---
term: reply
category: social
status: canonical
authority: social.elonn.local
---

Reply

A post added to an existing conversation or event by any member who can view it. Replies extend a conversation or event's discussion. They do not create new threads or branches.

Allowed:
- reply to a conversation
- reply to an event
- event reply
- conversation reply

Forbidden:
- comment (connotes a secondary or subordinate voice; replies are first-class)
- response (acceptable in error copy; not a domain noun)
- answer (implies Q&A structure)
- post (ambiguous with social feed semantics)
- message (a reply is not the same as an open message)
- Social DM (a reply is not private)

Notes:
- The API action for posting a reply is POST /social/conversations/{id}/messages or POST /social/events/{id}/messages. The path segment /messages is a legacy payload route segment, not the product term — the user action is always called a reply.
- Replying to a public conversation automatically adds the replier as a participant.

Related:
- conversation
- event
- message
- social-dm
- participant