# Facebook messaging question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369 "2016-09-08T21:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369/1 "2016-09-08T21:37:54Z")
It’s possible to send a PM to both friends and to others that you find on the net. When you send a message to a ‘friend’, FB tells you when it’s been seen. Does it do that for non-friends? I sent a contact message to a grand-nephew and can’t tell if he’s received it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369/2 "2016-09-08T22:04:41Z")
Non-friends often don’t see your messages at all. Sure, you can send them but the recipient can’t usually see them unless they check both their Hidden and Filtered messages folders which isn’t intuitive. Here is how to check your own. I only remember to do it a couple of times a year and I almost always have some messages that were filtered out. I suppose that feature is meant to protect people from SPAM, stalkers etc. but it also does a great job of hiding legitimate messages. In my experience, it is best just to send a real Friend request before you send a message. At least the recipient will get notified of those. > **[Facebook Now Has Two “Hidden” Message Inboxes, Here’s How to Access Them](https://www.howtogeek.com/250792/facebook-now-has-two-hidden-message-inboxes-heres-how-to-access-them/)** > > You might have heard that there is a somewhat unknown Facebook inbox where potentially scads of filtered messages go to die. It turns out, there are actually two. Here’s how to make sure you’re getting all your messages. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369/3 "2016-09-09T02:04:06Z")
You will get a notification that “[so and so] Accepted Your Request”, where a “request” is sent ahead of the message, asking to allow your message to be sent. I don’t know if you get a notification if/when the request is denied. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369/4 "2016-09-09T02:21:35Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Non-friends often don’t see your messages at all. Sure, you can send them but the recipient can’t usually see them unless they check both their Hidden and Filtered messages folders which isn’t intuitive. > > Here is how to check your own. I only remember to do it a couple of times a year and I almost always have some messages that were filtered out. I suppose that feature is meant to protect people from SPAM, stalkers etc. but it also does a great job of hiding legitimate messages. > > In my experience, it is best just to send a real Friend request before you send a message. At least the recipient will get notified of those. > > [http://www.howtogeek.com/250792/facebook-now-has-two-hidden-message-inboxes-heres-how-to-access-them/](http://www.howtogeek.com/250792/facebook-now-has-two-hidden-message-inboxes-heres-how-to-access-them/) Thanks. That actually happened to me; discovered a message when I was clicking around. Seems odd that you wouldn’t receive notification for all messages, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-messaging-question/765369/5 "2016-09-09T02:30:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Thanks. That actually happened to me; discovered a message when I was clicking around. Seems odd that you wouldn’t receive notification for all messages, doesn’t it? For a while they tried charging the sender $1 to guarantee delivery (and your notification), otherwise they would just algorithmically decide if your message was worth the recipient’s notice. That was an experiment; not sure if it’s still going on, and if so, for what % of the userbase.