[Chris Fultz]

I believe there is an implied / assumed agrement that private messages and comments will remain private. The reason I send PMs and comments in Reputations is because I want them to be private and they are like a conversation between two people.

I often give positive rep points and then constructive criticism or advice - meant to offer some guideance to the person I am sending to. I am not interested in a public statement and I don't think the recipient would be either. Most of the time the responses back to my comments have been positive. Often, I just offer the view of someone else and the way a message was interpreted.

If the norm here becomes a public display of private comments, then the private comments will soon go away. And along with them, any ability to offer someone some guideance in a nice, non-threatening way.