Tip of the Week - Interacting via PM
Consider the best approaches on how to contact staff, mods, and other GameSpot members!
This week’s tip is about understating how to interact with GameSpot’s private message feature.
Read Private Messages: Have you wondered why someone has not responded to your latest private message? Did you check to see if that person even read it? There is a nifty little indicator in your inbox that displays when you have read your private message. The same indicator is displayed in other outboxes, even if you read the messages in your outbox! If a person you sent a message to has read your private message, the subject title font will become un-bolded. If the private message has not been read, it will display the subject title in bold text.
Don’t read a PM unless you have time to respond! There are times when we’ll read a PM and we don’t have a moment to respond. Consider the fact that others might already know that you read their PMs. What if they know you read it two days ago and think you are ignoring them? It’s best to only read a PM when you have at least 10 minutes to respond.
Strategic Subject Titles. Start by considering who you are contacting and avoid having really long subject titles (try using a maximum of four words).
- GS Staff or GS Site Moderators: Be concise and upfront in the subject title. Add terms like: moderation concern, game history article feedback, gs review error, preview typo, forums bug, broken download link, how do I….. Descriptive subject titles help staff and mods a great deal and will likely expedite a response compared to vague subject titles like "hi, hello, read me, check here, which might cause a delayed response. Vague subject titles tells us that you might want to chit-chat, which is fine, but we might set aside a PM response to finish a project we are working on that is much more time sensitive. Share the problem or concern upfront in the subject title to bring immediate awareness.
- GameSpot Friend: As much as your buddies on here may like you, there are ways to help them know what you plan to discuss. You can pretty much do what you’d like here, but know that there are a lot of GS users who would like to know what you are asking them ahead of time. Consider the topic you are asking them and put that in the subject title so they have a forewarning. If you are just saying "Hi" and catching up, it doesn’t matter what subject title it is, really. But, let’s say you are excited about the latest DSi games; put that in the subject title to provide a forewarning or teaser about what you are sharing. For example, instead of “guess what” in the subject title, put "New DSi games!"
- GameSpot Stranger: Be polite in your responses to them and check your spelling. Avoid having vague subject titles, if possible. Private messaging needs a good first impression. Presentation is important if you want to have a potential new GS friend. Avoid using l33t terms and other related lingo when you are getting to know other GS users via PM. Some people are likely to respond if you contact them with this approach. Also, if you approach GameSpot strangers to dispute what they said in the forums or comments, you might want to read this article to avoid having other users flag you for trolling or flaming them.
Follow-up! One last note: Don’t forget to follow up with other GameSpotters if they haven’t responded to you in three days. Sometimes, they read a PM and forget to respond, so following up with them in a couple of days might get you the response you have been waiting patiently for.
That’s all for this week’s tip!
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