Why are PMs disabled on this board?

[Rover]

Is there any good reason why Private Messages are disabled on this board?

I have paid to read the reviews on this site but it would be nice if I could send or receive PMs from other members should the need arise.

Perhaps they were disabled for some reason some time ago. Can these be reinstated please?

[adminpaul]

We initially did not activate private messaging to protect users' privacy. After all, do you really know who is writing to you and what their underlying motives may be? We invite comments on this topic and are open to activating private messaging.

[JISAlum]

Without PM, I usually have to find a way to get my email address to the other person to have a private conversation. Either I have to post my email address on the board, or the conversation dies. Not the best solution.

Even with an email address I have to consider the ID of the person. Let users decide on whether it's in their best interest to PM someone. There are benefits to turning on PM, and it will encourage communication.

[bayani]

I completely agree with Rover. I think your intentions are good Admin, but it's all pretty Big Brother-esque.

The idea that you've disabled PM's to protect us doesn't really fly. Honestly, we all use the internet for a hundred other things like banking, paying bills and online purchases that open us up to much more risk than sending someone what is basically an email. You gotta believe that we have the ability to discern who to talk to/trust. Really not much different than filtering through the public posts on here.

Again, I know the intentions are good, but really, I think everyone would appreciate opening up PM's.

[specialed]

I have to agree with you bayani. this site is built upon anonymity, yet they don't want to enable the pm feature because of anonymity? I sense an admin conspiracy!

[ichiro]

deleted

[Pike]

The reason for the PM being disabled is comical,...

But, I always had a "second" anonymous email I use if I want to keep my identity private. I started the practice years ago when I use to post on political forums, but in today's facebook era, its a really good idea to have one.

[tictac]

One more vote for enabling PMs. I believe it would greatly help teachers getting in touch with other teachers over info they might not wish to air so publicly.

[schoolcounselor]

I support opening the PM system fully. Anyone who is using the internet has a responsibility to make their own judgments about the way they interact with and connect to others. And we assume our own risk in this situation as well. I've been a member of enough other communities to know that if there is an out of hand situation of harassment, a member can ask the admin to step in and block that person.

It is understandable that the admin might not want to take that chance, but my personal philosophy is trust first, assume the best in people and in most cases, people are decent, caring and helpful.

Opening PM's would really increase the value of this board and I believe, increase it's use by educators...which only serves to bring more information that we all need to make sound choices.

Please. Post a poll and let the members vote on this.

thanks!

[markholmes]

I vote for PMs too.

[interteach]

Deleted

[bulegila]

Same here. Being able to have PM's would be useful. It's up to the user to protect themselves not big brother/ISR :)

[Open Communication]

One can still PM and use an anonymous email address and still correspond with someone and neither person will find out who the other is. So 2 people could discuss a school they work at and if they are careful neither one will find out who is who. If you want to reveal your identity then just be careful.

[one2many]

.isr

[dreamgiver]

I vote for PM!