A discussion has started on direct messages (DMs) that are sent to an individual but read by a group. geoff777 shared their experience of replying to a DM, only to discover afterwards that it was being read by a group, feeling that this was “underhand.” Heliosurge asked for a screenshot to better understand the situation, suggesting that groups can be added to DMs during or after creation. Falco noted that all private messages are visible to staff members as an essential moderation tool, and linked to an existing discussion on the topic of PM privacy.
I’ve recently received a DM and replied to a DM that looked like it was from an individual, but unknown to me until after I had replied … a group was reading the exchange (the view counter went crazy and OP got some likes).
As the person on the receiving end of such a pseudo 1:1 exchange it seems underhand.
Am I wrong?
Should the recipient be given some indication it isn’t really 1:1 and of who will be able to read the exchange?
Can you share a Screenshot? As after a DM is created fir example a group could be added or was added during the creation.
A group message will often have it’s own mailbox so id created in Group mailbox could be also directed to a specific user with group included.
With your ss you can redact edit out sensitive material. To only show included recipients.
All PMs are visible to all staff members. It’s an important tool when moderating a Discourse instance.
Lots of existing discussion on this subject over the years: