Mastodawn

Matt Blaze Nov 25, 2023

Periodic reminder that the "Direct Message" / "Private Mention" function here is dangerously broken with confusing semantics.

- Anyone mentioned *anywhere* in the body of a PM gets a copy.

- "Disabling" PMs in your profile merely means YOU never see messages sent to you; senders can still send them, with no error indication.

- Nothing is encrypted, which means administrators on any instance that processes a message can see them.

I strongly recommend using something else for private messages.

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Suzanne Aldrich (she/her)Nov 25, 2023

@mattblaze It's so crazy to me how badly this was designed. It pretty much fits nobody's conception of what a "direct message" or "private mention" could possibly mean. How is this feature supposed to be useful? Did nobody attempt to plot out how it might get used or thought about by users? #UXFail #DesignFailures

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Mark Squires

@suzannealdrich @mattblaze I have to admit I just don't send DMs here. That's my solution. I find out where else someone is (and they are always somewhere else) and send the message there. Too easy to make an embarrassing mistake here.