I'd probably add an Inbox model that belongs_to messages with a column for the user_id and read_state Then do a current_user.inbox.messages for your index find, and use group_by in the view to divide them up by state. This way a message can be 'delivered' to multiple people with different states. A user deleteing a message removes it from his inbox. Then periodically purge all orphaned messages... (just thinking out loud here)
linoj