Messaging

To message someone, use the Message button on their card or profile, or open Messages from the menu and pick a conversation. Type in the box at the bottom and send - the other person gets a notification, and new messages appear live without reloading the page.

The Messages page lists your conversations with the most recent at the top, so it's easy to pick up where you left off.

Messages are private from other members. How private they are from the server itself depends on the conversation, and the thread always says which case it is:

• End-to-end encrypted - once both of you have turned on encrypted messages, new messages are locked and unlocked in your browsers, and what this server stores and keeps in its backups is ciphertext.
• Plain - otherwise, like most social sites, the server stores messages readably, so the operator of a server could technically access them.
• Federated - a conversation with someone on another Fediverse server is also stored on their server, under its operator, and can never be end-to-end encrypted - the Fediverse's messaging protocol has no way to carry it. Don't put anything in a federated message that must stay secret from everyone but the recipient.

If someone is bothering you, you can block them or report a specific message - encrypted ones included.