Private Reply?

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In many user forums, you can reply privately to someone. Is there a way to do
that in these Microsoft forums so that only the poster receives the reply? Or
are all replies open to the whole community by policy? Thanks ...
 
Bill said:
In many user forums, you can reply privately to someone. Is there a
way to do that in these Microsoft forums so that only the poster
receives the reply? Or are all replies open to the whole community by
policy? Thanks ...
Click to expand...

Hi, Bill. Please see my rather detailed and lengthy answer to your other
post in this newsgroup. And no, I don't have a link - it was in the
thread "after 10 minutes things get hosed".

Because this is Usenet, some people provide their email addresses,
munged or unmunged, and some people don't. If the person has provided
an email address then you can contact them that way. If the email
address is obviously false (as mine is), then you can safely assume
that they don't want or will accept email from newsgroups.

Malke
 
Bill F said:
In many user forums, you can reply privately to someone. Is there a way to
do
that in these Microsoft forums so that only the poster receives the reply?
Or
are all replies open to the whole community by policy? Thanks ...
Click to expand...

Gosh I hope not. It's very impolite.
 
If you are using Outlook Express and IF the poster has given his proper
email address then you can.
But a lot of persons on these Help groups have realised that in order to
reduce their Spam to give a "fake" or srambled email address.
it is best to ask first.
peter
 
Frank said:
"Bill F" wrote:
Click to expand...
Gosh I hope not. It's very impolite.
Click to expand...

I would say that it's impolite only if a) the message itself is impolite
or b) if one must stalk someone to obtain their email address.

Some of us welcome email, and I've made good friends--even some who have
become real life friends--by keeping my mailbox open to the world.

If one does not want email, then the proper use of a munged ("invalid")
or throwaway (e.g., (e-mail address removed)) address should be enough of an
indicator to keep personal correspondence at bay.

rl
--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff
 
Bill said:
In many user forums, you can reply privately to someone. Is there a
way to do that in these Microsoft forums so that only the poster
receives the reply? Or are all replies open to the whole community by
policy? Thanks ...
Click to expand...


First of all, note that what you are calling a "forum" is actually a
newsgroup. You happen to be participating in this newsgroup by using the web
interface, which as far as I'm cocerned is the slowest, clunkiest, most
error-prone method there is. You might want to do yourself a favor and
switch to a newsreader, such as Outlook Express, which comes with Windows.
See http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

Regarding personal replies, most of us feel that replies should be sent to
the entire group so everyone can benefit from them. However, if you use a
newsreader instead of the web interface, you will see that a personal reply
*is* possible, as long as you have a valid E-mail address for the person you
want to reply to. Many of us (me, for example) don't post using our real
E-mail addresses because we prefer not to get personal E-mail from newsgroup
participants.
 
Ken Blake said:
First of all, note that what you are calling a "forum" is actually a
newsgroup. You happen to be participating in this newsgroup by using the
web interface, which as far as I'm cocerned is the slowest, clunkiest,
most error-prone method there is. You might want to do yourself a favor
and switch to a newsreader, such as Outlook Express, which comes with
Windows. See http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

Regarding personal replies, most of us feel that replies should be sent to
the entire group so everyone can benefit from them. However, if you use a
newsreader instead of the web interface, you will see that a personal
reply *is* possible, as long as you have a valid E-mail address for the
person you want to reply to. Many of us (me, for example) don't post
using our real E-mail addresses because we prefer not to get personal
E-mail from newsgroup participants.
Click to expand...

I do use a personal email but it is an alias - so that not on this newsgroup
where the subject is not of the type where you might not wish others to know
your identity - but in other groups where personal views are being given it
is often safer for the poster not to identify him or herself. After all a
newsgroup is a place for a free exchange of views - but in groups where
sensitive subjects are being discussed eg in politics and religion it is
often better if one's identity is not known.

Then when or if people write to me I will judge whether it is safe to give
them my actual email address - and, of course, doing so is I presume an
indication that I trust them.

With an alias I am also able to change it if I start getting too many spams.
They are not really increasing and so the alias I use is one that I have
been using for quite a few years.

Nick
 
REPOST To ALL:

This forum does seem to be a bit anonymous. That is fine; we all recognize
the purpose of this NG. Also, we have the obligation to protect ourselves
from internet whackos.

Unfortunately this allows very little "grease" for the machinery of
inter-personal communication. And if there is anything this world needs it
is better communication.

So here's a question of a personal nature which still allows anonymity. I
have seen this idea work in other, much more tense forums:

What is your favorite ice cream (or dessert)? Mine is definitely coffee
flavor :-)

Mark in FL, USA
 
Callmark1 said:
REPOST To ALL:

This forum does seem to be a bit anonymous. That is fine; we all
recognize
the purpose of this NG. Also, we have the obligation to protect
ourselves from internet whackos.

Unfortunately this allows very little "grease" for the machinery of
inter-personal communication. And if there is anything this world
needs it is better communication.

So here's a question of a personal nature which still allows
anonymity. I have seen this idea work in other, much more tense
forums:

What is your favorite ice cream (or dessert)? Mine is definitely
coffee flavor :-)
Click to expand...

Hi, Mark. Actually, you will find that there is very little personal
chat in most tech support newsgroups, especially in very busy ones such
as this one (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general). This is A Good Thing
because it keeps the focus on tech support. Too many OT posts can
destroy a newsgroup, particularly a technical one. It is important to
keep the signal-to-noise-ratio optimum. So while your heart is in the
right place, personal posts here aren't really desirable. I hope you
understand that I am not criticizing you at all by saying this and mean
in no way to hurt your feelings.

If you want a more personal experience, then I'd like to recommend a few
wonderful web forums:

http://aumha.net/ - MVP Jim Eshelman's site - The emphasis is on tech
support and security issues, but there is a general discussion forum

http://computerhaven.info/forum - MVP Patty MacDuffie's site - aimed
more at novices, it is a kind and caring place. There are technical
forums, but also a "Ten Forward" forum (yay Star Trek!) for just
visiting with each other. I can't recommend Ms. Patty's site highly
enough - it is really very special.

Malke
 
Understood. Thank you for your message; I do not feel criticized. Just a a
shame to see the posts in here morph to ranting and even occasional flaming.
If we can't eliminate OT, then at least we could steer it to somethig
positive (like coffee ice cream). LOL

I will cerainly visit the sites you recommended.

Mark
 
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