Frequently Asked Questions
What is Offline?
Offline is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities.
How can I protect my privacy?
You can adjust your privacy settings to allow only you, your friends, friends of friends, or people within your network to see it. And further, you can create different privacy settings for each information on your profile.
What does it mean when friends display on the left side of my profile?
Offline chooses 6 of your friends at your school completely at random to display on your profile.
Where do I say what college I'm going to?
When you join Offline, you aren't just joining one large network. Instead, you are affiliating yourself with a specific network on the site that just includes other people from your school. When people from other networks view your profile, it will automatically display which network you belong to.
What is the Browse page?
The Browse page shows all users whose privacy settings allow you to view their information. When you click on "Browse", ten random users from different networks are displayed.
Why does the Browse page repeat people?
Since the selection of who is displayed is random, there is a chance that the same person will be displayed on two pages. This problem will alleviate itself as more people join.
How do I search for something besides names?
When you use basic search, it will search for everything on the site that matches your query. If you're looking for something specific, try the advanced search on the search page.
If I reject someone, will they find out?
No. When you reject someone, their friend request will leave your list of friendships to confirm, but they will not be notified. They also will not be able to send you another friend request for some amount of time, so to them, it will just seem as if you haven't confirmed their friendship yet.
If I remove someone from my friends list, are they notified?
No, but all friend links are reciprocal, so you are removed from their list as well.
How can I view the visualization?
In order to see the visualized social nets, you need to go to your my social network page.
How do I navigate through the visualization?
Left-click and hold while dragging to scroll, or use the mouse wheel to zoom. Left-click and hold on a connection while dragging to reorganize the graph.
Can I change my name and password?
Yes -- you can request a name change and change your password on your my account page. For quality control purposes, we confirm all name changes before they take place. Password changes take effect immediately.
What is poking?
We have about as much of an idea as you do. We thought it would be fun to make a feature that has no specific purpose and to see what happens from there. So mess around with it, because you're not getting an explanation from us.
Who made this site?
See the about page.
When was the site started?
It was launched to the public on Thursday, February 4th, 2021.
Is this a class project?
Nope, just for fun.
What kind of graph theory algorithms are you using to process connections?
I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask that.
I have a question that's not covered in the FAQ. How can I ask it?