@Jenny by far the majority of comments on this thread are from sitters would would like to communicate through the platform but the system is not set up to enable them to do so .
Although the THS T&Cs says it’s part of the service that we are paying for:
The only work around for sitters until now was to apply to a sit to initiate a conversation with a homeowner. That avenue of communication has now been blocked ( if you have a sit that overlaps even by 1 day ). As a result ( until THS make it possible through the platform ) sitters have to think of other ways to communicate with the homeowners .
Once contact is established with a homeowner, they can directly contact the sitter through the THS platform so all sits and further communication would still be through the THS platform . So suggestions of ways to contact a homeowner are not trying to circumnavigate THS but rather to make it possible to use THS and book sits that are otherwise going unfilled .