Overview

We propose adding a feature that does 2 things:

This would allow students to mark comments as private, making them visible only to teachers and admins. This functionality would enhance the user experience and create an upsell opportunity for different pricing plans to access the same content.

Use Case

In our niche, many students prefer to receive feedback privately rather than in a public forum. By offering this feature, we can differentiate between basic and premium plans. For instance, premium plan users could have the option to leave private comments for more discreet feedback.

Feature Details

Visibility Control: Students can choose to mark their comments as private with clear visual styling to ensure the student of it's privacy.

Product-Tied Feature: This feature should be tied to the product level, not a course setting for all products that grant access. This allows for a single course to host public discussions for all users, while providing premium users the option for private conversations with instructors if they are paying more.

Allow Limits or Tie to Points

Linking comments to points would allow for us to limit this feature in a creative way that will prevent abuse, and get students thinking harder about their questions, and feedback requests.

What about Private DM?:

I know we can use a DM, but unlike private direct messages (DMs), private comments remain contextually relevant within the course, allowing for better moderation and organization, and reference to the lesson video.

Benefits

Scalability: Enabling private comments can significantly improve our scalability. For instance, if we allow discussion as a feature tied to specific products, we can create tiered offerings:

Conclusion

Incorporating private comments as a feature not only enhances the learning experience but also opens new revenue streams for our business. Tying commenting as a feature to a products pricing gives us better upsell opportunities and more scalability without getting burnt out.