No more PMs

[Sultanpepa]

Only used the function a handful of times but it was valuable. Alamy once again with overkill IMO.

[MDM]

19 minutes ago, GS-Images said:

Well not many have my email address (I'm sure I qualify as regular!) and that's ok with me, but I would like to have the ability to contact a few regulars. I have a temporary address I don't care about that I have published elsewhere before, so maybe others could get a temporary one just to make initial contact, and post the address in the forum. Pretty silly to have to do that though, and some warning of this would have been nice.

 

Geoff.

I was talking about the Cambridge meetup regulars (as in Doc's quoted post) so, unless you have been hiding in the corner of our meeting place disuised as a cow or a large eye, then you don't qualify. However, you would be more than welcome if you ever wanted to join us .  Next meeting is late September.

[Allan Bell]

6 minutes ago, MDM said:

I was talking about the Cambridge meetup regulars (as in Doc's quoted post) so, unless you have been hiding in the corner of our meeting place disuised as a cow or a large eye, then you don't qualify. However, you would be more than welcome if you ever wanted to join us .  Next meeting is late September.

 

I am one of the meet up regulars too and found the PM'ing very useful to arrange meetings instead of clogging up the forums. Not just for that but also discussing technical points with another and sometimes a personal/private message too.

 

Yes if Geoff can manage it please come.

Others are welcome too.

 

For heavens sake it is what it says on the tin. PM = private messaging.

 

Allan

 

 

[MDM]

10 minutes ago, GS-Images said:

 

Arrr I see, apologies, I didn't realise you meant that.

 

Thanks for the kind invite, that's nice of you. I promise I wouldn't wear my cow suit. 

 

Geoff.

 

We don't have a dress code so you are welcome to come dressed as a cow if you want.  I've just altered my original post as it was easily misinterpreted.

[MDM]

8 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I am one of the meet up regulars too and found the PM'ing very useful to arrange meetings instead of clogging up the forums. Not just for that but also discussing technical points with another and sometimes a personal/private message too.

 

Yes if Geoff can manage it please come.

Others are welcome too.

 

For heavens sake it is what it says on the tin. PM = private messaging.

 

Allan

 

 

 I recall reading some time back that the PM could be read by Alamy (probably in the terms and conditions). So it was never really private. I wonder was somebody or other guilty of abusing Alamy through the PM system. Just a thought.

 

My only gripe though is that they didn't give us any notice.

[Allan Bell]

3 minutes ago, arterra said:

 Maybe Kim Jong-un took over Alamy 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Nah! More like Trump.

 

Allan

 

 

[Allan Bell]

1 minute ago, arterra said:

 

We are naughty, aren't we 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

We are going to be banned from here too.

 

Better get over to the Facebook site.

 

Allan

 

 

[Alamy]

Hi everyone,

 

The personal message feature was being misused by a number of people and it therefore had become too much of a strain on resources to continue to be viable. It's a shame but that's how things stand for now, sorry for not giving advanced notice.

 

To give you an idea of the type of things we're referring to, there were multiple instances but they included:

• Users using the PM feature to arrange "tactics" to work against other users
• PM's between members containing details of false rumors and generally whipping up untruths 
• Poor, incorrect or misleading advice being given to other members from some users
• Verbal abuse and name calling
• In one case we saw a user talking about inflicting physical violence on someone should they see them in person
• Promotion of other sites and services

This is not an exhaustive list but goes some way to explain the type of thing we cannot allow to continue. 

 

We want the forum to be a productive place for our contributors and we feel taking this step is best for all concerned. 

 

Alamy

 

P.S - Using this site to promote or link to your own forum or any third party photography forums is prohibited

[Alamy]

2 minutes ago, arterra said:

 

Isn't it the task of the moderator to tackle those individuals instead of the whole community?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

That has always been our approach but we have found that often individual members don't react well and feel singled out. 

 

Thanks

Alamy 

[Jill Morgan]

It would be nice to have it re-instated for a day simply to connect with people to ask for an email address.  To me it was the abrupt cancellation that was most annoying.

 

Jill

[MDM]

24 minutes ago, Alamy said:

Hi everyone,

 

The personal message feature was being misused by a number of people and it therefore had become too much of a strain on resources to continue to be viable. It's a shame but that's how things stand for now, sorry for not giving advanced notice.

 

To give you an idea of the type of things we're referring to, there were multiple instances but they included:

• Users using the PM feature to arrange "tactics" to work against other users
• PM's between members containing details of false rumors and generally whipping up untruths 
• Poor, incorrect or misleading advice being given to other members from some users
• Verbal abuse and name calling
• In one case we saw a user talking about inflicting physical violence on someone should they see them in person
• Promotion of other sites and services

This is not an exhaustive list but goes some way to explain the type of thing we cannot allow to continue. 

 

We want the forum to be a productive place for our contributors and we feel taking this step is best for all concerned. 

 

Alamy

 

P.S - Using this site to promote or link to your own forum or any third party photography forums is prohibited

 

Thanks for the explanation and that is quite incredible. It is very interesting to know what goes on behind the scenes.

 

[Alamy]

We're locking this thread in order to call a close to the discussion around it. We feel we have made the correct decision without singling out any individuals and intend to keep it that way.

 

We are sure this will be beneficial to the forum in the long run. 

 

We're sorry a minority have caused this action to be put in place, however, we feel the resources required to effectively moderate this feature were no longer sustainable. 

 

Here's a link to the forum rules that have been in place since day one. They also cover (and refer to) the personal message feature of the forum.

 

Alamy

[Alamy]

32 minutes ago, GS-Images said:

If people are speaking about causing physical harm to someone in the messages then report it to the police and BAN THEM. If people are criticising other members or Alamy, then that is their right. This is not a dictatorship, or at least it shouldn't be. As I have recently been told by admin (paraphrasing), others have a right to an opinion.

---

I may as well say goodbye after writing this as I know full well I'm one of the people being referred to by admin.

 

 

To clarify, we've made no reference to criticism of other members or Alamy being against any rules. Your reference to us informing you that others have a right to an opinion was in relation to others having the right to use the "disagree" down vote arrow under posts.  

 

We have made no reference to yourself or any other user in this thread and the list of examples was used to give some clarity on the action we've taken.

 

Kind regards

 

Alamy