An alternative to PMs

[katamari]

Since there seems to be no clear agreement on whether or not PM should exist, perhaps there are other options to pursue. Would it be possible to do something along the lines of Google chat? In case anyone is not familiar with the system, when you are logged into your Google account, you have the option to be either available or unavailable for people to send you a private message that you can then engage in a pop-up chat window.

If possible, it seems that it would address all possible issues. Most importantly, it would allow people who want to be in contact privately with one another do so; it would only be available while the member was logged into PS (so it would allow the member complete control over PS contact and time use); it would not impact or include any member who did not agree to it; even when signed in, a member could still be shown as unavailable for contact; it would not increase e-mail volume.

Again, I am not sure it is possible, but I was just using Google chat and realized it might have the terms of an agreeable solution.

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Hey there,

Great idea! However, I think the problem with PM, chat, personal email, Facebook etc is that it removes from the site as individuals have a tendency to seperate off and begin/maintain relationship aside from Pricescope. As an observation it encourages individual to be isolated if they are not part of the "cool crowd"...Venues such as these remove any possiblity of moderation. Pricescope is all about the wonderful people so I can see what the concern is with alternate methods of communication.


but hey I''m cool so I''m not worried, LOL joke.

 

[turboflgrl]

I'm not sure of all the issues relating to PM's, but on another forum (unrelated to jewelry) that I post on, you have the option to turn off PM's so that you don't have to be bothered with them if you choose not to be. You can also turn them back on if you need to (if you want to send someone a PM or decide later you want to send/receive PM's).

I will admit, sometimes I find it frustrating when I just want to ask someone a question about their ring or other piece and I have to broadcast it across the entire board. To me, it's a waste of valuable space on the forum. I also don't understand the "maintaining personal relationships aside from PriceScope". Personally, I've never seen that as an issue. My boyfriend is a moderator of a 40,000+ member forum and they have never seen an issue like that.

 

[Ali]

katamari,

Thank you for taking the time to explore other solutions. If we decide to allow PM''s, there will be an option to ignore/disallow them. Functionalities such as these are minor issues that we will address and discuss if we decide to reinstate the PM system. The only issue right now is whether or not we want to go back to having PM''s as we did previously. We have seen the dynamics of the system with and without PM''s and we are continuing to analyze both scenarios.

 

[Ali]

Date: 12/1/2009 2:11:06 PM
Author: turboflgrl

I will admit, sometimes I find it frustrating when I just want to ask someone a question about their ring or other piece and I have to broadcast it across the entire board. To me, it''s a waste of valuable space on the forum.

Questions and the resulting education is never a waste of space. If you have a question about something, it means that the information/answer is not there. The chances are very high that someone else has the same question. If everyone has access to the answer, we all benefit.

 

[elle_chris]

Totally agree with Iwannaprettyone. Also, it becomes too tempting for vendors to promote their goods, as well as shilling.

Maybe the mods can create a few "chat rooms" where private messages aren''t allowed. This way, you can still talk but everyone sees what''s going on. No room for shilling or promoting.

 

[strawbearlyjamms]

Ditto everything. I''d like the functionality of PMs and find that other bigger forums dont have issues. I dont really understand why to not have them, and if you find some users abuse that feature you can "ban them", and those who dont want it can turn it off.

 

[SapphireLover]

I was just coming to this board to make a suggestion about having PMs or something like that. I think one area we are not good at discussing openly is the cost of things, and I know some people do not want to make things like that openly public. It would also be useful if people have had slightly negative experiences with vendors (not just PS ones!) and don''t feel able to post about it. I know that a PS member on here has had issues with a vendor in my hometown, but doesn''t want to post about it to make it public. I am sure he/ she would be much happier to pass on the info in a PM.

Maybe PMs could be optional- so people can opt in, and people could block individual members if they were shilling!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 1/10/2010 1:23:27 PM
Author: SapphireLover
I was just coming to this board to make a suggestion about having PMs or something like that. I think one area we are not good at discussing openly is the cost of things, and I know some people do not want to make things like that openly public. It would also be useful if people have had slightly negative experiences with vendors (not just PS ones!) and don''t feel able to post about it. I know that a PS member on here has had issues with a vendor in my hometown, but doesn''t want to post about it to make it public. I am sure he/ she would be much happier to pass on the info in a PM.


Maybe PMs could be optional- so people can opt in, and people could block individual members if they were shilling!

The whole point of this forum though is to share experiences, good and bad, and pricing info, etc. If we have PM''s a large part of what this forum does would be gone in a flash because people would start asking questions and sharing info privately instead of on the forums where it can be utilized by MANY people.

 

[Hest88]

I''m a huge proponent of PMs and was sorry to see them go due to a few abusers. I''m on a number of forums with PMs and, as long as abusers are promptly chastised, they work really well.

The problem with not having PMs is that a) when you''re trying to reach someone you run the risk that they never see your post b) if you want to ask a simple question (hey, where did you get your ring?) ditto and c) if someone is sensitive about answering a particular question publicly they don''t have venue to do so. This is especially the case on big, popular bulletin boards where people tend to come and go. PMs would allow a person to ask a simple, targeted question and hopefully reach someone who may not be actively checking PS.

 

[risingsun]

I belong to several other very large forums, all of which allow PMs. It doesn''t seem to interfere with the free flow of public information. If we receive a PM that is spam or shilling we could report it to admin. I don''t think it would take anything away from this forum, but would allow for another dimension that is absent. There are some posters I would like to get to know better and I do not think that there is anything wrong with this.