The power of P2P connections

On illumy, you have full control over who you connect with, how you connect with them, and exactly what they can see in your illumy profile [link to a support page about profiles?]. 

illumy's connection engine doesn't just protect your digital identity -- it also secures your data. You can reject messages from unknown senders to keep spammers, scammers, and advertisers out of your inbox. With illumy, your experience is totally private and totally in your control.

find & connect with others

To launch a conversation on illumy, you have two options.

1) Send them an email. Click the "Create a New" button, enter their email address in the To field, type your message, and hit the Send (paper plane) button. Once the email has been sent, the person's email address will appear in gray text in the left-side Messaging panel.

2) Send them an illumy chat. In order to send an illumy chat, the other person also has to be using illumy. After clicking the "Create a New" button, start typing their name or illumy username in the To field, then select it in the dropdown to populate the field. Type your message and hit Send. illumy chat threads appear in purple text (in light mode) or white text (in dark mode) in the left-side Messaging panel.

upgrade conversations to connections

Once you've started a chat conversation with another illumy user, you can connect with them to 1) share what's in your illumy profile and 2) activate illumy's AI-powered Smart Connections to expand your network.

Sending a connection invite is super-simple. From the Messaging panel, open your conversation thread and click the "Go to Contact" button near the upper-right corner of the screen (next to the trash can icon). Then, at the top of the person's profile, click the Connect button.

If you navigate back to the conversation thread, you'll see a message indicating that you sent them a connection invite. 

withdraw a connection invitation

If you change your mind about inviting someone to connect, you can withdraw the invitation. From your conversation thread in the Messaging panel, just look for the Withdraw Invite button.

The person won't get notified that you nixed your invitation. And you can view your withdrawn invitations in case you want to follow up later. Just navigate to the left-side Friends panel, then click Withdrawn Invites above the middle panel.

accept others' connection invitations

When someone sends you a connection invite  , you’ll see their name marked with a notification badge in the left side panel in Messaging view. Click their name, and in the middle panel, you will have the option to accept the invitation. If you click lAccept, a dropdown appears with three options: Acquaintance, Friend, or Best Friend.(You can also deny the request by clicking Dismiss.No worries: they don’t get notified  if you dismiss their request.)

So what's the difference between Acquaintances, Friends, and Best Friends? These are what we call permission levels, and they exist to help you control the visibility of your illumy profile. 

For example, you might want to only share your birthday with Friends -- or your address with Best Friends. This article [https://www.illumy.com/support/set-permissions] explains how to change permissions for what's in your illumy profile.

And because friend breakups happen, you can also change a connection's permission level at any time. Here's an article explaining how. [new support article needed?]

remove a connection

If a connection no longer sparks joy, it’s easy to remove them. Navigate to the left-side Contacts panel by clicking the contact-book icon, then click on the contact you want to delete. Their contact info is shown in the middle panel. If the contact is an illumy member, you’ll see a white button with a red border called “Remove Connection.” (If the contact isn’t on illumy, the button will read, “Delete Contact.”) Either way, click that button, and a pop-up window appears asking you to confirm or cancel. 

While you can always add someone back as an illumy connection, your conversation history with them disappears permanently when you remove the connection. This is one of the ways illumy guards your digital privacy.

Note: Although your contact is not notified when you remove them, your name will disappear from their Contacts panel the next time they refresh their screen or log back in.