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Ask HN: Could we add social features (e.g. likes) to the email standard?

• DrScump 11y ago
  Wouldn't that all be transmitted in the clear? I see a lot of risk of privacy leakage.
• greenyoda 11y ago
  The nice thing about the e-mail standard is that it's a standard - the basic features work in the expected way no matter what e-mail client you're using. If you add all these features on top of it, people won't be able to use them unless they use a client that supports these features. When I send an e-mail, I don't want to have to think about whether the recipient will have the ability to read it.
  • sawwit 11y ago
    Why is HTML constantly being extended while email is more or less the same as 35 years ago.
    • J_Darnley 11y ago
      Because advertisers (read spammers) want to sell you things and that is easier with a flashy image-laden email than with plain text.
• _RPM 11y ago
  The last thing I want is someone being able to "like" my emails. Email is supposed to be a conversation between the sender and recipient. "likes" would be far from appropriate.
• stephenr 11y ago
  Email groups (distribution/mailing lists) already exist Meeting coordination already exists via caldav Video embedding is mostly just a case of clients accepting <video> html5 tags Strong crypto is available now via either S/MIME or GPG/PGP The other features - "likes" etc are not applicable. Email is not a social network.