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Add messaging to scoop?
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By gcmillwood , Section Wishlist []
Posted on Mon Dec 04, 2000 at 12:00:00 PM PST
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To help 'build community spirit' why not build some kind of messaging into scoop?
The basic idea is to to provide a uniform method for any user to send a message privately to any other user, that is integrated into the site. The messages would be stored for a length of time, so that if the user is not logged into the site when the message is sent, they would receive it the next time they logged in.
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This idea sprang out of a comment I made to a story on k5, and the follow-up story someone else posted. Reading these might give a better idea of the motivations behind the idea, and the arguments against it.
Why?:
This would enable users to respond privately to another user's comments or stories. Of course conversations completely unrelated to the site would also happen.
It has been suggested that email/irc/[insert IM client of your choice]/diaries should be used for this purpose. However, not all users reveal their email address, not all users can or do use irc/[IM client], and instant messages of whatever form are often not persistant (if the user isn't logged on, then they don't get the message). In addition, in general users are lazy (I know I am), and do not want to start up a separate application in order to contact another user. Diaries are not private, so would be inappropriate for some types of messages, and using diaries would rely on users proactively checking their diaries for comments.
How:
This is probably best illustrated by example:
- I read a comment by a user that I wish to reply privately to. So I click on a link in the comment header to 'message' them.
- A new page opens up (similar to comment submission), where I fill in who to send it to (defaults to username, but I can change and add to the send-to list), subject, and message body).
- I click send and it gets added to the recipients messages.
- The next time the recipient refreshes or opens a new page on the site a 'slashbox' type thing on the right hand side (similar to the hotlist box) would show my message (subject and author), along with any other messages the user has received).
- Clicking on a link in this box would open their message list.
- The recipient could then reply via a link in the message header.
Possible downsides (technical):
- Harassment - messages could be used by one user to harass another. (e.g. inappropriate sexual propositions). This could be dealt with via 'ignore' lists, or in extreme cases banning the user.
- Spamming - '$$$MAKE MONEY FAST$$$' or similar could be sent to every user on the site. This could be dealt with by only allowing each user to send n messages in m time, or to contact n users in m time.
- Consumption of diskspace - storing an unlimited number of messages for a unlimited length of time is asking for trouble. I suggest limiting each users message to a max size (either number of messages, or total size of messages. It would probably be worth limiting the maximum size of an individual message as well).
Possible downsides (cultural):
'messaging would move discussions away from the public articles into private messages'
'people would use messaging and nothing else on the site'
'users will ignore messages completely'
These arguments do not have technical solutions, and a consensus on these and similar arguments should probably decide whether this idea is worth developing.
So is it worth discussing this idea further?
Are there problems with the design?
What improvements would you make to the idea? |
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