March CC Update: Direct Messaging

[Marjo0]

Hi everyone!

You might have noticed, and I know some of you have been trying it out as well during the past few days, that we have a new feature on the Community Center! If you hover over another member’s profile card, you can now see a link to send them a Direct Message. This has been one of the most wished-for features and we are happy to say version 1 is now available.

Sending the DM will create an email notification to the recipient, and they can respond to you by simply replying to the email. The tool is based on an anonymized email system so it is totally safe to use. Having said that, of course keep in mind the Community Center general guidelines when interacting via DM with other members.

Additionally, check out a really great guide on how the tool works here. Thanks for posting this, @Dave-and-Deb0 ! 🙂

Quick further update:

I know you are all very excitedly waiting for further developments we are making to enhance the Community Center experience. We’ve mentioned earlier that design, usability, community feel, and way finding are one of the main elements being worked on. Again, thanks so much for all the feedback you have provided so far on these! The development teams are hard at work on these changes and I can't wait to chat more about them when we have more details.

In the meantime, we would love to collect your feedback on the new DM feature, so feel free to respond to this thread with your thoughts. Let us know also if you spot any issues with the tool, and we'll forward these to the development team as well.

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Marjo0,

I think it is great that your team has added the Direct Messaging.  

I have a couple concerns and one question.

CONCERNS: I know that the system generates a completely different email address and all messages go through your email program.  My concerns are that if I respond to a DM, the person who I am messaging will have access to my email address, Twitter username, LinkedIn username and Google+ profile as I have these as part of my email signature (each image is linked)

I can also send my email or phone number and it does not block it.  My other concern is that there does not seem to be anyway that you can turn off DM'ing if you wanted to.  I have only looked last night so if a way has been added, it would be great to let people know.  It looks like it is automatically turned on as part of using the CC.  See screenshot below.

QUESTIONS: Will Direct Messaging be available to guests when you open up the CC to them and when will you be opening up the CC to guests?  Also, some people do not have DM'ing.  What determines if you have it on or not?

Thanks again @Marjo0!

Dave