Comments on: Do Social News Sites Need Private Mail? Mixx Thinks So.

By: Terbaik.Net » Blog Archive » Mixx’s New Feature Aims To Get Breaking News To Home Page Faster Than Digg

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:40:58 +0000

[…] September, Mixx has been on a tear to release new products. Groups came in December, followed by private mail in Februrary. Also in February they released a clustering feature that I think would fix a big […]

By: BA

BA — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:51:05 +0000

Lets not forget about nobosh Mail, which is launching today!

By: FatLester

FatLester — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:42:08 +0000

Mixx is awesome!

I discovered Mixx just over than 3 months ago and now hang out there pretty much exclusively. The community is terrific, the content is top-notch and features unbeatable.

Another thing that I like about Mixx is that it is clearly being run by professionals, something that cannot be said of some of the other sites in its class.

I am very pleased with the addition of the private mail feature. The reason I wanted this feature is for the situations that arise where a member of the community needs to contact another member of the community, but to do so in the ‘comments’ section would be inappropriate, embarrassing or distasteful for whatever reason.

Not much ‘gaming the system’ goes on at Mixx compared to other sites. The community really seems to uphold a much higher standard of integrity when it comes to voting and vote-swapping, and I hope and pray it stays that way.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:19:42 +0000

The same with identities. If each site has its own private mailbox; I guess the eclosion of a new service to agregate your privates mails into on single. Back to the old style email!

By: StandardsDT

StandardsDT — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:40:23 +0000

@gilltots

The mixx logo is a spoon stiring in a bowl. Hence the name “mixx”. It wouldn’t make sense if it were a drumstick and a bowl…lol.

By: Jedberg

Jedberg — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:27:29 +0000

reddit has had private messaging for years, and users seem to love it. They especially love being able to send PM’s to the admins. reddit’s inbox also gives you every reply to every comment you make in your inbox.

I think it was quite an omission for you to not mention this in your article.

By: Enrico Kern

Enrico Kern — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:32:57 +0000

Our german “clone” yigg.de added this features (groups, group forums, private messages) allready over 1 year ago…

interessting that such a little feature is worth a techcrunch story…

By: SilentJay74

SilentJay74 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:18:00 +0000

This has actually been requested by the user base at Mixx on more then one occasion. It is nice to see that Mixx LISTENS to the users. There are people on Mixx who would like to interact privately rather then publicly on the Mixxingbowl forum. If I want to send a private message to a user and do not have their e-mail address this makes it possible. However do not send me submissions via the inbox. That is what the share function is for.

By: Ganesh Iyer

Ganesh Iyer — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:35:05 +0000

I think every Social networking site should have private messaging feature. Many people know each other only through these social networks and if they want to message each other privately without the whole world knowing about it…I think its okay.

Ganesh,
Ganeshnomicks

By: Business News Research » Do Social News Sites Need Private Mail? Mixx Thinks So.

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:01:21 +0000

[…] VIEW ORIGINAL ARTICLE Add to del.icio.us • Digg this! […]

By: gilltots

gilltots — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:01:09 +0000

i think mixx has really good prospects, and i’m psyched that a company right down the street from me in northern virginia is making waves - but i’d like to clear something up. is their logo a spoon sticking out of a bowl, or a drumstick hitting a drum? this keeps me awake at night.

By: Soap

Soap — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:57:00 +0000

mixx needs to grow in order to become even just a bit relevant. as such, “email” is a feature that might help.

should they already have the audience digg has, it would be a burden, and might even scare people off as spammers make it their battlefield.

there are WAY BETTER ways to help users connect than providing yet another inbox. but mixx is not in the business of providing the most useful solution for users. it’s in the business of providing the best solution for mixx itself. and btw, who’d blame them?

By: newskicks

newskicks — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:42:06 +0000

i think it is required,adding social networking features means user can communicate with each other
i have exact same feature,infact more on my site:-
http://newskicks.com

By: Avi Muchnick

Avi Muchnick — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:11:17 +0000

“The only other social news site that has mail is Propeller, which is owned by AOL.”

Plime.com is another social news site with private messages and message boards and chat.

It’s fostered a tremendous sense of community there.

By: Jonathon

Jonathon — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:08:47 +0000

I have been with Mixx for about two months and so far I have really enjoyed it. I think the new mail feature will be a great addition to the site, as long as you have the ability to block people from constantly asking you to vote up an article.

By: Edith

Edith — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:45:53 +0000

The Delegate: Yes, Mixx does have enough users. I am a Mixx user and am looking forward to having private messages.

Steve Johnson: Before commenting on a site, you should try to use it first. Otherwise you have no credibility. Especially when blatently hawking your own site. Mixx has had your idea of “channels” when it launched like 6 months ago. The entire site is designed around it. Great clone idea, though.

By: The Delegate

The Delegate — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:05:54 +0000

Does Mixx have enough members to warrant such a feature?

By: yongfook

yongfook — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:31:01 +0000

I think I speak for all developers when I say that internal mail systems on social networks are among the most tedious thing ever to code. Someone needs to create a good drop-in tool for this (not some hacked-together plugin, a properly managed external service) as it’s fricking depressing once you’ve got all the other way more interesting functionality of your site wrapped up and then you think “oh bugger it needs a mail system” YAWN.

By: OpenSocialMail

OpenSocialMail — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:30:55 +0000

Open social sites needs Open Social Mail, in addition to private mail.

By: Random Person

Random Person — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:42:52 +0000

Erick,

Have you totally forgotten about reddit?

They’ve had private messaging for a very long time now.

As the #2 Social News website, I think that’s a very big thing to forgot/miss.

-Random Person

By: Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:39:54 +0000

It’s so hard to contact people on some social media sites because historically they have had very poor code bases and subpar programmers. This is going to change. For example the stealth social media startup MyProps.org improves upon Digg and Mixx in every respect, including the ability to send private messages and create your own Category / Topic (called a Channel). This allows users to focus in on whatever niche subject they are interested in. User-created channels can themselves be voted on, so the best channels are easily found.

By: Digidave

Digidave — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:34:10 +0000

I think the people who participate in social news sites like these should communicate via private or group messages - but I think it would be better if they were able to do it offsite - at a social network for all of them. That’s why I recently created the Ning site http://socialnewscentral.ning.com

The idea is just to let people get to know each other without any voting involved - it helps people get to know each other so they can find good news recomenders. Messaging on-site feels like dirty politics.

By: Zach Weisman

Zach Weisman — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:22:31 +0000

Collusion will always exist.

There will always be a financial incentive to game the system on any social news site, thus there will always be collusion.

People can exchange IM names, e-mail accounts etc…and communicate outside of the network however they would like. Instant messaging privately is how all of the top diggers communicate.

So, if you can’t beat em, join em. Mixx is betting that by opening this line of communication within their network they will gain popularity and growth…

By: Rupert

Rupert — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:20:27 +0000

I think its a good idea to provide en email as long as you have settings which enable you to put everybody on block except those in your friends list.

R
http://www.techbanyan.com

By: Doctor Excuse

Doctor Excuse — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:09:15 +0000

I agree with Huntermunkey. It is harder.

http://www.howtomakeexcuseletter.wordpress.com