Is there a way to do private messages?

[snetzley]

Hello GSI folks.

First, thanks for providing this community. I find it enlightening and helpful. And it's great to be able to connect with other guitarists. Your staff has been extremely helpful, too.

I have a question. Is there a way to send a private message to one of the community participants? I ask because there are times when I'd like to take a conversation offline, but I'm not sure if I want to post my email address, or ask someone else to post theirs. Though I have done both. :P

Thanks!

Sharon

[adrian]

Hello Sharon,

Thank you for your generous comments and participation for which we are grateful. We too learn a great deal through these Guitar Forum discussions and all of us here at GSI share your enthusiasm.

Those are good questions you've raised about private messaging and email addresses. As you can imagine, we're in an unusual position. On the one hand, we do all that we can to encourage open discussion about all manner of subjects concerning the classical and flamenco guitar. We implemented the forum several years ago largely because of a conspicuous lack of places where those interested in learning about the guitar could find an international gathering place. On the other hand, our company has gone to great expense in developing and maintaining this site which we take pride in.

Our policy, which was arrived at only after considerable debate, is intended to clarify to what degree we would intervene in messages posted on our forum. What we arrived at was this: that we would allow and participate in virtually any discussions which obey commonly accepted standards for decency and respect. However, hosting a forum in which individuals or dealers could sell their wares would not only be in poor judgment, but it could potentially lead to liabilities well. Spamming was also a concern for us. And we chose to minimize this risk by not publishing the email addresses of our Guitar Forum users.

Posting of one's own email address for non-commercial contact outside our forum is, of course, perfectly acceptable and we have no desire to censor such legitimate posts. As a consideration to our customers, we would be glad to remove a user’s email address from any of their posts upon request. However, because private messaging is indeed private, and therefore does not contribute to the community, we have decided not to include that feature in our forums.

We feel it is fair to ask that anyone wishing to sell an instrument directly refrain from advertising that fact in our forum, and that they seek another venue for such exchanges. It was with careful consideration that we arrived at this policy, and we are confident our visitors will understand and respect it.

I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to post any comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,
Adrian, GSI

[snetzley]

Hi Adrian,

Yes, you answered my questions, and more. It's great to have your rationale and your policies stated so clearly.

My thanks!

Sharon