Private messages complicate things, don't they? And of course they zing around SI all day long, between most of the people here. People who tend to be the most sure that private messages are being sent that affect them, tend to be people who use them a lot themselves (it's natural, we assume everyone does what we are doing). I get a lot of private messages, many unsolicited, but even though those messages are unsolicited, I would not share that information with anyone. I used to think, years ago, that when people sent me information in pm's that I did not want, it was a huge imposition, and I could use the information any way I wanted. I try to look at it as a compliment now, and I protect the privacy of people- it seems to work better that way.
Except of course for the nasty PM's. I think the best thing you can do about those is ignore them (but of course I only think that is best because that is what I do), and unless they rise to the level of an abuse of the TOU, don't tell anyone about them (though I agree that would be difficult on this thread, if people ask you to reveal private material and some of that material involves PM's, and they have influenced your decision to ban people.) |
