Do Myspace trackers work?

[Rose]

I don't want one but I have come across a few profiles with little icons for tracking and it kind of weirds me out if they are getting my IP address or checking up on whoever is on their page. I've searched and read a couple different things about them not working or them only giving your IP address and location.

Just wondering if anyone knew.

[cabby9871]

I don't think so. I have signed up for one with no luck.

[moderngal]

good lord I hope not!!

[Brandles]

good lord I hope not!!

ITA!!! :eek:

I thought they just counted how many visits your profile got. And that's what I hope!!

[Katie1]

My friend has one and she is obsessed with it. All it does is tell her what town the person is checking from. She spends hours trying to figure out who she might know in whatever town it is. It is a bit off because there are times when she knows who the person was that checked her page, but the town that the tracker logs is three towns over from the person's actual town.

[lawyergirl25]

Yes, I use Trakzor and TrackSpace and they work.

ETA: I should add that I do use a proxy server if I want to surf anonymously.

[Rose]

ETA: I should add that I do use a proxy server if I want to surf anonymously.

What is this?

I guess I don't really understand why people care so much who looks at you page. I get that there are privacy reasons, ( I have my own and make my page private) but I don't need to know which friends are looking at my page.

[Sadie]

Yes, I use Trakzor and TrackSpace and they work.

What information does it give you? IP address?

[shopaholic]

my profile is private so only my friends can look.

[lawyergirl25]

What is this?
So I - being so not tech-savvy - don't screw up the explanation: proxy server (Wiki) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server). Guardster has a free one.

What information does it give you? IP address?
Yes, and IP location. If the person viewing your page also has an account with the tracking service, their profile details will show up (i.e. profiles of other Trakzor users appear in my Trakzor log, but those of non-users do not unless I match them manually).

my profile is private so only my friends can look.
Same, although my TrackSpace is coded in my headline, so I can see anyone who looks at my profile.

[jbenny75]

OMG, they work!! :eek: There goes my guilty pleasure!!

[shopaholic]

I thought I read that myspace was strictly against trackers and if your profile was found to have one your account would be deleted.

[allyray231]

Holy Crap!

[Katy]

I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much. Most sites you visit have a tracker, even if you don't see the little icon to let you know. From my own personal experience (my personal blog has a basic stats page that comes from the site itself - no tracker installed) that I'm more interested in what someone searched for to find me - and there are some strange and bizarre search terms out there. I also like knowing where someone is from and wondering if I know someone from out there, but I can't say that I've ever bothered to track down an IP. I really wouldn't worry about it...unless you happen to be stalking someone ;)

[lawyergirl25]

I thought I read that myspace was strictly against trackers and if your profile was found to have one your account would be deleted.
I've heard that but haven't seen it enforced yet. If it happens, it happens.

[ShelbyMay]

Crap. No more looking at the ex's page. :o

ETA: So, I looked up my own IP address, but when I put it into an IP search engine, it only give the info for the cable company. Is there a way for someone to find out more specific info that points directly to me?

[Katy]

ShelbyMay - I don't think you can usually get more info than that. You can get the city or the state, and the internet provider. I think from there, if you have a legit issue with someone you contact the internet provider and they take care of it and dig deeper. Not too much the average person can do.

[Heidi9771]

Yes, I use Trakzor and TrackSpace and they work.

ETA: I should add that I do use a proxy server if I want to surf anonymously.

Just a question...with Trakzor, will it only track someone if they have Trakzor on their profile too (ie Trakzor users can only track each other?)

[lawyergirl25]

Just a question...with Trakzor, will it only track someone if they have Trakzor on their profile too (ie Trakzor users can only track each other?)
No, it tracks the IP of anyone who looks at your profile, through an icon imbedded in your profile. If the person accessing your profile also has a Trakzor account, their MS information will appear in your visits log - name, link to their profile, etc. If the viewer doesn't have a Trakzor account (or they're not logged in to MS and accessing your profile from a different IP), they're still tracked, but only the IP address and location will appear in the log.

I think you can work around Trakzor by disabling images (if the Trakzor icon can't load, it can't track viewers), but I'm not 100% on that.

[ejs]

Why do people use this on their MySpace page? If you have a public page, why do you want to track who sees it?

For web sites, I understand tracking where your hits are coming from.

[Scooter]

I guess I don't really understand why people care so much who looks at you page. I get that there are privacy reasons, ( I have my own and make my page private) but I don't need to know which friends are looking at my page.
I didn't use it for myspace, but I did use one for our family blog. In additoin to the IPs, it also listed whether people found you through surfing, through a search engine (and which one), or if they typed in your exact address. That kind of helped me get an idea of what our traffic was and if it was mostly family and friends who knew the url or strangers finding the site. (that's what cemented the idea of moving it to a password protected site. ;))

So there's that aspect of it, and there are also plenty of people who use their myspace pages for business promotion, so it's not just people curious about whether their ex-boyfriends are lurking. ;) (just kidding, ex-boyfriend wonderers!)

[ShelbyMay]

Dude, I just keep checking to see if he's fat or bald yet. ;)

[moderngal]

Dude, I just keep checking to see if he's fat or bald yet.
me too!!

I think you can work around Trakzor by disabling images (if the Trakzor icon can't load, it can't track viewers), but I'm not 100% on that.
how would one go about doing that?

and what about using a blackberry? can it track that? even if you're using a hot spot?

[lawyergirl25]

how would one go about doing that?
For IE, change the setting in your Internet Options (Advanced --> Multimedia --> uncheck the "Show Pictures" box). Alternatively, when I use Guardster, it gives me the option of disabling images.

and what about using a blackberry? can it track that? even if you're using a hot spot?
I would think it could track any IP that hits. I couldn't say for sure.

[ShelbyMay]

So, I'm thinking this is no big deal b/c I live in our hometown and so do 8 billion other people he knows -- er, that someone might know. ;) So the ISP info wouldn't really reveal much, anyway, without a court order.