Scenario:
- User A only wants to receive private messages from users they follow
- User B accepts private messages from everyone
- User A doesn’t follow User B
- User A sends User B a private message
- User B can’t reply
In this scenario User A wants to start a dialogue with User B, but is unaware that User B can’t reply due to the privacy settings of User A. Currently User A doesn’t get any messages that this limitation is in place, therefore expecting to receive a reply due to the fact they sent a PN to User B.
We propose that when User A starts a dialogue with User B, the permission for User B to reply will be automatically enabled (or alternatively User A gets notified of the situation).
We see a few options to do this:
- (Opt-In) When User A clicks “send”, a message appears: “You are not following User B. They will not be able to reply. Click here to follow User B”. User A can then either send the PN anyway, now knowing User B can’t reply, or they can follow User B first before sending the PN.
- (Opt-Out) When User A clicks “send”, a message appears: “You are now following User B so they can reply to your PN. Go to User Bs profile to unfollow them if you don’t want to receive further PNs from them.” User A doesn’t need to do anything now but can unfollow User B anytime if they want to end the conversation.
Our preference would be the Opt-Out option as it is one step less User A needs to take but still has the information and tools needed.