Notifications: Social interactions from other users

[NordFred]

In this crazy new notifications system, there is an option to choose whether you want to receive "Social interactions from other users" or not. But I have not been able to find any documentation on what exactly those are, and if there have been any changes to what users are being notiified of with the new system.

 

For example:

 

If I endorse an image or a mod, is the user now notified?

If I unendorse an image or a mod, is the user now notified?

If I track or untrack a mod or a user, is that mod author or user now notified?

 

This is potentially a big privacy problem, especially when untracking or unendorsing, but I have no idea because I have not been able to find anything the explains what these notifications are or when they are issued.

 

Apologies in advance if this IS documented, and please post a link in that case.

[Lollia]

I would like to know more specifics about this, too.

 

Looking through my notifications, I was informed that I am now being followed by two different people.

 

As someone who only accepts Nexus "Friend" requests on the basis of having spoken to the requester at least once, I admit to feeling both perplexed and more than a little unnerved when I read the notifications. Tracking mods for updates is one thing, tracking individual accounts is quite another.

 

Was there an article about this published at any time? Can the tracking be disabled?

[NordFred]

Tracking of users has been around for a long time. A user might track you for a few good reasons. 1) If you are a mod author, they might track you in case you create any new mods. 2) If you are an image share screen arrcher, a user can track you so they get a notification when you post a new image. I am not aware of any option to NOT allow a user to track you, and it wasn't something I was worried about since I don't really publish anything.

 

One of the new things apparently, is that you now get a notification when someone tracks you. I have mixed feelings on whether Nexus should be doing the new notifications, but it is critical that we know how it works. Especially when untracking a user, if they get a notification it could cause hard feelings... even if you untracked them because they create tons of images and you don't want those notifications anymore.

 

So since Nexus doesn't appear to be in any hurry to tell us exactly what they changed (as far as I can tell), I propose an experiment.

 

I just tracked you, so you should get a notification. Could you also track me so I can see what the new notification looks like? Then, we can untrack each other, and see if a notification gets sent on an untrack.

 

No obligation, of course. But it might help us see what is going on.

 

Edit: Hmm... I didn't get notified when you replied to this topic, even though I started it. Do I have to track a topic I started to get notifications of replies???

Edited May 4, 2021 by NordFred

[Lollia]

 

So since Nexus doesn't appear to be in any hurry to tell us exactly what they changed (as far as I can tell), I propose an experiment.

 

I just tracked you, so you should get a notification. Could you also track me so I can see what the new notification looks like? Then, we can untrack each other, and see if a notification gets sent on an untrack.

 

No obligation, of course. But it might help us see what is going on.

 

 

 

Sure! If it will help to figure out what's going on, then I'm all for it. :happy:

Oddly enough, I did not receive a notification that you followed me. Let me know if you were notified that I am following you.

 

 

[NordFred]

Sure! If it will help to figure out what's going on, then I'm all for it. :happy:

Oddly enough, I did not receive a notification that you followed me. Let me know if you were notified that I am following you.

 

Thanks for trying. I didn't get any notification that you tracked me, either. This new notification system seems so weird to me - and it doesn't seem to work consistently. I really wish that someone at Nexus would document how this is supposed to work.

 

I did turn tracking off again... and sent you a kudos point for doing the test. I doubt you will get notified for either of those things, but let me know if you do.

[Pickysaurus]

Sorry for the late reply guys, we're going to improve the wording around some of the settings in a future iteration of notifications.

 

The "Social Interaction from other users" currently controls two types of notification - friend requests and notifications regarding users tracking you or your content. However, we've since temporarily disable the notifications around tracking until we refine the settings a bit more. So basically, at the moment it's only friend requests.

 

There are currently no notifications related to endorsements or un-tracking. In the initial launch article I did ask if anyone had any new types of notification they'd like to see, but I didn't really get any feedback around that.

[Striker879]

Sorry for the late reply guys, we're going to improve the wording around some of the settings in a future iteration of notifications.

 

The "Social Interaction from other users" currently controls two types of notification - friend requests and notifications regarding users tracking you or your content. However, we've since temporarily disable the notifications around tracking until we refine the settings a bit more. So basically, at the moment it's only friend requests.

 

There are currently no notifications related to endorsements or un-tracking. In the initial launch article I did ask if anyone had any new types of notification they'd like to see, but I didn't really get any feedback around that.

 

On the subject of notifications on untrack ... I currently get a line in my mod's Logs -> Mod Page Activity report when somebody untracks my mod page, and because no reason is asked for from the user I don't see any value in knowing that they untracked the mod page. At first I'd have the reaction of "Huh, what's up with that" but now it's just another part of the white noise in the background.

 

My point is that getting a notification of what could be perceived as a negative event has little or no value and could be merely a contributor to harm.

[Pickysaurus]

 

Sorry for the late reply guys, we're going to improve the wording around some of the settings in a future iteration of notifications.

 

The "Social Interaction from other users" currently controls two types of notification - friend requests and notifications regarding users tracking you or your content. However, we've since temporarily disable the notifications around tracking until we refine the settings a bit more. So basically, at the moment it's only friend requests.

 

There are currently no notifications related to endorsements or un-tracking. In the initial launch article I did ask if anyone had any new types of notification they'd like to see, but I didn't really get any feedback around that.

 

On the subject of notifications on untrack ... I currently get a line in my mod's Logs -> Mod Page Activity report when somebody untracks my mod page, and because no reason is asked for from the user I don't see any value in knowing that they untracked the mod page. At first I'd have the reaction of "Huh, what's up with that" but now it's just another part of the white noise in the background.

 

My point is that getting a notification of what could be perceived as a negative event has little or no value and could be merely a contributor to harm.

 

 

I guess that's why this event is in the log and doesn't generate a notification. As you say, we don't really want to generate notifications for "negative" events unless it's important information.

[NordFred]

Sorry for the late reply guys, we're going to improve the wording around some of the settings in a future iteration of notifications.

 

The "Social Interaction from other users" currently controls two types of notification - friend requests and notifications regarding users tracking you or your content. However, we've since temporarily disable the notifications around tracking until we refine the settings a bit more. So basically, at the moment it's only friend requests.

 

There are currently no notifications related to endorsements or un-tracking. In the initial launch article I did ask if anyone had any new types of notification they'd like to see, but I didn't really get any feedback around that.

Thanks for the information. That explains why Lollia saw the notification earlier, but not when we tested this week. I don't know if a notification for the tracking of a user is needed, but I don't have a strong opinion either way. My main concern was for untracking or unendorsing, which you have pointed out was not being done, and hopefully won't be.

 

The most important thing to me is that users be kept aware of how things work, and when they change. It would be nice if there was something similar to a change log for the site, but I am not asking for that. But if there is one, please let me know.

 

Anyway, thanks for the reply and the information.

[Lollia]

 

Thanks for trying. I didn't get any notification that you tracked me, either. This new notification system seems so weird to me - and it doesn't seem to work consistently. I really wish that someone at Nexus would document how this is supposed to work.

 

I did turn tracking off again... and sent you a kudos point for doing the test. I doubt you will get notified for either of those things, but let me know if you do.

 

 

 

No problem. :thumbsup:

 

I sent you a kudos point as well, and also un-tracked your account. If anything ever arises about this subject again in the future and you still need a willing test subject, just message me.