[ncmr6]

i think that aol members write profiles so people can see them. it is stupid that aim users cant view the profiles the whole reason for profiles is so that people can read them. sure aol members pay for the right to view aol profiles but they also pay for so many other things that aim users dont get. i say just give aim users the ability to view aol profiles and come up with a better benefit for aol members. if i was an aol member i would be pretty unhappy about the fact that the people i talk to can't see me profile just because they dont pay. the thing is the people that write the profiles do pay and part of the reason they pay is so people can read their profiles and by not letting aim users view the profiles aol is not giving aol members what they paid for. so mister or miss amjones now you have my suggestion on how to make a better aol and how to have happier aol members and happier aim users

[AMJones]

As far as making a suggestion to me goes -- I don't work for AOL, I work for this website (TheIdeaWeb) which is in no way affiliated with AOL or any of it's services. That said..

See, I agree with you, and think AOL should make profiles available. It's not something that they are likely to do at this point, however.

The point of my previous arguement isn't that AOL members pay or don't pay -- it's that AOL has the right to do anything they please with their online services. Like many businesses, they've chosen to make some features free, and some paid. They are well within their rights to do so, as they don't "owe" AIM users anything, persay.

[XaolBetaTester]

Unbievable, 7 pages on AL profiles and not 1 post on why AOL does not allow just anyone to view them.
AOL members that have used AOl for a few years Know that To have a Profile is the same as doing half the work for wanta be hackers.
Profiles have been a big securty issue for aol, for years. You will not see a Host/Guide with one. It will be removed by aol if they do make one and profile function will be blocked. If you have a profile and wonder where the spammers got your address I just told you.
Have fun Bill

[Consider this]

DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, but just consider in hypothetical the following:

Due to the generic nature and geographic scope of AOL's service, AIM is legally considered a PUBLIC service (i.e., no discrimination based on gender; just what a silly argument what that earlier posed! heehee). Generally, anyone is permitted to gain access.

Moreover, anyone can afford access in the form of free AOL minutes from any nearby grocer. AIM exists to make cash for AOL &al by roping in any/all new customers; AOL makes no attempt to discriminate in selecting its members generally on the basis of gender, &c.

In specific, however, AOL may discriminate to protect members from criminals, but does it? While some court records could legitimate AOL discrimination (e.g., for serial felons), and while doing a background check might be worthwhile for AOL to avoid a future lawsuit, AIM actually disclaims liability arising from an individual's personal decision whether to make available private information on a public service; buyer beware. Regardless of whether such attempted exculpation from negligence ever proves successful for AOL in a court of law, members must heed the apparent fact that AOL is NOT in the business of protecting privacy. AOL is for-profit; with a habit of giving away free minutes, the percent of customer enrollments that payoff in the long-term is, I would imagine, not high enough to legitimate business outlays of 10-20 dollars per background checked. But I am only more certain that AOL would find prohibitive to their snag&pray customer attraction strategy the minimum time delay of 48+ hours in obtaining county court reports for a member seeking membership on a Friday evening (i.e., when courts are closed for the week-end). Because many states protect degrees of sex&c. offenses from being made more largely available than at county level, then AOL would need to pend access to members who are ready to pay! Until AOL gets stung by a lawsuit or until it receives legal mandate to make background searches pending new member access AND periodically for current members, then you must accept that you lack protective privacy.

Good news is that experience demonstrates not everyone is out to hurt you.

This is little consolation since concern for privacy is equally based on experience and written fact; criminals exist with all types of motive.

To answer the question about searching profiles, here are options (AOL moderator: correct me if I misrepresent) you should avoid as explained:

1. Do not pay someone to search and provide to you their new personal knowledge.
2. Do not obtain free minutes from an AOL disk at a grocer simply to search AOL profiles.
3. Do not steal (read: hack into) another user's account.
4. Never search Google for someone's data, failing to pay AOL for its indispensable service (joking).

Use common sense and obey the law; ignorance is no defense.

But...you wanna know something? Just ask the person. Please try socializing (read: saying hi to nice people), remove the inanimate profile that you think provides safety, yet really provides data to opportunist criminals while providing that your social communication skills may decay through disuse.

Stepping down from my soapbox... hypothetical considerations end.

You cant view Aol members Profiles Because the are on a server where you have to log into aoL. why dont you jsut sign up for a free 2 months and then look and then call up and can teh account. make it alot easyer and you dont have to look all day for a web site. damn

[xtc]

why dont you jsut sign up for a free 2 months and then look and then call up and can teh account.

that's such a hassle....is it really worth all that trouble? when i cancelled my aol i had to call them 2 different times. the first time they said that they would give me a month free and to call them back in a month. i tried to tell them i didnt want it but they did it anyways. so then a month later i FINALLY got to cancel aol after about an hour of talking to like 10 different people. do not get aol unless you plan on keeping aol for a long time or enjoy talking to 10 different people for an hour while you try to cancel aol.

If you know the person's sn, then u can his or her profile. For example, my aol sn is gtfrogprince. If you want to get my profile without actually using aol, go to the internet browser and type the following:

www.hometown.aol.com/person's sn

to view mine... you would type:

www.hometown.aol.com/gtfrogprince

Have fun!!
_________________________________________________

wowwww...you guys are dumbasses....thats for their homepages they make from AOL not their actual profiles...my god you idiots..

[mismindyTM]

I'm not going to go all paranoid about the whole 'AIM members can't view AOL users' profiles," but I have to admit that I find it irritating, inconvient and simply stupid. I understand that AOL users pay for their internet service and AIM is free but what's so important about AOL members' profiles that we AIM members can't view it? What? Afraid that we'll go stalking them? It's optional for them to fill out things such as addresses. . . etc.
Another thing is why can't AOL programmers make it optional for the AOL users to allow AIM members to view their profile? Not all AOL users are adults who are afraid of having their identity revealed to the world. There are kids who use AOL too. AND this is not only a problem for AIM members but AOL members as well. If you guys are trying to get us to pay for AOL just to view profiles, forget about it because no one's that ignorant to go through all that trouble. Why should we have to get free trials? That's just a waste of time. . . we'll be done reading our friends' profiles in 10 minutes. (time might vary.)
My friend is just trying to show me his profile and he can't, which got both of us upset. . . If you guys think that this is going to motivate others to join AOL--think again. It's probably going to do the opposite. Watch all the AOL members switch to other better internet services like Earthlink, Verizon, RoadRunner. . . etc. Right now, even NetZero looks good!

[xtc]

i hate aol. in my opinion, it's the worst ISP you could possibly have. it's a rip off, it's a pain in the *** to cancel, and they try to keep your business by suspending cancelled AOL accounts' screennames and not allowing AIM users to view AOL profiles.

[mismindyTM]

^That's true. I still think that they should go with my idea to make it optional for the AOL members to allow the AIM users to view their profile. (hmm, does that already exist?) It's a win-win situation.

[xtc]

yeah thats a good idea. but aol wants to make as much $$$ as they can so i don't think that will happen.

[southernstar216]

hey...does anyone have a username and password i can PLEASE USE...i'm not gonna like...check ur e-mail or w/e...i just realli need to see someone's profile that has AOL...so please someone...my aim sn is the same as my username 4 this thing! any one please! thankya

[mismindyTM]

sorry. . . don't use AOL. but if you want to view your friend's profile really badly and has AOL installed on your computer, why not just ask your friend to give you his username and PW? tell him to sign off, and then you sign on.

[xtc]

why dont you just ask someone with aol to look at their profile and then cut/paste it to an email and email it to you? i'd do it for you but i don't use that piece of ****

[angelbaby]

this is so gay! i have aol! but they kicked me off! and i can't view no profilez! cuz now i'm not AIM! i hate AIM! itz soo annoying!!