I would love to see a messaging system on HN. There are so many great people here; but most don't put an email link in their profile. I think adding very simple messaging (just enough to exchange contact info) would be a very positive force in the world.
I never had any contact details in my profile, in fact it was empty before today. I would actually love to meet like minded people. Just never thought anyone would want to (or be able to, I live kinda way out from where you'd normally find tech people). + couldn't be bothered to setup a burnable email in case of spam.
Upvoting this.
It is extremely frustrating when you recognize a like-minded individual, you want to engage with them, befriend them, for the benefit of both, and you're just unable to because they neglected to add some contact detail/link/hint.