Stray Cat
The kitty without a name
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I don't see this as logistically feasible. Tags are used in networking sites because the emphasis is on social interaction between users, and because they're integrated into the system. Forums are a different matter. There's no notification system in place. The options – revamping the control panel, introducing a centralised home page for users, or notifying via PMs – would require comprehensively overhauling the structure of the forums (or, if we went with PMs, just be a plain nuisance, especially with the limited inbox space allocated to users). There's also the fact that many users aren't referred to by their handles, but by shorter nicknames and suchlike. More than being a convenience, I think that's an important part of retaining our sense of community. In the first place, the question is whether this idea offers much of a benefit to the forum experience. And to be honest? I don't see why you can't just check threads you've posted in for replies to any of your messages. If it's a thread you've never posted in and didn't care to check, then I think that the act of someone else's publicly and impersonally calling you in is a bit intrusive. If you must – there's PMs. But there's a difference between how message boards and social networking sites work because they serve different purposes and work in fundamentally different ways.
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