Why do people make a post to say they've sent a mefi mail?

June 5, 2008 7:08 AM

Why do people do this...?

Why do people post replies in askme threads to say they've sent the OP a mail. The OP already knows and no-one else needs to know, so why do it?

To me its like the person is saying 'I've got something really important but secret to say and I want everyone else to know it'.

I've noticed this phenomenon in other forums too particularly in one forum where people post projects they want collaborators on, people will reply just to say 'PM sent' (which the mods have just officially forbidden)

And apologies to Sian, I'm not singling you out, you're just the last person to do it.

posted by missmagenta to MetaFilter-related at 7:08 AM (127 comments total)

I sent you a MeMail that explains everything.
posted by grouse at 7:11 AM on June 5, 2008 [35 favorites]

Because not everyone is a heavy user of the mail and misses the teensy icon change. What might be called a "heads up."
posted by cowbellemoo at 7:12 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Well, if (a) the asker didn't specifically request mail and (b) the user doesn't know if the asker checks their mail (or mefimail) regularly, letting them know about the sending of mail in-thread (the one place a user can be sure the asker will look) is a way of making sure the mail gets read.

Ideally it should be kept to a minimum—I tend to think of it as something that makes more sense in time sensitive contexts than in open-ended situation—but there is a rationale for it.
posted by cortex at 7:13 AM on June 5, 2008

I am with missm on this one. When it is regular email the comment is appropriate, and its current use may just be a habitual carryover from before mefimail, as many of us had mail accounts specifically for mefi and didn't check them very often. However, there is a little box in the upper right hand corner of mefi pages that tells you when you have mail. I guess some people might miss that but I doubt that is enough of a concern to merit a comment about the mail in the thread. It comes off sounding like a self pat on the back rather than a helpful reminder, IMHO.
posted by caddis at 7:28 AM on June 5, 2008

However, there is a little box in the upper right hand corner of mefi pages that tells you when you have mail.

A little box that's newish, that many users have never gotten anything in except for the "hey there's mefimail" announcement message that it was born with, and that by default doesn't do anything to try and snag the users attention when new mail is sent other than turn yellow.

Which is fine, and realistically I think most users will notice it at least eventually even if they didn't really know it existed before, but there is a reasonable risk there that signicant time will pass between sending and receiving. Again, mostly relevant for time-sensitive answers, but I don't think it's particularly weird or at all self-agrandizing behavior in general.

Now, "Check your email -- I've solved ALL your problems, thank me later" would come off as a pat on the back. Heh.
posted by cortex at 7:45 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

It gives the OP someting to mark as best answer, of course.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:50 AM on June 5, 2008 [5 favorites]

I've mailed you my perfect answer that these fucking philistines wouldn't understand.
posted by electroboy at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2008 [3 favorites]

Oh, I don't know. I had mail once. I didnt actually read it until some time after it was sent as there was no appropriate place to say 'motty check your mail'; no-one did, and I didn't. So I have no problem at all with people telling each other to check their mail in comments. It comes off sounding like they are aware that otherwise their mail may not be read for some weeks. IMHO.
posted by motty at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2008

that many users have never gotten anything in except for the "hey there's mefimail" announcement message that it was born with

Aww, that's sad. I'm on vacation, who wants MeMail?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Who do people put on their turn signal after they've already braked for their turn?
posted by Burhanistan at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2008

I say we start perma-banning people who do it.
posted by BeerFilter at 7:52 AM on June 5, 2008

I agree that it's silly- it's a public forum. Why can't ones answer be public?
posted by gjc at 7:54 AM on June 5, 2008

gjc: I can understand why people wouldn't want the whole world to know their answer to a sex question. But I don't see why, when that is the case, they are willing to have the whole world know they answered it. A subtle distinction, perhaps.
posted by grouse at 7:56 AM on June 5, 2008

Why do people do this...?

Because it feels so good when I stop?
posted by KokuRyu at 8:01 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've had mail sit there for days before I noticed the change in the icon. An in-thread heads-up is nothing to go panty-wadding over.
posted by sourwookie at 8:01 AM on June 5, 2008

Why does the homeless guy camped by the intersection near my office use spoken words with me when he knows that we've already established a telepathic link?
posted by Burhanistan at 8:03 AM on June 5, 2008 [16 favorites]

I can understand why people wouldn't want the whole world to know their answer to a sex question. But I don't see why, when that is the case, they are willing to have the whole world know they answered it. A subtle distinction, perhaps.

I'm not sure it's that subtle of a distinction in general, though. Wanting to help with specific answers to broad questions about relationships, sexuality, criminal records, etc, without disclosing your details (or your SO's details, or etc) isn't really surprising.

If the question was highly specific, sure: responding to "Hey, does anyone here have a lot of experience with furry orgies in Baltimore" with "check your mail" is probably no better than answering in the clear. But they're not all like that.
posted by cortex at 8:09 AM on June 5, 2008

Look at it this way, telling someone you sent them a message in-thread is a lot better than hitting them in the face with a machete.
posted by The Straightener at 8:19 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Furry orgies in Baltimore? I am so there.
posted by waraw at 8:23 AM on June 5, 2008

Psst! Cortex! Looking for furry orgies in Baltimore? Check your Mefi mail.
posted by sourwookie at 8:23 AM on June 5, 2008

Another very valid use of email is to recommend a particular physician, lawyer, etc without plastering their name all over the internet. Some professionals would welcome the publicity, many would not.
posted by caddis at 8:25 AM on June 5, 2008

"Hey, does anyone here have a lot of experience with furry orgies in Baltimore"

I sent you a Mefi Mail.
posted by dersins at 8:25 AM on June 5, 2008

Every time I put out a hypothetical example like that, I try to mix it up a little. I figure that that way, if anybody goes hunting through my posting history, they'll conclude either that (a) they're really just hypotheticals, or (b) I am like the king of the perverts or something.
posted by cortex at 8:25 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

I once got a MeMail from one of the mods—the black guy, I think it was—and I was so thrilled, I resolved to never again wash my inbox, if you know what I mean.
posted by Mister_A at 8:25 AM on June 5, 2008 [2 favorites]

HIJACK: Does anyone else just send people MefiMails just, like, on a whim? I wouldn't dream of sending an email to 99% of people on this site. Somehow, Mefimail seems less intrusive.

I am, against the weight of evidence, not a pervert.
posted by Jofus at 8:27 AM on June 5, 2008

Some pent up peeps round here.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:27 AM on June 5, 2008

Jofus: check your MeMail...
posted by Burhanistan at 8:28 AM on June 5, 2008

Psych!
posted by Burhanistan at 8:28 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Also, maybe if you have your Mefi mail forwarded, it's a heads-up that there's an email coming that might look like spam? Or it's forwarded to an otherwise unused account (per caddis)?
posted by Pax at 8:29 AM on June 5, 2008

I send people mefimail every once in a while for the heck of it, yeah. Mail is fun and nice, and aside from the work-related stuff I probably get more than my share of whimsical stuff coming in, so paying it back out feels right.

I also rarely initiate admin-type email over mefimail, for some of the same "will they see this and when?" concerns that apply to time-critical private askme answers, actually. Straight email, there, and occasionally even a "user x, check your email" comment in metatalk when there's communication-gap weirdness.
posted by cortex at 8:30 AM on June 5, 2008

Who cares? Really? It's a very small point of etiquette which makes no difference either way except that one of the ways happens to annoy you.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:31 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've said it before, but one more time couldn't hurt: That MeMail envelope dealy is too dang small.

Make it big, and make it blink.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:38 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Why do people ask rhetorical questions?
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:38 AM on June 5, 2008

(and put it somewhere people might actually see it)
posted by Sys Rq at 8:39 AM on June 5, 2008

this...this is what we're arguing about? From IANAL to Memail? Srsly?

Did I miss the memo that this was I-need-to-whine-on-metatalk week? Don't you people have a troll to feed or something?
posted by Stynxno at 8:43 AM on June 5, 2008

Does anyone else just send people MefiMails just, like, on a whim?

I've sent a few like that. Like to say, "hey, I loved this comment" or "did you ever figure out X?"

I would say only 50% have responded. I don't know if people don't see their little mail icon or if I come off as a weirdo. I hope it's the not seeing thing.
posted by peep at 8:43 AM on June 5, 2008

*feeds Stinky*
posted by cortex at 8:44 AM on June 5, 2008

Don't you have a LiLo fansite to update?
posted by Burhanistan at 8:46 AM on June 5, 2008

Weirdo.

[not random emailer-ist]
posted by Pax at 8:46 AM on June 5, 2008

Why do people say "QFT" when they haven't quoted anything?
posted by Ragma at 9:02 AM on June 5, 2008

QFT.
posted by cortex at 9:04 AM on June 5, 2008

"Quit fuckin' talkin'"
posted by Mister_A at 9:06 AM on June 5, 2008

And apologies to Sian

Have you ever noticed that Sian people do this, and Magenta people do this?

What's all that about?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:22 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

In MeFi I think people do it the same way they say "I flagged this" and then also flag it. In Ask, people do it to say "yo, check your message boxes."

I have 1337 MeFiMails in my inbox and I am not lying.
posted by jessamyn at 9:24 AM on June 5, 2008

You're also linked by 420 users.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:25 AM on June 5, 2008

I'm callin' the cops.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:26 AM on June 5, 2008

Also, the 420 entry on Wikipedia has dozens of cites therein.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:27 AM on June 5, 2008

Queue for Theatre.

Which reminds me of a story my grandma Ginny told me.

In 1941, during the Liverpool blitz, it was not uncommon for morale boosting shows, concerts and even operas to be arranged by the management of the Liverpool Empire and other theatres. These were invariably impromptu and arranged at short notice. Someone would walk out of the theatre, plonk a sign down and the queue would form to get in.

(Ginny always said that during the war, if you saw a queue, you joined it. Didn't really matter what the queue was for.)

Anyway, one day the management of the theatre put on a truncated production of Tales of Hoffman. My grandma, never having been to an opera before, duly joined the queue and waited patiently.

Presently a large and clearly monied woman came along and tapped her on the shoulder. "What you queuing for?" she asked.
"Tales of Hoffman," said Ginny.
"Well, you've got to eat, haven't you?" said the well to do woman, and tottered off.
posted by Jofus at 9:29 AM on June 5, 2008 [10 favorites]

Someone is getting hungry.
posted by Sailormom at 9:29 AM on June 5, 2008

I have 1337 MeFiMails in my inbox and I am not lying.

Don't you love me anymore? I'm going to keep writing every hour until you answer, you know. I WILL NOT BE IGNORED.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:30 AM on June 5, 2008

I've been feeling turr'bl chatty past few days so if anyone wants the joy of seeing their little envelope do its thing, you know, filfre.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:41 AM on June 5, 2008

"I have 1337 MeFiMails in my inbox and I am not lying."

All my MefiMails are 1337.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:48 AM on June 5, 2008

filfre

I love the way this is "feel free" and "filthy" in one compact word.

[please do not memail me, send me postcards]
posted by jessamyn at 9:57 AM on June 5, 2008

I always thought this was done to let other people know some information is available, but not suitable for internet-wide dissemination. This way, one can contact the commenter, and ask to be let in on the secret. The commenter can then decide if they're comfortable sharing their sex techniques or disgusting habits or plate of beans with one more random internet person.
posted by ghost of a past number at 10:10 AM on June 5, 2008

Cut. Off. Their. Hands.
posted by cmonkey at 10:10 AM on June 5, 2008

Yeah, I just figured it was kind of giving other people an idea of how much, if any, the topic is being also discussed off the public forum, which nobody could have a sense of unless somebody said "hey, sent you something!"
posted by iamkimiam at 10:18 AM on June 5, 2008

It gives the OP someting to mark as best answer, of course.

My mefimail was a best answer, but OP did not mark my notification post a best answer. I was torn between disappointment and self-righteousness.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:20 AM on June 5, 2008

Because not everyone is a heavy user of the mail and misses the teensy icon change. What might be called a "heads up."

The few times I have done it, that's exactly why. I had a few times where I sent a MeMail offering to help with the OPs problem (scanning something or a more personal answer than I wanted in the thread), only to get a reply days or weeks later apologizing that they didn't see that they had MeMail or didn't even know it existed.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:32 AM on June 5, 2008

I get all my mefimail forwarded straight to my regular account, so I read it there. Then I make an effort not to read it in the mefi inbox so the little envelope is always telling me I have new mail - it's like a constant warm fuzzy feeling.
posted by jacalata at 10:35 AM on June 5, 2008

DID YOU GET MY LAST NOTE CHECK Y/N
posted by Eideteker at 10:36 AM on June 5, 2008

I was torn between disappointment and self-righteousness.

Story of my life.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:38 AM on June 5, 2008

[please do not memail me, send me postcards]

Oh god, the possibilities.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:41 AM on June 5, 2008

[)![) $0|v|30/v3 S4`/ 1337?
posted by yeti at 10:48 AM on June 5, 2008

The solution to this problem, as with all problems can be solved with two useful tools:
1. The IMG tag.
2. The BLINK tag applied to the aforementioned IMG tag.

Why do the admins hate us?
posted by blue_beetle at 11:01 AM on June 5, 2008

EVERYONE

CHECK YOUR MEMAIL

WAIT




NEVER MIND
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:14 AM on June 5, 2008

Metafilter: nothing to go panty-wadding over
posted by tayknight at 11:23 AM on June 5, 2008

By the way, I love getting memail, and people can send it to me whenever they like!
posted by By The Grace of God at 11:28 AM on June 5, 2008

Does anyone else just send people MefiMails just, like, on a whim?

Yes, but you never answer, fingerless bastard
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:28 AM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

I make an effort not to read it in the mefi inbox so the little envelope is always telling me I have new mail - it's like a constant warm fuzzy feeling

Hey, I thought I was the only person who did that.
posted by tangerine at 12:16 PM on June 5, 2008

WHY DON'T PEOPLE DO THINGS EXACTLY THE WAY I DO THEM AND NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT I WOULDN'T DO DAMMIT!
posted by languagehat at 12:33 PM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Just out of curiosity, what does the envelope do when you have Me(fi)Mail? I'm hoping it's a looping animation of a letter coming out of the envelope. If not, I don't want any.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 12:34 PM on June 5, 2008

I feel the same way, languagehat, except it is I who should set the standard for the various doings and undoings.
posted by Mister_A at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2008

Well, I think we can both agree that those other people should have their heads examined.
posted by languagehat at 12:41 PM on June 5, 2008

Oh certainly. They have some real issues.
posted by Mister_A at 12:42 PM on June 5, 2008

I don't know why people do this.
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:51 PM on June 5, 2008

Why do people use letters in their posts? After all, 01101110 01110101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100110 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100.
posted by WCityMike at 12:52 PM on June 5, 2008

01101110 01110101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100110 01100101 01100011 01110100 011011100 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100.

fixed that for you.
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:56 PM on June 5, 2008

furthermore, what's with breathing?

it's... prehistoric. come on, people; you're better than this.
posted by heeeraldo at 1:03 PM on June 5, 2008

"I've said it before, but one more time couldn't hurt: That MeMail envelope dealy is too dang small.
Make it big, and make it blink.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:38 AM "

"The solution to this problem, as with all problems can be solved with two useful tools:
1. The IMG tag.
2. The BLINK tag applied to the aforementioned IMG tag.
Why do the admins hate us?
posted by blue_beetle at 11:01 AM"

Make it three votes for blinking envelope.
Note to cortex: my teeny envelope turns an odd salmon pink, not yellow.
posted by Cranberry at 1:21 PM on June 5, 2008

Note to cortex: my teeny envelope turns an odd salmon pink, not yellow.

You should see a doctor about that. NOTE: IANAD.
posted by inigo2 at 1:41 PM on June 5, 2008

May I also please vote for a BLINKING inbox?
posted by Meatbomb at 1:52 PM on June 5, 2008

Note to cortex: my teeny envelope turns an odd salmon pink, not yellow.

You should see a doctor about that. NOTE: IANAD.

Cross thread coincidence
posted by Burhanistan at 2:11 PM on June 5, 2008

...Shaped like a bunny?
posted by Dizzy at 2:11 PM on June 5, 2008

Note to inigo 2: I saw an ophthalmologist who is a doctor; he said I have 20-20 vision, thanks.
posted by Cranberry at 2:12 PM on June 5, 2008

So, I was curious about why HTML was completely blocked in the metafilter mails, because I always try to make italics and bold letters using the <b> and <i> tags (never the <strong> and <em> tags because everyone knows they're really just silly HTML euphemisms for bold and italics) and I always fail. What is the rationale behind not just using the same filtering done in the comments?
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 2:13 PM on June 5, 2008

jacalata: "I get all my mefimail forwarded straight to my regular account, so I read it there. Then I make an effort not to read it in the mefi inbox so the little envelope is always telling me I have new mail - it's like a constant warm fuzzy feeling."

You are obviously nowhere near anal enough to be hanging out in MeTa, then. The first thing I do on the rare occasions that I get a message is to check it in the MeMail box to make sure it's the same as the one forwarded to my Gmail account. It's all I can do to stop myself from replying to both, just in case.
posted by dg at 2:13 PM on June 5, 2008

I want a blinking envelope or a blinking something because I would be happy to see one serious, sober, and useful application of the blink tag in my life.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 2:15 PM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

I find this pretty annoying too. I finally reached the end of my tether last week while working in my office in downtown Moscow - Just be thankful that there were no cameras to catch my reaction.
posted by panboi at 3:07 PM on June 5, 2008

I once got a MeMail saying that the user had answered my AskMe in the thread.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:09 PM on June 5, 2008

I vote for a blinking icon too
posted by SteveTheRed at 3:17 PM on June 5, 2008

Heh, occasionally it seems like it's because the answere knows of a less-than-legal solution to the problem and doesn't want to expose themselves for the miscreants that they are but still want to be helpful, knowing how moral the rest of the internet tends to be. I don't see anything wrong with it - I love getting MeMail, but even I've had times when I didn't see a new message for days.
posted by Phire at 3:54 PM on June 5, 2008

Why do people do this...?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:08 PM on June 5, 2008

It's because most people don't check their mail frequently and it's easy to miss the alert.

If I had my way, everyone would use my script (or said script's functionality would be implemented server-side) and this wouldn't be a problem.
posted by flatluigi at 4:18 PM on June 5, 2008

Mefites do it like this, while Farkers do it like this, amirite?
posted by infinitewindow at 4:36 PM on June 5, 2008

I haven't sent any of you a MeMail.
posted by orange swan at 5:00 PM on June 5, 2008

I just ordered 200 pizzas for orange swan.
This is gonna be GREAT!
posted by Dizzy at 6:05 PM on June 5, 2008

I vote for a blinking icon too

But only if it stops blinking after, like, eight blinks. You shouldn't have to read the mail to stop the blinking, I mean.
posted by mediareport at 8:02 PM on June 5, 2008

What about nine blinks?
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:07 PM on June 5, 2008

I posted a comment.
posted by jonmc at 8:28 PM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Maybe just a really, really slow blink. Two frame animated gif, frame one is icon at five minutes, frame two is blink frame at 0.25 seconds.
posted by cortex at 8:55 PM on June 5, 2008

I haven't MeMailed you.
posted by loiseau at 8:58 PM on June 5, 2008

I only MeMail death threats. Who wants a death threat!
posted by Burhanistan at 9:19 PM on June 5, 2008

Regarding the blinks, is it good that it's doing that? I have no idea.
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:27 PM on June 5, 2008

turgid, html tags aren't really good or bad, they just format stuff.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:29 PM on June 5, 2008

Yeah, a persistent blink could get irritating, especially for those who don't want to have to check their MeMail. Perhaps a better alternative would be for the site to play a midi tune when your have mail.
posted by Meatbomb at 12:16 AM on June 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

A 3 meg gif of a human skull. An enormous, spinning, flaming, glinting, human skull.
posted by Jofus at 12:27 AM on June 6, 2008

I sent a mefimail, but it was not your mefimail and did not contain actual medical, legal, or relationship advice.
posted by TedW at 6:07 AM on June 6, 2008

An enormous, spinning, flaming, glinting, human skull.

And it shouldn't be smiling, because skulls are always smiling and it's just getting old. It should be, like, really sad. Sad that you have mail, and maybe a little angry, but not so angry as to attack your face with a machete, but maybe angry enough to smoke a defiant cigarette and write some poetry in a maternity ward, which is like the skeleton version of a cemetary.
posted by Sparx at 6:32 AM on June 6, 2008

Perhaps Metafilter could email us to tell us we have mail, with actually telling us what the message is. Just like stupid Facebook does.

"Someone has sent you MeMail, click here to view it"
"Someone has commented on your post, click here to view it"
"Someone has flamed out on MetaTalk, click here to view it"
"Someone has added you as a contact, click here to weep for joy"
posted by blue_beetle at 6:46 AM on June 6, 2008

Huh, see facebook does that to my friend as well, but somehow I have fixed the universe so that when facebook emails me, it contains the text of the message as well. I tried to figure out if I'd done something to get that behaviour so I could show her how, but I have no idea. This guy wrote about it as well, but some of his respondents also still have to visit facebook to read their messages. Anyone know what's going on there?
posted by jacalata at 6:58 AM on June 6, 2008

You are cool. She is not.
posted by Jofus at 7:22 AM on June 6, 2008

God, you know what would be hilarious? If people requested a blinking envelope for MeFi mail but they used the HTML blink tag in said request. Because then the request itself would blink! Boy, that'd be a laugh riot.
posted by Shepherd at 9:42 AM on June 6, 2008

Speaking of the page blinking and what not, I just noticed that the "Make It Start" link is still active.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:24 AM on June 6, 2008

Uh . . . I like eggs.
posted by Nabubrush at 8:45 PM on June 6, 2008

I sent a MeMail (or whatever the hell it's called) to someone and didn't get a reply for something like 2 months. Eventually I got a profuse apology and a "I had no idea!" Data point.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:48 PM on June 6, 2008

Wait, when did the blink tag come back? I thought it was put out to pasture along with the img tag.
posted by Space Kitty at 8:17 PM on June 7, 2008

I don't know that it was ever gone to begin with, since it's often referred to as the "last thing we still have"?
posted by Phire at 8:57 PM on June 7, 2008

It went away briefly, a long time ago. I paid Matt to bring it back.
posted by cortex at 9:03 PM on June 7, 2008

How much would I have to pay to get the img tag back?
How much would I have to pay to get the img tag back just for me?
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:05 PM on June 7, 2008

There is no amount that is sufficient. If Matt has a mid-life crisis some day and sells the site to Yahoo!, it will be done with the stipulation that they can't bring img back either.
posted by cortex at 9:18 PM on June 7, 2008

...except for avatars.
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:18 PM on June 8, 2008

Because not everyone is a heavy user of the mail and misses the teensy icon change. What might be called a "heads up."

Then this is an interface issue that needs to be fixed.
posted by madman at 4:25 AM on June 9, 2008

Then this is an interface issue that needs to be fixed.

Or a PEBCAK issue that doesn't. I guess that's the question here.
posted by jessamyn at 10:02 AM on June 9, 2008

The mail link is right next door to your profile link, so the PEBCAK issue can easily be solved by providing more incentivation for people to check their profile for new favourites more often.

Can I suggest a flashy, animated feature - like on a poker machine - that plays whenever you get a new fave?

You could even add a feature to "double up" by betting on a red card or a black card drawn at random. If you miss out, you get the option to gamble some faves, to try & win back what you lost.

Naturally, if you lose all your faves, you can top up again with a simple paypal payment.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:56 PM on June 9, 2008

Wow, now that I've noticed this...

I do it because when I get MeMail, I don't notice I have mail until a month has passed. I know I would appreciate getting a note in-thread.
posted by sian at 11:09 PM on June 9, 2008

You could even add a feature to "double up" by betting on a red card or a black card drawn at random. If you miss out, you get the option to gamble some faves, to try & win back what you lost.

I support this because I would find it hilarious to laugh at all the people caring about how many favorites they have, sort of like all the people caring about how much money they have and gambling for some at Vegas.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 11:21 PM on June 9, 2008

sian, why don't you set up your own mail account to auto-forward to your email account? That wouldn't remove the need to alert other people, but at least it would mean you never missed noticing your own mail.

This assumes you check your actual email regularly, ie; you are not a freak. People who don't check their email regularly are freaks.
posted by jacalata at 11:44 PM on June 9, 2008