Private Threads INSTEAD of PM's

[TheWorldNewsMedia.org]

14 years ago someone made a thread with this title.... now archived.....

I think it was some serious... ahead of their time thinking.... and something IPS should have listened to.

Slack is basically doing this with their direct messages

Anyone have any modern 2019 ideas on how this concept could be done correctly?

[Joel R]

One of the premises of an online community is getting input, debate, and discussion from multiple users.  Hosting private one-on-one topics is antithetical to the premise of shared and mutual discovery, wouldn't you agree?  

I'm not against the idea of private topics on their own merits, but you'll need to provide a compelling reason why it would fit within a community suite like IPS.  

[Jennifer M]

I'd even be so inclined to say that a Private Club or "PMs" which are just private conversations can reach that goal with no issues. The PMs being available depending on how the site staff have it setup but you can include specific members in a PM exclusively.

I'd probably say a private club would be more user friendly though.

[bfarber]

Yeah I have to say, I'm a little confused. You can send a "PM" (which is now officially "personal conversation") to more than one user, effectively allowing you to discuss a topic with multiple users in private. That's essentially the same thing as Slack direct messages.

[TheWorldNewsMedia.org]

Slack Direct Message to one or more parties = 

 

IPS personal message = 

 

On 9/23/2019 at 8:44 PM, Joel R said:

but you'll need to provide a compelling reason why it would fit within a community suite like IPS.  

I would reverse your logic and state...

Why wouldn't any modern forum / social media want fast personal / direct messaging?

What purpose does the 30 second delay and need to refresh the entire screen to see if someone responded  actually serve? 

Is there a whole group of people I'm missing who love delays?

I wonder if anyone ever said... "You'll need to provide a compelling reason why anyone would ever use an internet speed faster than 56K" 

[TheWorldNewsMedia.org]

In case anyone cannot picture what I am talking about.

This is a screenshot of a private direct message between two people on Slack. (Yes they ALSO have public and private "channels" (groups).....

Except these feel "real-time"....

 

To me if you want to talk "Permanent text".... let's compare stone on building exteriors as in Egyptian temples.
 

[kmk]

The problem of PM is it like other inbox of mail, the private topics I think it is some create inside the forum environment. If we have the private topics feature, will help us build a communication around the forum logic and habit use, avoiding separate the discussions some in inbox and others in forums. 

I think this feature can make the forum more interesting, topics managed better and centered. 

It will bring more positive values than negative. 

[bfarber]

Slack is an entirely different type of product with an entirely different focus. Their aim is to provide a messaging solution, where group and direct messages should be instant. This is analogous to the old IP.Chat software we used to produce.

A community package (i.e. "forums") are not the same type of thing, so comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges.

Our personal conversations feature can provide direct 1 to 1 (or 1 to many) private conversation functionality, and while we can and may improve it in a future release, I don't think Invision Community will ever head down the path of becoming a Slack clone.

[TheWorldNewsMedia.org]

No one is asking for a "Slack Clone"

We (I) am asking for "real-time" like Slack.....

I officially give up.

 

Let's all be happy with our stone chisels and call it a day!