Strava choose privacy or function

ckspark

Hi Strava just changed the activity upload setting so now activities will only count towards leader boards and challenges if the open to everyone option is selected.
If like me you prefer enhanced privacy where followers have to request and be approved then activities will no longer be count towards leader boards and challenges.
This seems bizarre as most other apps and services are encouraging us to increase our privacy.

imposter2.0

Maybe talk to strava about it..

StillGoing

How does that affect protecting your home location if you make your rides public? Do you still have the ability to put a privacy zone around your home for instance? TBH, Strava segments do not interest me other than within our group, so presumably it doesn't have any effect on those?

slowbike

I think that's been the default ...

for instance - you can't just go in and see my activites - you need to request to follow me - but, in order to appear on the segment leaderboards your best time can be clicked on to reveal your ride - I think that's quite important as a segment result isn't always as it seems - I've seen several KOMs that could be feasible on a bike - just - but then when you've clicked on the activity, they've been MTBing - jumped in the car and obliterated all the road segments between their riding place and home. So it allows you (who's just lost their KOM) to flag that ride - if you couldn't see the ride, then how could you judge if it was a real loss... ?
Of course, it's not always about KOMs - it's nice to be able to see where you are in the leaderboard and how they approached that segment - it may have been a gentle warmup - then blat up the climb - or they may have been riding hard for the last 40 miles and taken it easy up there...
obviously, neither of those are vital to riding your bike - but it's simple enough - if you want to "compete" in the segment leaderboards then your ride should be viewable - obviously, if you don't - then opt out.

You still have the option of private segments and privacy zone. What we could do with are private group/club segments ... you can already filter by club, but being able to restrict participation by club would be nice.

sloppyschleckonds

Never understood people joining a social media platform then making their profile private

grenw

Sounds logical to me. If you want to get on the leaderboard you have to give others access to your ride stats. Otherwise how would you access theirs and see how you compare?

Seems to be an all or nothing thing though. You can't have only the group leaderboards.

They still cannot access your profile unless you let them and the privacy zone is separate and unchanged.

kingstongraham

I've always found it weird that you can see someone's full ride if you click through from the leaderboard, but not see it from their profile if they have privacy set. Was always a bit of a half way bodge.

Looks like they have improved it so you can also block access to the activities, but it makes perfect sense for these to no longer appear in leaderboards. You can choose to allow access to activities but block access to your profile.

photonic69

I find it worrying when complete strangers follow me and give me Kudos. Why!?

slowbike

why do you find it worrying?

mrb123

Slowbike wrote:

why do you find it worrying?

They may be following him in the street...

ugo.santalucia

When I joined, I left it open and never had any problem... all the people who follow me seem positive and supportive.
I have yet to come across episodes of negativity on Strava, I suspect it's because it's designed to be a place for action rather than one for discussion.

whereas on Bike Radar, despite the alter ego, the layers of "security" and whatnot, I have had my share of stalkers

supermurph09

MrB123 wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

why do you find it worrying?

They may be following him in the street...

Hi!

Dorset_Boy

Slowbike wrote:

I think that's been the default ...

for instance - you can't just go in and see my activites - you need to request to follow me - but, in order to appear on the segment leaderboards your best time can be clicked on to reveal your ride - I think that's quite important as a segment result isn't always as it seems - I've seen several KOMs that could be feasible on a bike - just - but then when you've clicked on the activity, they've been MTBing - jumped in the car and obliterated all the road segments between their riding place and home. So it allows you (who's just lost their KOM) to flag that ride - if you couldn't see the ride, then how could you judge if it was a real loss... ?
Of course, it's not always about KOMs - it's nice to be able to see where you are in the leaderboard and how they approached that segment - it may have been a gentle warmup - then blat up the climb - or they may have been riding hard for the last 40 miles and taken it easy up there...
obviously, neither of those are vital to riding your bike - but it's simple enough - if you want to "compete" in the segment leaderboards then your ride should be viewable - obviously, if you don't - then opt out.

You still have the option of private segments and privacy zone. What we could do with are private group/club segments ... you can already filter by club, but being able to restrict participation by club would be nice.

Excellent response.
It's amazing how many people at the top of the challenge leaderboards have their profile set to private. Usually makes me suspicious that they're trying to hide something....

sniper68

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Never understood people joining a social media platform then making their profile private

My son's profile is private on Strava as he's only 10 years old.I changed it to private when I noticed random people following him.I don't have a problem with random people following me but I'd rather just his friends/fellow CC members follow him.

StillGoing

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Never understood people joining a social media platform then making their profile private

Some are safeguarding against those who will use any information they can get on you for illegal means.

cookeeemonster

PhotoNic69 wrote:

I find it worrying when complete strangers follow me and give me Kudos. Why!?

Set your settings to 'request to follow' or whatever it is. Means random people can't follow you.

They can still give you kudos for your rides they find on the leaderboards - all time or the daily ones etc, but I dont see it as a concern tbh

cookeeemonster

philthy3 wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Never understood people joining a social media platform then making their profile private

Some are safeguarding against those who will use any information they can get on you for illegal means.

this.

Why would you want random people (including dodgy ones) to see where you live/ride/what your bike is etc if you upload pics. Many people only want followers they know to see all their details which is fair enough. It's still a good social network in that case

shazzz

Where is the "Request to follow" setting so that people can't follow without approval?
I can't find it anywhere!

grenw

shazzz wrote:

Where is the "Request to follow" setting so that people can't follow without approval?
I can't find it anywhere!

Privacy - Profile Page - Followers

It's worded a bit weirdly but seems to suggest that if you set 'Who can see' to 'followers' then not only can only followers see your profile page but you get to approve them. The other options states that anyone can see your page and anyone can follow you.

photonic69

Slowbike wrote:

why do you find it worrying?

I am a very very unexceptional cyclist with no KOMs (in my dreams) and very middling in leaderboards. I just find it odd that some one from a completely different continent, 1000's of miles from where I ride, whom I don't know and who doesn't know me, suddenly follow me on Strava and give me Kudos. I mean, just why?

slowbike

PhotoNic69 wrote:

I mean, just why?

Yes ... I know ... my profile is "request to follow" - has been for I dunno how long now ...

My wife uploads all her rides as private - and only unlocks them if she wants to appear on the leaderboards...

but then, neither of us are in there for the kudos - just a record & measurement of our riding.

shazzz

GrenW wrote:

shazzz wrote:

Where is the "Request to follow" setting so that people can't follow without approval?
I can't find it anywhere!

Privacy - Profile Page - Followers

It's worded a bit weirdly but seems to suggest that if you set 'Who can see' to 'followers' then not only can only followers see your profile page but you get to approve them. The other options states that anyone can see your page and anyone can follow you.

Many thanks - that's it.

I set my account to "Request to follow" previously and just wanted to check it was still set.

Re random followers and kudos - I've always assumed some people do it in the hope that you will follow and kudos them in return. I looked at the profiles of some of the random follow requests I received and the peope always had 100s, even thousands of followers. Seems odd, but I guess some people just like having lots of followers and kudos. It's the same on other sites where people seem to collect random Facebook friends or Linkedin connections. Odd, but generally harmless...

slowbike

the unwarranted Kudos ...

never quite understood why ... I suppose some people like feeling they are validated and get that by likes on facebook, mentions in twitter or kudos in strava ... personally I dislike receiving kudos for mundane rides - give me kudos where it's clear I've pushed myself - either in effort level - or ridden something exceptional - like in atrocious weather whilst everyone else was tucked up at home - or up an iconic climb. It's why I keep my strava profile locked down (although my rides are public so i'm on the leaderboards) ...

N0bodyOfTheGoat

There can be so many reasons behind random kudos, sometimes it might not be your effort, but rather they like the route you took and opened their eyes to an alternative way through an area.

It's not "random kudos" that bugs me out a bit, it's random people that decide to "follow" me. I'm not inundated with random followers (or non-randoms for that matter, I didn't join it to be an alternative Facebook, far too sociable), but I have had a few that give the occasional kudos but have never left a comment to say who we both know or why they decided to "stalk" me!

Sometimes I will put links to a whole ride or a climb effort in threads. But I'm not phishing for followers or kudos, sometimes I think a Strava link can help get a riding point across better than a load of waffle.

Where I happen to be on the all-time leaderboard for a segment means far less to me now than when I started to try and get fit again last year, when back then others riders were inspirational to keep me focused on trying to improve further. But not everyone rides the same segments with the same effort in the same order after the same amount of miles etc., I have some KOMs to my name, but I don't believe for a second that I am a cycling god. There are far more talented riders out there, who are younger and stronger and have been doing this for years... I just happen to ride an unpopular route relatively hard or I've created a training segment in a spot where there has not been one for the past ~7 years since Strava began.

Vino'sGhost

PhotoNic69 wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

why do you find it worrying?

I am a very very unexceptional cyclist with no KOMs (in my dreams) and very middling in leaderboards. I just find it odd that some one from a completely different continent, 1000's of miles from where I ride, whom I don't know and who doesn't know me, suddenly follow me on Strava and give me Kudos. I mean, just why?

Do you look good in Lycra?