Lender Messages

[Guest]

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[fredr1c]

I didn't realize that people could not respond to my "announcement" about lender messages here.  Someone just sent me a private message about that!  Anyway, let's discuss on this thread if you care to do so.  The original post is here

http://www.kivafriends.org/index.php/topic,2666.0.html

It's looking like you might need a buy-in for team messaging as well as lender messaging.  Perhaps only people who've actually made a loan should be allowed to leave team messages.

We've got registered Kivans who haven't made a loan who are using the team messaging capability to ask for help for themselves.

Here are two individuals who fit that pattern from the last 24 hours or so:

Samuel

http://www.kiva.org/lender/samuel6357

Here's one of Samuel's messages, as it appeared in my email:
---
samuel has left the following message for the KivaFriends.org Lending Team:

Im looking for someone  lend me $ 7,000 for improving my food staff store
 please i,m looking someone  work with.
please contact mr. samuel omweri
email.[redacted]@[redacted]
cellphone +[redacted]
---
and

Gautam
http://www.kiva.org/lender/gautam5749
---
Gautam has left the following message for the KivaFriends.org Lending Team:

I have ortho challenges.pl help as seeking urgent help.
Gauatm Cahudhury
[redacted]@[redacted]
---
And then there's Simon...
http://www.kiva.org/lender/simon7749

...who isn't really asking for help, but perhaps offering some advice:
---
Simon has left the following message for the KivaFriends.org Lending Team:

Dear All
Human with a social mind to help others is always living in heaven and there is no heaven in which everybody dreaming.
---
and
---
Simon has left the following message for the KivaFriends.org Lending Team:


Dear All,
The importance of getting the Structure Work of the business organized - you will build a much better development business from a secure foundation.
Simon John
---
It's not that these good folks don't need to be heard -- it's just that to keep personal solicitations and other off-topic messages to a minimum in team messaging, a one-loan minimum might be good here as well as in lender messaging.

[Jane Sladen]

We've got registered Kivans who haven't made a loan who are using the team messaging capability to ask for help for themselves.

I forwarded the link for a similar fellow, to Kiva the other day and they e-mailed him with instructions on what to do to apply for a loan.

Jane Sladen

[KivanSteven]

Suddenly we are all accessible to any individual who feels the need for a loan. 

I like Fred's idea--one can only leave messages within a group after they have contributed loans within that group.  It would eliminate quite a bit of the unsolicited mail and I doubt most individuals would make a loan in order to have the ability to contact Kiva members.  Businesses/corporations might be another story.

[wthepoo]

one can only leave messages within a group after they have contributed loans within that group.

(not really sure whether it should be limited to actual team contributors or simply to active Kiva lenders instead like Fred - I think - suggested it)

... and I would like to see a way to remove these posts from the messageboards - e.g. for the team captains.

Best wishes,
Wolfgang.

[Mike]

Going back to my earlier post, my problem isn't only with "outsiders" seeking solicitations, but also Kivans in good standing who post breezy "glad we're all here" sort of messages. Too much like Facebook-like social messaging, and no I don't want to give you a poke 

And I still don't know to eliminate the messages from my portfolio!
HELP!

Mike

[QueenOfHearts]

Mike, you can opt out of team messages from your portfolio.  That will prevent any future messages appearing there.  As far as the ones that are already there, I dont think you can delete them but I do believe they disappear after some time just like the update messages do.

Queen

[Henry]

overnight, 18 email messages - 15 were team related...   Guess I'm opting out today  - sigh

[Eli]

Yeah, in less than 24 hours the messages have gone wild.  If Kiva continues this it definitely needs safeguards or it will degrade the quality of Kiva overall.  The main purpose and focus should be the borrowers and this definitely detracts.  If I want a social group, I'll join a social group (Greetings Kiva Friends!).  The suggestion of having at least one loan under their belt prior to being able to post a message is a great idea, but I'd take it one step further.  I'd suggest that you have to have at least one loan given in honor of a team in order to post with that team.  It is a further safeguard to maintain integrity and reduces the need for policing by Kiva or team captians.  And if team captians don't have the ability to delete a post now, they should definitely be given that ability, unless someone at Kiva wants to add that to their job description.

A SUGGESTION FOR TEAM CAPTIANS:
On one of the teams of which I'm a member, the team captain sent a very nice message (via a post) on why these messages were inundating my inbox all of the sudden, and then gave very specific instructions on how to opt out of the messages.  So team captains, you might want to consider doing the same thing.  It was very thoughtful and considerate.  (Thank you Mark @ ned.com)  I can only imagine that some people are befuddled as to why all these messages were hitting their inbox.

[kf08]

Having just spent a month working on an Atlanta Kiva Lenders' gathering with KF Lili, gathering and searching for pages with links and sending emails to anyone in the Atlanta metro area who we could find, I would have loved to have this feature a month earlier! I nearly fell out of my chair yesterday when I saw this new capability, which could have enabled us to get in touch with so many more people.

I haven't joined a team yet, but on the negative side, it sounds like the team emails are overwhelming.  Another concern I have is that since there are so many charity groups that need funds and sadly, some that will solicit them any way they can, what would stop them from getting on Kiva, choosing people with a number of loans and targeting them to give to their charities, the organizational form of what Fred has already experienced with individuals?

There are many good uses for this feature.  I just hope there's a way to optimize the good and limit the not-so-good.  I also think there could be an advantage to having a feature where the lender could limit or hide the number of loans he or she has made according to where his or her profile is being displayed.  For instance, under a "team," have an option to "hide number of loans" or "show most recent only" or "show last 5 only."  This might make it harder for individuals or other groups to target people who they think (correctly or not) might be in a position to support their cause.  Not being an IT person, I realize this may not be at all possible, but it would be nice, especially with the addition of teams, to decide when or if to display number of loans.

Thanks, as always, to the Kiva staff for your hard work. 

Lynn

[fredr1c]

...in some ways I really do like the total package of (1) buy-in with a loan, and (2) buy-in with a loan dedicated to the team or group, as Steven and Eli suggested above, in order to send a message to your lending team or group.

That might be a bit too restrictive, though.  If you've made a loan and join a team, then you should perhaps be able to message the team even if you haven't designated a loan to the team yet.  Tough call.

The main thing is the ability to delete messages of all types.  RichardF and and a few other folks have made that point over the last couple of days.

That's going to be a must, for team captains for their teams with the team messages, and for individuals within their own portfolios.  That's just a basic requirement for any messaging system.

After a day or so of seeing both types of messages in action and hearing other folks' comments, I think both types of messages are great, but we do need the ability to delete them. 

...and the sooner the better. :-D