No wonder search results for freelancers are dodgy

[Douglas Michael M]

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@Stephen B wrote:

There are several ways one can see usernames on here, wihin just a few cicks of the profile. Why uproar?? I'd suggest more weary resignation at this stage...

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It's also been pointed out here a few times recently that the uniquely identifying component of a vanity URL does not have to be one's (log-in) username. 

[Douglas Michael M]

Chris,

You could try an URL-shortening and -filing service such as bit.ly that lets you specify your own unique URLs.

It's worth mentioning that the Elance vanity URLs could be broken for months at a time. The last time they were "fixed," it was reported that they no longer showed one's profile page, but a (featured?) link for it along with a bevy of one's competitors.

Two-factor authentication on Elance seemed oddly implemented; I saw it frequently, though not consistently, at log-in, and never when I was doing a higher-risk task such as handling money. It also never varied in the question it asked.

Best,

Michael

[Chris M]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated.

I'm not concerned about the security particularly - I think Upwork seems fairly secure.

Can I just sort of summarise the point I'm trying to make:

I have several other profiles on various other platforms and they all have a profile URL that has a name within it that is recognisable as possibly being me. Guru.com, Freelancer.com, LinkedIn, Facebook profiles have names in the URL, Soundcloud and Bandcamp have user names in the URL.

Isn't it a fairly standard accepted norm that public profile URL's have names in them?

I just don't understand why Upwork has such an abstract, obscure user profile URL. It just seems lika another 'unusual' feature of Upwork systems. It's un-intuitive. Doesn't make sense.

There seems to be alot of other facilities and functions within Upwork that similarly just don't 'feel' right. When I realised that the URL was abstract and obscure it was like the straw that broke the camels back.

Anyways... I still live in hope that Upwork will improve over the coming months

[Stephen B]

"I just don't understand why Upwork has such an abstract, obscure user profile URL. It just seems lika another 'unusual' feature of Upwork systems. It's un-intuitive. Doesn't make sense.

There seems to be alot of other facilities and functions within Upwork that similarly just don't 'feel' right. When I realised that the URL was abstract and obscure it was like the straw that broke the camels back.

Anyways... I still live in hope that Upwork will improve over the coming months "

It won't improve, beause they don't realise or accept hat there's anything wrong.

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.

Friedrich Nietzsche

[Douglas Michael M]

Stephen, according to Edith Hamilton, Nietzsche's view of hope was shared by the ancients. In Pandora's box, contrary to a popular Victorian reading, hope was not some kind of compensatory amelioration of the world's evils, but the last and worst of them.

Best,
Michael

[Chris M]

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@Douglas Michael M wrote:
Stephen, according to Edith Hamilton, Nietzsche's view of hope was shared by the ancients. In Pandora's box, contrary to a popular Victorian reading, hope was not some kind of compensatory amelioration of the world's evils, but the last and worst of them.

Best,
Michael

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Sheesh - I feel like I'm being thrashed.

Right, OK - I don't hope that Upwork improves anymore - I now DEMAND that Upwork improves! ...'ows that?

[Stephen B]

Good luck with that one then