No need for a private message area.
But it would be nice if yc would email people on your behalf. Most people do not think of adding their email address to the profile area.
Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
11–20 of 24 posts
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#12No, IIRC pg asked once and some people said they didn't want yet another messaging system to check. Personally I think it would be great because a) not everybody remembers to leave contact information and b) you get the instant context and can forgo the "hey, I'm not a stalker but I thought you wrote something interesting on HN"
Having my news.yc and reddit lives linked to email would be chaos. The additional messaging system to check would be more convenient -- not inconvenient.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#13Those who want to be contacted should probably just leave their email address or preferred method of contact. It takes just as much effort to use an email client as does using a messaging system; the only difference is one would be checked on a regular basis, the other, not so much. Plus, as mentioned, people don't want yet another inbox to check. For those who don't drop a link to their homepage or list their email…
You can make the inverse argument that people not interested in a messaging system could just not use it while giving those who want it the context + convenience of a native message box.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#14Those who want to be contacted should probably just leave their email address or preferred method of contact. It takes just as much effort to use an email client as does using a messaging system; the only difference is one would be checked on a regular basis, the other, not so much. Plus, as mentioned, people don't want yet another inbox to check. For those who don't drop a link to their homepage or list their email…
I would add my email address to my profile if there was some way to build in spam protection such as re-Captcha's mail hide tool:
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#15No, IIRC pg asked once and some people said they didn't want yet another messaging system to check. Personally I think it would be great because a) not everybody remembers to leave contact information and b) you get the instant context and can forgo the "hey, I'm not a stalker but I thought you wrote something interesting on HN"
not everybody remembers to leave contact information
This is really a usability issue. It might be more effective to make it clear what is and isn't private than to build an internal messaging system.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#16Those who want to be contacted should probably just leave their email address or preferred method of contact. It takes just as much effort to use an email client as does using a messaging system; the only difference is one would be checked on a regular basis, the other, not so much. Plus, as mentioned, people don't want yet another inbox to check. For those who don't drop a link to their homepage or list their email…
You can make the inverse argument that people not interested in a messaging system could just not use it while giving those who want it the context + convenience of a native message box.
True. The option to turn it off would be very nice, if not essential for a lot of people. But I am just pointing out the fact that I have missed opportunities because of messaging systems on other sites. I would have responded almost immediately had the same message came to me in the form of email. Its the result of me forgetting to check 20 different messaging systems I have on various forums/communities - there are just so many to check, and I can't check them all each day and thus some get ignored. I guess to each there own, but on another note maybe someone wants to solve this "checking in on message systems of online communities" problem. Could be the disqus.com of messaging systems.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#17Those who want to be contacted should probably just leave their email address or preferred method of contact. It takes just as much effort to use an email client as does using a messaging system; the only difference is one would be checked on a regular basis, the other, not so much. Plus, as mentioned, people don't want yet another inbox to check. For those who don't drop a link to their homepage or list their email…
I would add my email address to my profile if there was some way to build in spam protection such as re-Captcha's mail hide tool: http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/
My primary email address and several secondary addresses are public in easy to find spots on the web, including my HN profile. All these addresses use gmail and I am not having a problem with spam.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#18No need for a private message area. But it would be nice if yc would email people on your behalf. Most people do not think of adding their email address to the profile area.
Ya this might be a nice opt in option. It preserves privacy and keeps people from having to handle yet another messaging system too. My email happens to be a google talk handle. So that occasionally leads to contact.
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#19Put your contact info in your profile, check the profiles of people you want to talk to, and get on with your life. =)
Re: Can you private message peeps on Hacker News?
#20Those who want to be contacted should probably just leave their email address or preferred method of contact. It takes just as much effort to use an email client as does using a messaging system; the only difference is one would be checked on a regular basis, the other, not so much. Plus, as mentioned, people don't want yet another inbox to check. For those who don't drop a link to their homepage or list their email…
I would add my email address to my profile if there was some way to build in spam protection such as re-Captcha's mail hide tool: http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/
reCAPTCHA's mailhide can generate a URL that the user can visit to obtain your email address. Perhaps you can post that URL in your profile. It's long and ugly though.