Can I message someone privately

Can I message someone privately without being a premium member? Someone replied to my post and I wanted to discuss it further with them privately. I clicked on their profile and clicked message and it said a request sent. Then it says I’m following them. I see that one of the perks to a premium membership is being able to chat privately one on one. So my question is can I actually message/ chat with them privately if I don’t have a premium membership?