The forum has a feature to follow threads.

With the increase in smart phone use it seems natural to include a 'follow message' function

You should be able to input names of empires in a list and if they message you a copy of the message is emailed to you.

This would be helpful for making sure you get priority in game messages without checking nonstop.

It should work only for empires in the same galaxy as well to prevent harrassment issues.