I think there are probably a ton of ideas like this on the to-do list. But with the money just coming in and the hack and security being top priority it'll probably take a little while before those are rolled out.
Never know though,  the capital could keep rolling in and we could be seeing everything progress really fast.

Good idea!

Agreed and your precautions are spot-on!

good idea, if steemit is a social network, it is normal, what, this have private msg

This is a great idea, and is surely coming very very soon.

This is what the **MEMO** key is for.

The concept is already present in the underlying technology that powers steemit (it is called [graphene](https://github.com/cryptonomex/graphene), conceived and developed by our resident genius [Dan Larimer](https://steemit.com/@dan).

I am not aware of the exact reason of why steemit.com does not implement the functionality right now, it could be as simple as others things have been of more priority to the team.

To illustrate, here is how it looks when I start my [bitshares](https://bitshares.org) wallet (which, as you may recall, was **the first** blockchain powered by **graphene**), with some details blanked out to protect privacy:

ORIGIN_ACCOUNT sent XX.YYYY SOME_TOKEN to DESTINATION_ACCOUNT
**Unlock your wallet in order to see this memo**
X months ago - XX.XXX BTS

The memo does not show up, because the wallet is not locked - only the owner of the memo key belonging to DESTINATION_ACCOUNT can ever read the message.

Same concept in steem!

Well Steemit should do lots of stuff, but I guess they dont have 500 developers. Let them get the basics done right first, I am sure it will all be brought to steemit what other services already have. Be patient my friend :)

I really like this idea.  I also like your idea that there needs to be a way to prevent spam.  I would prefer  having a way to block people as opposed to having to be "friends" before sending a message, or have some different options.  I don't mind and would even enjoy unsolicited private comments if they are relevant.

This is work in progress

it would be nice.  but the whales and dolphins would be able to better organize and keep the little guys down.

Actually there are a lot more important things they want to finish before they start to work out details. 
You're absolutly right, it is a must have - but not for now.

You need a stable base that was build with caution to build something big on it. Otherwhise it won't last long.