lori

@lori

customize your hot cakes with syrup

lori @lori6/27/2023, 12:13 AM

Okay i never used asks on tumblr but my understanding is

User A sends user B an ask, like "what did you eat today"
User B has some sort of inbox of asks, and sees user A's asks
user B then either answers with "granola" and it gets published to their page, or they reject the ask and i guess it gets deleted

This is how it works right?

Assuming this is correct, wouldn't User A be able to send User B an ask that says "my discord handle is @perfectmormonass please add me and delete", User B deletes the ask then sends User A an ask that says "thanks i'm @amusementparkambulancechaser I added you", User A reads that and deletes it...

My point being, can't you just use Asks as if they were DMs, and if that is the case, why not just have DMs if you're creating the same security/moderation nightmare in a less manageable way?

#cohost #cohost meta #cohost ux #possible crimes

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in reply to @lori's post:

lori @lori6/27/2023, 12:14 AM

All I'm saying is it's a lot less cumbersome than when my friends and I invented a chat room system via cohost drafts but not as funny or stupid

lori @lori6/27/2023, 12:16 AM

And if anyone actually has the two usernames I made up for this example then I demand both my account and their account be deleted.

X @xkeeper6/27/2023, 12:43 AM

i assume that with asks there is no reasonable expectation of privacy (given their nature as a message intending to evoke a reply) and thus there's no weird grey area of "we can read your direct messages so we can moderate things" and so on

X @xkeeper6/27/2023, 12:47 AM

like from my Administrating Uncomfortableness Meter having access to dms in a meaningful way brings a huge amount of liability and support bullshit because you would by nature require that access to enforce moderation (e.g. to verify an abuse report). this means that you have "direct messages" that are basically direct but also fully open to staff reading them, and you have to build in a ton of auditing shit around that and so on and so forth. it's obnoxious and having to even touch that shit is basically handling the user privacy equivalent of polonium

an ask is intended as basically a public inbox anyone can post to so there is a built-in expectation that whatever you put in there is going to be seen by more than just the person you're messaging. using it for direct messages, while possible, would be against the design of that feature (and likely any written guidelines around its use)

it's complicated and stupid but with some thinking it makes enough sense.