What are user mentions?

A mentioned user will receive a notification that draws their attention to the message in which their username was referenced. This feature improves communication for users, making it easier to get others involved in a discussion. To mention another user, the sender tags the target recipient's username or handle with an “@” symbol. For example, “@JaneDoe, what do you think about this?”

User mentions are particularly helpful in the context of group discussions or teamwork scenarios. They enable targeted communications when users need to coordinate efforts or get specific user input within a shared environment.

Benefits of user mentions

• Increased engagement: Mentions allow users to address other individuals directly, helping to foster participation with specific topics in group chats.

• Reduced miscommunication: Mentions ensure that messages are seen and responded to, reducing the chance of miscommunications or missed deadlines.

• Personalization: Mentions add a personal touch to communications, creating a more engaging, friendly experience between users in various contexts.

Use cases for user mentions

• Group chat: User mentions call the attention of specific individuals to a particular message or topic, helping to reduce clutter and ensure important messages get seen.

• Customer support: When using help desk software, support agents can use mentions to assign requests to the right agents or escalate issues to improve service outcomes.

• Operations: Teams use mentions in collaboration tools and project management software to assign tasks, discuss projects, and seek feedback in real time.

• Social apps and online communities: Users can mention others in their posts or comments to engage them in conversation, acknowledge contributions, or reference businesses and users.

• Education: Instructors can mention students in virtual classrooms or e-learning platforms to address questions, solicit participation, and highlight contributions.

• Healthcare: Mentions allow healthcare professionals using medical communications platforms to mention colleagues, specialists, and initiate referrals.

Mentions streamline communications between users, ensuring that relevant individuals are notified and can respond promptly. This feature is available in the SDKs (software development kits) and UI (user interface) kits provided by Sendbird and other in-app communications platforms. With these kits, developers can quickly build and customize the mentions feature for their specific project, without coding from scratch.