Instant Message
| • Instant Messaging |
Posting on the boards, Instant Messaging, E-mail, ICQ, AIM and YIM are all available methods of communicating on this forum. Of course, all methods of communication are only available to members.
While e-mail is a good way to correspond privately with members, it has several drawbacks: You must open your e-mail application to write and send the message; the recipient must open his/her e-mail application; check his/her mail and your message will mixed in with all the other mail and it can take sometimes several minutes to an hour for mail to reach the recipient.
As an alternative to e-mail, this forum offers a faster, more private method. Instant Messaging on the boards provides instantaneous delivery to the recipient's Private Mailbox. The mail is sent and received entirely through the forum, so neither you nor the recipient have to open another program or leave the forum. Instant Messaging also gives both the sender and recipient greater privacy: No one's real e-mail address is revealed. Instant Messages show only the handle and name of both parties.
If a recipient isn't online, Instant Messages wait in the member's IM box until the next time s/he logs in and manually reads and/or deletes them. Instant Messaging on the forum acts like a self-contained, highly private e-mail system.