Direct messages
Community members can direct-message each other privately.
Starting a conversation
- Pick New message and choose the member(s) you want to talk to.
- You can start a one-to-one chat with another member or a small group chat within your community.
Privacy
Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted: they're encrypted on your device with a key shared only among the people in that conversation. Townwell's servers store only the encrypted messages — and the minimal metadata of who's chatting with whom — and can't read the content.
See the Privacy & encryption guide for the full plain-language explainer.
Reporting a message
If a conversation makes you feel unsafe, open the ⋮ menu at the top-right of the thread and choose Report. You'll pick the message that concerns you and choose a reason; your identity is never shown to the person you report.
Reporting a direct message shares the entire conversation with your community's admins (not the Townwell safety team) and rotates the conversation key so messages sent afterwards stay private. The safety reasons — illegal media, malware, and threats of imminent harm — aren't offered for direct messages in the app. See the Privacy & encryption guide for what that means.
If the conversation contains illegal material or is a child-safety concern and you don't want it handled by community admins, report it to your admins and also use the contact form to reach the Townwell safety team. See Reporting content & safety for the full path.