Acceptable usage of notifying using @

[kiran_k8]

Kindly opine on the acceptable usage of notifying a User using @....

Say.....We saw a Query and we feel it can be answered apt and to the point by a particular User with a detailed explaination weighing pros and cons...

Can we use @ and notify the User.

What is SCNs accpetable usage of using @

K.Kiran.

[kiran_k8]

https://answers.sap.com/articles/419165/dont-tag-me.html

[JL23]

I out myself that I gave you a private message "don't mention me to answer a question - I pick the questions myself"

I have not the exact text in my mind and can't look it up either as you deleted your comment from the question and herewith my comment too.

The question was posted just 8 minutes earlier to your @mention. It is posted with tags that have nothing to do with my area of expertise and even after reading the question I am not certain that the tags are right. The question itself looks extremely basic, and if it had the MM or PP tag it had received a moderator alert by me. But since it has tags that belong to an area with which I have nothing to do I do not do an alert as it might eventually not be that trivial in that area.

So basically the question is "Why are you @mention me?"

Do you know me good enough to assume that I could answer this question?

For me is this approach like spam and pishing emails and unwanted flyers in my post box.

However, if somebody is talking about me then I would like to be informed about that, either from the person who talks about me by using the @mention function himself or by someone else who is doing it to let me know about this.

[VeselinaPeykova]

I use @mention in Q&A mainly to respond with a single reply to multiple participants in a question or discussion, not to draw other members to a thread.
Using SAP.com and Coffee Corner are exceptions, because sometimes you use mentioning to notify a team member from SAP Community implementation team that there is a certain problem - even in this case I would do it only if I am sure that the person does not mind.

[pokrakam]

@mention is a handy feature and there are several good reasons to use it. But asking a specific person to answer your question is rude in most circumstances. Just because a mechanic stopped to help someone broken down at the side of the road does not give you the right to ask him to fix your car for free.

I think this recent example crosses the line: Do you hardcode values into business rules?. Even though he was polite about it, it's still basically saying could I get some free consulting from the experts please. I usually don't answer directed questions (both to me and others), but I felt this one had some community value.

I think it's applicable if it's in the mentioned person's interests - i.e. if I have good reason to believe the other person would be interested in the question. And "would be interested in" is very different from "would be able to answer".

Directing questions to people should only be in exceptional circumstances. For example, in two recent cases where ABAP was not behaving as it should I mentioned Horst Keller on one occasion because it was not clear whether it was incorrect behaviour or documentation. I @mentioned Horst because he was the one and only authority on this forum who can definitively answer that question. The other ABAP language issue was a broken statement we encountered that needed further investigation, which I didn't consider relevant for this forum but raised via OSS.

Edit: I found the thread where I felt an @mention was justified: https://answers.sap.com/questions/265853/value-operator.html and judging by the resulting discussion it was appropriate.

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

Just like Veselina, I'm mostly using @ mentions when I'm addressing someone personally in a thread or if I'm mentioning someone's content and want them to know. E.g. right here I'm not @ mentioning Veselina since it's not that important to her that I'm just agreeing with what she said. 🙂

In your own question NEVER @ mention anyone specifically. As others noted, it's rude and perceived as feeling entitled to "better service" than anyone else. Active contributors are checking the questions regularly and they will answer if they can when they can (we all have lives).

When inviting others to help with a question, I'd say just use your best judgement. Don't call the "heavy artillery" for a basic question (actually report basic questions to the moderators). Think whether if it's the right occasion and the right person. I treat it like "calling in a favor" IRL and, therefore, use it very rarely.