by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 100
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Once upon a time, perhaps. But now, no. I like to come here to answer questions (I seem to ask unoriginal ones - so I'm taking a break from that!), and a message feature would detract from that. Plus I think people would use it for the wrong thing and abuse would occur, not in the spirit of AB.
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Yes, I think it would be useful. When I was on a similar Q&A site a few years ago this 'private' facility allowed us to give things like email addresses etc to people we wanted to expand conversations with. The staff always had access to the private conversations so they could not be abused. My husband and I have made deep friendships with and continue to correspond with some wonderful people around the globe that I met on a similar site.
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G'day Anonymous Thank you for your question. Possibly although it would require a lot of work and not everyone would use it. The ability to send an e-mail passing on messages privately to registered e-mail addresses without people revealing their e-mail might be better. Regards
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I don't believe so. I may be wrong, but the raison d'etre of AB was the expansion and sharing of knowledge, through asking and answering questions. Having a private message facility turns it into a forum, and there are plenty of those, both specialist and general, already lurking around the internet. AB has dared to be different, and I applaud that. As for the e-mail part, I have my e-mail in plain sight on my profile. Go there, look, and write to me if you want to. If you can't see it then my e-mail is Iain.Mair1@btinternet.com You don't need a private message facility for that, and I reckon PMing would mark the end of AB as people would chat to each other and stop asking questions or giving answers.
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Yes!!! Sounds like a wonderful idea.
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Yeah. It'd make the place into less of a social hangout and more of a credible place to discuss questions and answers. Then again, we don't need another MySpace. Maybe something like IMDb?
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Sounds good, but situations like what i witnessed yesterday wouldn't work in a private message. This annonymous guy was slagging off some users on here, and we were all able to stick up for the accused and make the annon guy look like the size of an ant. If he had being doing it in PM others wouldnt be aware, and he could have really upset someone. Plus they would have to come up with the whole blocking system. Would be good to discuss things, but i think people would take advantage.
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I like the commenting system because it encourages debate. Afterall this is not a dating site!!!!
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You could still do that - you could email if you wish! Comments are often more interesting than the actual q and a, so let's not let go of that.
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Yep
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I do indeed. That way you could give someone your email address and not broadcast it to the entire AB population. +++ for the cool thought.
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It would be cool if they had an instant messenger type of communication.
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Yes, I hate it when people carry out long personal conversations in the comments. No one else wants to see this, and their small talk perminately scars the web site.
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I think it would be a fun addition!
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I do.
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It would make it a little too MySpace-y for me. I don't know that I would ever use it.
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Sure why not.
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I think it would be cool! Although, it would make it easier for people to stalk me. *sigh*.
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Meh, I'm not that interested. It's probably better for other people though.
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I'm down for whatever the AB gods choose to bless us with.
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I think it would be a great addition! You dont have to use it if you dont want to, also i like quite a few people on here and would love to have chats with them but i wouldnt want to give my email out on here for all to see! and if your going to be insulted at least the pummelling can be done with dignity without all to see and further embarrassement! nobody deserves to be torn apart by anyone in public...it wouldnt be done at work, and its not professional! so yes great idea :)
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That would be a good idea.
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Oh goodness. I hardly get any work done as it is. I should just quit now:)
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this could be very very cool. an ICQ branch just for ABers. you can talk to your friends in the friend list. and also meet new ones. it is also good for sharing files and sharing personal information like emails and phone numbers in private and not for the whole world to see.
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I think it would be a very good idea.
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I would LOVE it...I always want to ask people more about themselves or why they answered a certain way...but maybe not publicly. That would be way cool!
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I have an account on Wis.dm and they have one. It isn't difficult technology to implement. this website is AB's solution to this or that. If you feel compelled to ask this or that type questions, then by all means get an account on this Q & A site so that AB isn't cluttered with worthless low quality questions. I'm Baron Kevin Von Bagsley over there. I like to purge the urge so I log on there to ask all those comparative type questions and get them out of my system. http://www.wis.dm http://www.gopetition.com/online/13504.html
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Yeah, that would be pretty hot.
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As long as it's better than the one Myspace has, that one is horrible. It would encourage a lot of dialog back and forth between people and they could take their "fights" off the board so we don't have to view the carnage for weeks and years afterward. Sure sounds much better than that bloody chat room we had a few months back.
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It's been discussed... it has been said it would take away from the front page and the poor AB staff would have a difficult time getting us to click those darn ads! Just ask the bagger for their SN. They normally comply.
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I like the idea, and it's been suggested a number of times already. I think eventually they will add that, but the work queue for system enhancements is always long. Meanwhile, here's what I do if I want to speak to someone: I dig back into their early answers, find one with no comments, and add a comment to it. That way it doesn't show up on the front page, they get notified, and the conversation proceeds on the comment thread created. If it's really a private conversation, we'll take it offline to e-mail.
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Sounds like a plan.
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I think its a great idea :-) maybe just for people on your friends list so you can control it yourself.
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I strongly support the idea, esp since it's now getting to be a bit more of a social site
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I am a full supporter :)
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I think it's not something so hard to be done, and it will help ALL the users a lot in here...
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Yes, without a doubt.
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No way- I love the threads- all those peeps chiming in. Lots of shared info.
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Yeah it would be! Maybe us users could start some kind of petetion thing asking for one...
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It wouldn't be better at all. Then it'll probably get more like myspace and facebook.
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Yes it would be nice to have this option available. I wrote in to AB and suggested it a few weeks ago. I hope they add it.
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It would be an interesting suggestion. At times I could have used it.
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I'm not sure. I would say if both ABers agree to have a private message thread, then that would be acceptable. But if a user starts spamming or stalking another, this could cause problems.
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abso-mutha-truckin-lutely I asked a question quite similar to this, and I'm still searching for a way to get around this lack of private messages
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Bad idea! If you read the blog you will see AB is having bandwidth problems and is needing to remove features of this site to help with those problems. The addition of an inbox for private messages would simply add to the problem, not help cure it! Also, it is easy to search for a user (or just add them to your friends list) then leave a comment for them.
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i think they should because if you have friends that you just want to talk to then you can not through comments.
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Oh okay, well then it's understandable if it's a bandwidth issue. Thanks for that answer. I need to read the blog... How do you leave a comment for them without a question or public view being involved?
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It could be a good idea. I would pay $2 or $3 a month for something like that. If we chip in a couple bucks a month they could probably hook up a couple of servers that could carter to this service. It would be a very good and valuable service.
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Yes, I think this is long overdue.
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At the very least, the CLs should have an internal Email so we don't have to flood comment threads with "Who's a CL? Is _______ on? Hey, _______, can you whack this dude upside the head for me?"
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YES they should and you should be able to block emails from people with in that system!!!
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like most boards of this type, yes, it should be like that on here. Too many people, myself included, are quick to give their email address up to someone right on the board. It's such a pain in the ass to create new email addresses...
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If you have something to say, say it here. We want to know what you are sharing. Share it here. people already list their emails in their profile. there are already so many free email sites. google aol yahoo just to name three free ones. lets not give answerbag any ideas that they might think they could charge us money for using. its free. lets keep it that way.
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I thought I wanted that at first. The most fun aspect of joining Answer Bag has been meeting the users. In these past two months, the most fun and interesting thing is who I chance to meet around the boards, and I thoroughly enjoy those interactions. In fact, it's a large reason why I do AB. So, I guess it's corny to say that email would "take away" from the mystique, but I admit that I enjoy being a member of AB as it feels like a very small, friendly town where you don't need exact addresses to reach a friend.
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Most definitely. This would be especially useful when political questions turn into debates or if someone would like more amplifying information.
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I think that is a great idea! I'd use it a lot!♥
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That would be nice, but as I've described in other answers asking about "bells and whistles" (see http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/2678368 ) almost ANYTHING new that will require processing time will slow down the servers, causing more and more complaining about AB slowness.
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I think that is a fabulous idea!
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That is an awesome idea!!
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Sounds like a great idea
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I think it would be great.
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I would like that. I do not often say that Yahoo Answers does anything right but, to me, their email system is an excellent idea. It can be turned on or turned off so, if you do not wish to be emailed, you do not have to use the feature. However, I have found that it works quite nicely on AB to go into someone's comment thread and ask them to email me.
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Yes , I think so!
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now thats a great idea and I would support it wholeheartedly ..and I can't really see any problems coming out of it especially with the blocking button in place to take care of any unwanted fools ...goodonya!!
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that would be an awesome idea
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I agree that it would be a really good idea but by doing that do you think Answerbag would turn into a type of Social Networking site rather than just being a Q & A site?
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I love love love that idea, Kev. I thought "they" were working on something like that last year! :) pc
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For me it sounds like a great idea, and if you propose that to the staff you got my support.
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Yes. I love the debate of questions and answers but sometimes people use the comments to discuss things totally unrelated to the question which can be annoying if you are watching a question because you get all these comments you have to wade through to find the ones that are actually on topic. Also I have noticed some people will start discussing things that should be private and when someone else comments they get annoyed, but after all, they are making public comments. There are other messengers like MSN or yahoo but you would have to give your id to everyone here as it would be public.
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You can send private messages, through your email.
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YES YES YES! So as a alternative you just need to get to know the person and send messages to their IM if they exchange it with you.
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nah, this isnt myspace of facebook
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You can send all the messages you want - just exchange emails. A question and answer site is not here for private messages.
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Yes, I would love that!
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I believe it has been suggested before, but no response so far. You can communicate with your friends anyway through emails and instant messaging.
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Yes. It is called e-mail or instant messenger.
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Nah, I am not big into privacy.
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not really. it would just make being on this site more difficult with my overly jealous s/o. dont get me wrong hes awesome and perfect, hes just is wierd about the internet. i was relieved to find this site didnt have that kinda stuff
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Definitely. It would stop a lot of the long, long comment threads where folks hold conversations, which generally are not pertinent to the question.
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If they do it will kill their advertising revenue.
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This has been discussed many times and the answer is always no. AB is having big bandwidth problems and a PM system would only increase those.
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Members can always give out an email address to other members who wish to conduct private messaging. I occasionally use gmail and MSN to chat with other members. I don't see any need for having PMs being an element on AB because real time isn't that important here. I post answers or comments that sometimes may not get addressed for hours, weeks, or even months. I have no problem with this because I always have friends in here who keep me very busy in present moments of time.
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It has been suggested before, but the main obstacle is AB's bandwidth problem. Personally I think AB should just fix the bugs and glitches first before introducing new features or making changes in the site.
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Yes, I've thought the same thing before. AB chatroom would be nice.
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Heck no... I'm on here too much as it is.
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Yea,that would be neat
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Yes I think it would be a neat idea.
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yeah, i think it would be a cool idea
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no...plenty of chat places around-complete with all the bad stuff that goes with them. I'd rather see this forum remain as-is.Been there done that with chatrooms many years ago..too many issues,too many idiots.
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yea. it always confuses me that you can have friends but have to dig through questions and answers to talk to them
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i think that would be great! AB is quite a good way to meet people - and on different levels to any other site! :D
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I was just about to ask this question :) I agree. Similar to the facebook chat, where you can log in and see if any people from your friends list are online. It'd be cool to talk to them live one on one like that.
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No, most people list an email and you can have a private chat through that. I do it that way a lot.
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not a bad idea...I also wish there were more options for cross-referencing members, questions, answers, and comments...
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They should have some sort of chat area, that would be great.
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Yes yes yes
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I think that'd be cool :)
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I like that idea. I want to communicate more with some people.
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A bunch of people have been asking for that feature, or a very similar one, for quite a long time. I can't remember if any of the Staff gave an affirmative answer as to whether or not they would look into doing it, but, obviously, thus far, it's not been a priority. I've always thought it would be a good idea. ++
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It's not a bad idea and would help the CLs be more accessible. LynfromNM suggested a shared CL in-box for that. As for people not bombing with negs or nasty comments just because they can reach you via a private box. . .doubtful that would improve. People can take their squabbles offline if an e-mail address is in the profile of the person they wish to argue with. This rarely happens unfortunately. Some people just like to get on the ol' AB rooftop and scream "look at me--I need attention, I don't care if I look like a fool trying to get it". Ughhh. I think it might not be a bad thing to have though :)
- M.C.S. - Dave 
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