So essentially, I'm "watching" thousands of caches and many may not have ANY people listed as "watching" it. Many of the accounts that are "watching" a cache may be inactive - people that signed up for Geocaching years ago, started watching a cache and then lost interest in Geocaching.

 

So the "number of people watching this cache" isn't even accurate, and the people that do have it on the watch list may not be watching.

 

So why is this number (and the list of accounts) meaningful?

 

 

Seems as though that could be an argument for being able to see who's watching. Then you could see if they are innactive.

 

Perhaps I'm still missing your point...:unsure:

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Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.

 

Okay, here's a situation - tell me what this would mean to you, how you would react, & what you would do.

 

I have about 25 caches on my watchlist. Some are local, some are far away, & some are international. My interest in each case is a little different, although some reasons are similar. Some of the caches are no longer of interest, & every now & then I delete some on the list. Every one is of interest for good reasons - nothing sinister.

 

Suppose I put one of your caches on my watchlist. Pretend that I'm local, & then pretend that I'm far away. What would your curiosity lead you to do? Would you research my profile? Would you email me and ask why? Would you blame me for problems? Would you expect me to explain why I'm watching?

 

What good would it do you to know that I'm watching your cache???

 

I've seen that I've had people watching my caches from time to time - & I didn't give it a second thought.

 

It would satisfy my curiosity!!! tongue.gif

 

I might look at your profile, but I do that from time to time when people find my caches anyway. I wouldn't bother you, I wouldn't blame you, I wouldn't demand to know why.

 

I wouldn't even think that if my cache got damaged that it would be a person on the watch list.

 

I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

 

It might not satisfy your curiosity! It might lead to more curiosity! Suppose you have a "typical" cache, nothing out of the ordinary, that I find interesting for some reason. I live nowhere nearby. I predict that you will lose sleep trying to figure out why it's on my watchlist. This mystery will take over your mind and thoughts 24/7. Eventually you will be hospitalized for exhaustion - if not insanity!

 

:laughing:

Edited by wmpastor
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Well, if you're a curious person, such as I, then its just interesting to see who is interested in your caches for whatever reason.

 

Okay, here's a situation - tell me what this would mean to you, how you would react, & what you would do.

 

I have about 25 caches on my watchlist. Some are local, some are far away, & some are international. My interest in each case is a little different, although some reasons are similar. Some of the caches are no longer of interest, & every now & then I delete some on the list. Every one is of interest for good reasons - nothing sinister.

 

Suppose I put one of your caches on my watchlist. Pretend that I'm local, & then pretend that I'm far away. What would your curiosity lead you to do? Would you research my profile? Would you email me and ask why? Would you blame me for problems? Would you expect me to explain why I'm watching?

 

What good would it do you to know that I'm watching your cache???

 

I've seen that I've had people watching my caches from time to time - & I didn't give it a second thought.

 

It would satisfy my curiosity!!! tongue.gif

 

I might look at your profile, but I do that from time to time when people find my caches anyway. I wouldn't bother you, I wouldn't blame you, I wouldn't demand to know why.

 

I wouldn't even think that if my cache got damaged that it would be a person on the watch list.

 

I don't email people that favorite my caches and ask why. But it's simply interesting to know who does...

 

It might not satisfy your curiosity! It might lead to more curiosity! Suppose you have a "typical" cache, nothing out of the ordinary, that I find interesting for some reason. I live nowhere nearby. I predict that you will lose sleep trying to figure out why it's on my watchlist. This mystery will take over your mind and thoughts 24/7. Eventually you will be hospitalized for exhaustion - if not insanity!

 

:laughing:

 

Well, I'm not so sure that would happen to me...:P

 

I think I'd lose more sleep from wondering who could be watching my cache :rolleyes:

Edited by ADKer
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Perhaps I'm still missing your point...:unsure:

Yep.

 

Even if you could see who is watching your cache...

(A) Not all of the accounts that are "watching" your cache check their e-mail or even have valid accounts, so they are not really "watching"

(B) There can be THOUSANDS of accounts that gather the information on your cache, including all of the logs, that would not be listed in those that put the cache on their watch list.

 

So - even if you had this list of accounts watching the cache, it is meaningless data.

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Perhaps I'm still missing your point...:unsure:

Yep.

 

Even if you could see who is watching your cache...

(A) Not all of the accounts that are "watching" your cache check their e-mail or even have valid accounts, so they are not really "watching"

(B) There can be THOUSANDS of accounts that gather the information on your cache, including all of the logs, that would not be listed in those that put the cache on their watch list.

 

So - even if you had this list of accounts watching the cache, it is meaningless data.

(A) But they still had to click the "watch" button in the first place.

(B)I'm not talking about collecting "data". What I'm saying is I'd simply like to see who that person is that makes my cache page say "Watch (1)" or 5 or 100. I'd probably take a look at their profile page once, just to see who it is, and then never have another thought about it...

Edited by ADKer
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As a cacher I've been curious to know who else might be watching a cache I have on my watch list. I tend to watch puzzle caches I'm having difficulty with, and thought it would be nice to be able to contact others who might be in similar circumstances to perhaps collaborate. Just recently as a cache owner I have been curious to know who is watching my caches. Not sure that its a question of what reasons anyone would have for watching.. just curiosity. I also find it interesting that the 'favorites' list is available for everyone to see, but not the watch list. The overall feeling I get from those who have posted on this thread is that its ok for you to watch me, but not for me to watch you watching me.

 

Now I'm curious to see who is watching this thread! :)

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There's one way to sort of get an idea about who might be watching your cache:

- Make the cache PMO

- Post a note about the cache page being updated or some change that people watching it might be interested in

- Wait a few hours

- Check the audit list to see who has visited the cache page since you posted the note.

 

It's not foolproof, of course.

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I've always said that they should just remove this now meaningless number.

I understand your logic, but I claim you are wrong that the number is meaningless. Yes, as you explain, it is not the count of people that will get notifications when a log is entered. But who said it was? Instead, it's a count of people that have explicitly declared an interest in this cache specificly. I often find that useful information, but not on caches I own. The most common example is looking at that number to see if anyone else is starting to think this cache has a problem, although, of course, I'm only hypothesizing that other people use the watchlist like I do.

 

So I'm against getting rid of the number, but I'm also against the idea that since there's a number, COs should be able to see who those people are. The watch list is a feature for seekers to simplify their lives, since otherwise they'd have to visit the cache page manually to keep track of it. It's none of the CO's business.

 

It would satisfy my curiosity!!!

By that argument, we should let you open women's blouses because it would satisfy your curiosity about what their breasts look like.

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It would satisfy my curiosity!!!

By that argument, we should let you open women's blouses because it would satisfy your curiosity about what their breasts look like.

 

And perhaps I am a straight female.

I find it a bit extreme to be comparing the watcher's list publicity with sexual abuse.unsure.gif People are taking this way too seriously.

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It would satisfy my curiosity!!!

By that argument, we should let you open women's blouses because it would satisfy your curiosity about what their breasts look like.

And perhaps I am a straight female.

I find it a bit extreme to be comparing the watcher's list publicity with sexual abuse. People are taking this way too seriously.

I wasn't suggesting your curiosity was sexual, just that it's rude to demand that you be allowed to satisfy it simply because you have it.

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