Really cool, now in progress!
I like how this feature is currently implemented, but i would like an option to be notified when a submitted ask is answered. perhaps a checkbox that must be checked for each ask you wish to be notified about when answered, and/or a setting that can be changed in profile or general settings. im super digging the new feature tho, it'll hopefully make interacting with ppl on the site feel a little more personal!
Update for people in this thread: asks are now being tested by staff! https://cohost.org/staff/post/1775732-our-1st-public-bir
I would adore a feature like this. The ask-blog format was such a unique format of performance art / audience participation that really hasn't been recreated anywhere but tumblr. Ideally, there'd also be an option for anonymous asks. I know I personally would get use out of hosting asks with anon enabled, but I wouldn't call that a dealbreaker
Thank you for providing some context and your thoughts on the use of "asks" on tumblr! It's important to consider both the positive and negative aspects of a feature like this, as it can be used for both productive and harmful purposes. It's good to hear that Tumblr has the option to turn off anonymous asks, as this can help prevent some of the negative experiences that can come from anonymous harassment.
I agree with your suggestions for tumblr system. Allowing users to answer anonymous asks privately and giving the sender the ability to disallow public replies would provide more control and privacy for both parties involved in the conversation. It's important to have clear communication and boundaries in any type of online interaction, and these features could help facilitate that.
If this is planned, may I contribute: if anonymous asks are implemented, please give us the same notification when one of our anon asks is answered as we would when a non-anon ask is answered.
I'm happy to see this has a "planned" status!! It's one of my favorite aspects of tumblr that I miss so much!
I definitely like the idea of this, whether anonymous asking is allowed or not.
I don’t have tumblr experience with this so I can’t make any kind of general judgement, but I’d personally not enable asks in a system where asks are visible publicity, whether that be anonymous comments or some kind of separate profile tab. At that point I’d find preferable to just have an ad-hoc ask system based on @-mentions sending notifications (already a feature request). Then you could see someone mentioned you in a post, perhaps with a question, and then simply share that post with your answer. (…kinda exactly like twitter)
But that’s a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical. I’d certainly still like to see an ask system with private inboxes (maybe multiple inboxes :3). I’m willing to believe in good faith and that it isn’t inherently abuse-generating! and, well, if it really sucks that much, it can always be removed again…
Agreeing with Caro above.
There are some very heavy topics people might appreciate asking me about anonymously, and I'd like to be able to have an ask box for this. But those kinds of topics also attract a lot of anon hate, so I have never run an anon ask box anywhere.
It would be great if Cohost could let me run an ask box I could configure to work as follows:
- You must be logged in to send an ask
- If you send me abuse, I can block you from asks, without having to report you and get staff involved, so I can be heavy-handed in blocking
- At no times I have any way to know your identity, even if I choose to block you
I think anonymous comments could be neat, but I don't see it fulfilling most of the purposes of an ask system. It doesn't allow users to send information in private, for starters. It also doesn't allow the recipient to pick and choose what's shared publicly. I also think that being able to share asks is good and fun, and I'd generally prefer for fun, interactive features not to be blocked because someone could theoretically use it in bad faith. (Someone could also bait you into answering a trick question by replying to your post, after all.)
I think the potential downside of "someone might send you some sort of trick question" is fairly limited, and could be further mitigated by allowing users to turn off shares of posts after they are published. (Which I think already exists? Can't check at the moment.) Additionally, allowing users to choose whether to receive anonymous asks, or asks at all, would mitigate the attack space for bad actors.
Ring
I originally thought about this as an alternative option for DMs but didn't want to derail the DM request!
For folks who haven't used Tumblr, an ask is a direct message that can be sent by another user to a blog's inbox. They can also be submitted anonymously, if the blog owner allows it. The recipient can then either send a private reply (if the sender is not anonymous) or publish the ask and their reply to their blog.
This power has been used for both good and evil. They're a fantastic way to send creative prompts or take specific questions about something you're teaching, and they're also a great way to wake up to an inbox full of anonymous harassment that you can only address by posting the comments publicly. I do think they're valuable enough when used in good faith, as long as there's an option to turn them off.
One of the biggest benefits to being able to answer asks either publicly or privately is that it's much more of a one-off thing than starting a private real-time conversation with someone. I don't have any strong feelings either way about DMs on Cohost, but it's very easy for folks with poor boundaries to interpret private chatting as a gesture of trust or intimacy. I tend to spontaneously become a best friend candidate to people with high expectations simply by agreeing to one-on-one conversations with total strangers, so I avoid doing that. You can go back and forth with asks if people keep sending them in response to your posts, but it's not an open channel.
Some suggested features I'd like to see over Tumblr's system:
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