Loomio

Idea: Private messaging between users

Steve Phillips / @elimisteve PublicSeen by 77

I've wanted to do this several times now, haven't you?

Is this idea too shadowy for some? Would listing more contact info on someone's profile be enough?

Discuss!

Private, one-on-one messaging between users

proposal by Steve Phillips / @elimisteve Closed Fri 5 Dec 2014 4:04PM

Results

Daniel Nephin
Disagree

There are already so many ways to communicate between individuals on the internet. Email, IRC, IM, etc.

I don't think we need yet another mechanism for this. I would prefer to allow users to publish their contact details on a profile page.

Sir Wumpus
Abstain

On the one hand, this would frequently be of some use.

On the other hand, I already have too many places I need to check daily for messages -- adding one more just makes my life harder.

Deleted account
Disagree

I think the temptation to take discussion away from the group discussion to easy to fall into. I find myself wanting to do this, but realise that there is generally a way of couching the on going discussion so it can be seen by everyone.

James Kiesel
Disagree

This isn't what Loomio is for, and trying to do so is putting lipstick on a hammer, IMHO

Greg Cassel
Disagree

I'm concerned that private discussions can subvert group discussions if private messaging is directly facilitated within a given environment. Time and again, I've seen coercive influences (often subtle) applied in dark places.

Clark Davison
Agree

Agree but don't think contact information should be displayed by default. A request for info should be sent from the profile screen. The member could then "approve" that request.

Matthew Bartlett
Agree

When Loomio becomes 'discussion-first' rather than 'group-first' this will be pretty easy, I think

Benjamin Knight
Abstain

my main concern would be complexity detracting from Loomio's core functionality - though maybe there's a simple solution for sending an email to an individual user

Julian Dumitrascu
Disagree

You can talk with me using e.g. Google Hangouts.

GB
Agree

People who meet here won't often meet elsewhere. People are gathered here by specific subjects, they should be able to say a private word to someone about this subject. Seeding a message could be redirected to email.

GB
Agree

People who meet here won't often meet elsewhere. People are gathered here by specific subjects, they should be able to say a private word to someone about this subject. Sending a message could be redirected to email.

Ben Burton

Isn't there effectively already a way to do this by making a group of two?

Steve Phillips / @elimisteve

@BenBurton Just tried to do it, and when I tried to invite people, I got this:

"Invite people to your group. Enter email addresses, separated by commas: ..."

:-\

Ben Burton

@elimisteve At least that's something that could be "easily" fixed by the development team. Including user names when inviting to a group.

Steve Phillips / @elimisteve

@jameskiesel @jameswilson @dnephin @sirwumpus Even though you all disagree that we should have private messaging on Loomio, if you agree that being able to privately contact fellow Loomio users via other, non-Loomio means is valuable, please vote on this new proposal to allow us all to optionally add our own contact info to our own profiles for other Loomio users to see. This proposal currently has 4 votes, all Agrees! https://www.loomio.org/d/7nJLR2gB

Clark Davison

I have introduced this in another discussion about per user activity feeds, the relevant part for this discussion being

Also shows how the issue of Contact details could be handled simply and a simple badge honor / reward system.

Click her for the per user Activity Feed discussion

I have also attached the image to this post because it is relevant to the discussion.

Clark Davison

I have edited the mockup again to showcase some of the possibilites. What do you think?

Clark Davison

That doesn't show up "in comment" I'll try with a .png

Ben Burton

I'll mention again, couldn't the existing infrastructure of Loomio accommodate "private" messages by allowing for a closed group of two people? Actively hindering communication is a poor direction to choose and seems to be the antithesis of the foundation of Loomio.

Clark Davison

@Grégoire Barrault - have you seen the proposal for

and my earlier post in this topic with a mockup proposal for the "User Profile" page.

The site currently uses a twitter style @ to alert another member of a comment that "mentions" them. This already triggers an email notification (at least it does for me) .

I propose that if a member chooses to share contact information then

  • "Request contact details" will show up in their profile page.

  • They would approve/decline that request

  • If approved each member would see the other persons "contact icons" which are easy to press on a mobile interface and would trigger that communication system. Email, facebook, g+, twitter etc.

EDIT :

Once again your @ name is not appearing as a link and I guess you are not getting notifications.

GB

@alandavison, you're right, I didn't get your mention notification. However I received one for your comment since I was following this topic (since I voted). I've seen the activity feed proposal and you're mockup.

Mention users is a good feature, but it is different from sending private message. If I want to say something to you only, I must post in this topic.

I don't think 'add to contacts' or a request that need an answer is a good idea. It needs too much implication. No one will do that. Even group creators don't spend enough time here to get benefit from this feature. Just my feeling, I may be wrong.

I wish I could automatically send you a private message, by default, at least if we are in a common group, and you would receive a notification, without me knowing you're mail address, exactly what mention already does, but private. Unless you deactivate notifications or block me personally of course. Then no contact list to manage positively, no request/approve, only have to block someone exceptionally. It fits better this website since regular users won't spend enough time here.

Clark Davison

@Grégoire Barrault I think the issue with your name and not receiving mention notifications could be down to the "é" character - just guessing so I could be wrong. I would assume that the unique @ name is some form of concatenation of the Sign up name and the algorithm can't cope with the accented character. Maybe @richarddbartlett could point us in the right direction or know who may have a better idea why.

I agree with Private messages as you can probably see from my previous posts. Some other members are also open to private communications so there is a willingness there to communicate.

However, as has been pointed out previously there are already dozens of ways that users can communicate privately and the Loomio team's focus is on getting core components working on the new platform. At this stage I see email being the simplest to implement and most likely to be checked regularly but other users may have their own preference.

There are several sites that allow email communication without knowing the other persons actual address, the site acts as an intermediary. I don't know how much work this would involve.

The reason for the request / approve is that some users have expressed privacy concerns but this could be addressed with a simple opt in / opt out method.

Essentially we are all using Loomio to discuss Loomio. The issues we are having transitioning to a mobile interface with limited space, things that work in Beta that don't currently work in 1.0, Features we would like to see, etc.

I have managed to find one or two users contact details from the links they have supplied and therefore implied that they are willing to share that info. I haven't contacted anybody privately yet because my time is currently spent in the discussions.

Clark Davison

@Grégoire Barrault

I have read your comment again ...

I’ve seen the activity feed proposal and you’re mockup.

I can assure you I am not mockup :-)

Clark Davison

Hi Grégoire, I just wanted to see if this works and if it does do you
get my email address or a via Loomio style message?

Clark Davison

@Grégoire Barrault It looks like I am replying to your comment an not you directly.