Why this exists
Most social networks measure how long people spend on them in order to make that number go up. Ceylon Chat measures it so that you can see it. The figure is shown to you and to nobody else, and everything built on top of it is a limit you set on yourself rather than one the site sets on you.
See your own time
- 1Go to Settings.
- 2Find Your time here, near the top.
- 3You will see today, this week, your average day and your longest day, with a small chart of the last seven days.
What is actually counted
- How it is measured
- One minute at a time, and only while Ceylon Chat is the page in front of you. A tab left open behind something else counts nothing.
- What is stored
- One number per day. Not what you looked at, not when, not on which device — there is no page, no timestamp and no session anywhere in it.
- Whose day
- Yours. The day rolls over at midnight where you are, not where the server is.
- How long it is kept
- Four months, then it is deleted automatically.
- Who else sees it
- Nobody. It is not on your profile, it is not in the admin panel, and it is not sold to anyone.
Set a daily limit
- 1In Settings, under Your time here, open “Tell me when I have been here”.
- 2Pick a length — twenty minutes up to three hours — or No limit.
- 3When you pass it you get a small note in the corner. Nothing stops working. You can close the note and keep going.
Break reminders
Under “Remind me to take a break” you can ask to be nudged after twenty minutes, half an hour, forty-five minutes or an hour in one unbroken sitting. Going away for a while and coming back starts the count again.
Quiet hours
Quiet hours are the times you do not want Ceylon Chat writing to you. Set a start and an end — ten at night until seven in the morning is the usual choice — and no email is sent to you between them. The clock used is the one where you are.
- What stops
- Emails from us, including the unread-message summary.
- What does not stop
- The site itself. You can use Ceylon Chat at three in the morning if you want to — quiet hours are about us not interrupting you, not about us shutting you out.
- Password resets and codes
- Always sent. A security email is never held back for any reason.
If you are under 18
An account belonging to somebody under eighteen starts with quiet hours already on from ten at night until seven in the morning, and a break reminder after forty-five minutes. This follows the Information Commissioner's Age Appropriate Design Code, which asks that a young person's account begins with these protections in place rather than buried in a settings screen they have to find.
Common questions
Can the people who run Ceylon Chat see how long I spend here?
No. The admin panel shows totals across everybody — the average visit, whether it is going up or down — and there is deliberately no screen anywhere that lists members by time spent. The same figure is care when it goes to you and surveillance when it goes to the owner.
Does it count if I leave the tab open and walk away?
No. Counting only happens while the page is actually in front of you, and it stops the moment you switch to another tab or another program.
Why does the average not match my total divided by seven?
The average is over the days you actually came here, not over the calendar. Dividing by seven would tell somebody who was away for a week that they are doing very well, which is not information.
Will a limit stop me using the site?
Never. It shows you a note. You asked to be told, so you are told — what you do next is yours.
Is my time included if I ask for a copy of my data?
Yes. It is part of the export you can request under Settings, listed as your time on the site.