Hey Guys,
Is it really that difficult to understand? If you don't read the Terms of Service to learn how the Expat-blog works or even read any of the hundreds of postings here about not being able to send private messages you add another posting asking why.
Gosh, the whole thing is carefully explained and re-explained every time somebody adds another posting.
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Private message priviliges ARE NOT automatic. They must be 'activated' by you.
How do you activate them????
It's simple guys. Just participate in the forums, post a topic, send a "meaningful" reply to a topic that has already been posted. Sorry, just posting a topic that says "HI" doesn't do it.
Once you have participated in the forums your mailbox is unlocked and you can send messages.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT...... THE MORE YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE FORUMS THE BIGGER THE CAPACITY OF THE MAILBOX GETS.
Another thing - SPAM is prohibited, don't copy & paste the same message to several people in private messages. Expat-blog's anti-spam system will detect automatically the copy & paste messages and lock out your mailbox if you send more than five of them. Members of the blog don't need to have their mailboxes filled with junk messages about get rich schemes, quick and easy loans, dating, and all that garbage.
Hundreds of new members that can't bother to read the Terms of Use
I have to say though, I still get plenty of messages from people with 0 forum activity. Most of the messages are nonsense- either guys looking to marry someone for the passport, or people asking questions that are discussed thoroughly in the comments. I'm not sure how it happens but I wish the filter was a little MORE effective and didn't let these people through. If they were forced to pay attention to the forums in order to send private messages, they'd maybe not send these annoying private messages.
Hi ECS,
I really agree with you. I'd like to see the anti-spam system with a zero tollerance policy, no ability to copy and paste anything in personal messages other than the hyperlink to acredited (and secure) websites. Also an outright ban on individuals who abuse the private message system.
But, I'm just a regular member of the blog like everybody else. Despite the title Brazil Animator above my photo, that is just a voluntary position. I am not directly connected to expat-blog.com per se. Sometimes I feel like it because as Animator I devote so much of my time giving answers and advice to members of the Brazil Forum and my private mailbox is always full of really IMPORTANT stuff. I sure don't need it filled up with this electronic garbage because it mostly harms the people who contact me and really need my help. I get all kind of junk too, dating, marriage offers, scams, get rich schemes and all of those unbeatable offers that are floating around on the internet these days. Unfortunately the majority of these are also not copy and paste so they don't get detected by the anti-spam system. If there was a security/privacy feature and you could restrict access to your mailbox to only those on your contact list like other sites that would be good too, but I still couldn't use that or people needing my assistance couldn't contact me. A rock and a hard place my friend..... or as we say here 'estou entre a cruz e espada' (cross & sword).
By the way, I gave your reply a 'thumbs-up'.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog
I think that everybody is responsible and report it as you see a message that you don't trust.
Most of the members read post from the new ones, but how many report it? At least I do report.
The "staf" of this blog can not always be alert or act inmmediatly, I guess. How more reports they will recieve how more they know about the need to improve the blog.
Only complain will not work!!!
Hi Primadonna,
Exactly right, it is up to everybody to report spam messages in their mailbox and forum topics or responses that violate the rules so Expat-blog Team can take action. It's a simple process (for those who don't know how it works) you just click on the button that says REPORT and answer the question in the pop-up window.
There are still a couple of problems however:
Most of the spam comes from new members, usually phantom members or false names, who sign up on the weekends for the express purpose of sending out spam until they Team deletes their account on Monday or Tuesday. Others don't use copy and paste messages so they slip by the automated anti-spam system. Those are the ones who remain a problem until somebody reports them.
The other problem is that for some people (like me) even tighter security wouldn't make much of a difference because as Animator my mailbox has to be open to everybody all the time, if I had some way of blocking messages then people who REALLY need help or advice couldn't contact me. It's really a double edged sword and Expat-blog Team is pulling out their hair trying to find a suitable solution that we can all live with. No matter what they do they can't satisfy all of our members, some will say it's too little and others will say it's too strict and harsh.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog
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