User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Tips for being a great admin/@comment-5636372-20121026002240/@comment-20644-20121029182132

I think any discussion like this about whether private chat should be used is going to come down to individual philosophies about wikis, particularly the idea of openness on a wiki. Personally, I would just say use common sense. If you want to have a private chat with someone that’s just a regular conversation, there’s nothing wrong with private chat at all. Go nuts!

If you’re talking about wiki business, then I’d use it a bit more sparingly. As an admin, I myself often use private chat or other private message methods to ask someone for feedback about an idea I may have for the wiki, an idea that I’m not yet ready to make public. I’d personally rather someone tell me “that’s stupid, and here’s why” in a one on one setting than have a wiki discussion where everyone tells me it’s stupid. =P

Just don't conduct wiki business over private channels. Having an open, public record and public participation is important.