Reflections on the shoutbox
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:32 am
Now, as anyone on here should know, we have had a shoutbox on the forums for a few weeks, give or take. In this time, I have been paying close attention to how it works and the effect it has had on us as a community. Kartoon stated that it was here on a trial basis, so I figure that I will comment about it now after having had experience with it.
I believe that the shoutbox has changed this forum for the better. For starters, it appears to have been cutting down on overposting and pointless threads. A lot of the stuff that would make a terrible thread ("So, what are you doing right now?" "How's life?") goes into the shoutbox, whereas before it would either be tediously discussed on an individual basis through PMs, or get posted as a thread (a waste of a post, given how unimportant the question is). You don't see stuff like that as much anymore, as anyone can just leap into the shoutbox and instantly chat with anyone who is online. At the same time, overposting is reduced because there are quite simply not as many threads. Since people are not as willing to post a thread for every little thing, threads as a whole are cut down to a minimum, leading to a natural lack of threads to post in. Before, someone would see a lot of threads, and they would feel compelled to post in a lot of them. Now with more discussion going on in the shoutbox, there are less threads, so even if you are compelled to post in a lot of threads there are less to select from.
In another way, the site has become more active. There is almost always someone on and willing to talk on the shoutbox. If you felt like talking to someone before, it would usually be a turkey shoot of seeing who was online, deciding if you really wanted to go through the trouble of PMing them, then constantly refreshing the page until you get the new PM notification. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nowadays anyone can just type and hit enter, simplifying the process and allowing your message to be heard by a much larger amount of people. This forum has gone from a stagnant pond with the occasional fish floating around to a flowing river of activity. There is almost never nothing going on, with the obvious exception of the middle of the night EST.
My final point is thus: it has brought us closer together as a community. Before the shoutbox, I didn't really feel like I knew anyone on this forum. Sure, we were acquaintences, but I didn't really know anyone. Since the shoutbox came around, I have gotten to know several people on this forum better than I would have with just the posting and PM systems. If you want to ask a question of someone, you can just use the shoutbox to get around the unwieldy PM system. You can get instant replies as well. You can just chat about absolutely nothing and not get in trouble for low-content posting or useless posting. It's like the best parts of a chatroom, but well moderated and with very, very little idiocy.
In conclusion, I believe that the shoutbox has transformed this place, like I said, into a very active message board and chatroom, rather than a static forum. It has changed it from a place I would visit a few times per day for a couple of minutes into a place I keep open in a seperate Firefox tab almost constantly. It is like the best part of a revolution, just without the killing and such. I believe that it is an incredible addition to the forum, and one that should not leave anytime soon.
I welcome anyone else to post their opinions on this feature here as well. It's always good to get multiple opinions on a given topic, after all.
This has been a GramercyRiff99 essay.
I believe that the shoutbox has changed this forum for the better. For starters, it appears to have been cutting down on overposting and pointless threads. A lot of the stuff that would make a terrible thread ("So, what are you doing right now?" "How's life?") goes into the shoutbox, whereas before it would either be tediously discussed on an individual basis through PMs, or get posted as a thread (a waste of a post, given how unimportant the question is). You don't see stuff like that as much anymore, as anyone can just leap into the shoutbox and instantly chat with anyone who is online. At the same time, overposting is reduced because there are quite simply not as many threads. Since people are not as willing to post a thread for every little thing, threads as a whole are cut down to a minimum, leading to a natural lack of threads to post in. Before, someone would see a lot of threads, and they would feel compelled to post in a lot of them. Now with more discussion going on in the shoutbox, there are less threads, so even if you are compelled to post in a lot of threads there are less to select from.
In another way, the site has become more active. There is almost always someone on and willing to talk on the shoutbox. If you felt like talking to someone before, it would usually be a turkey shoot of seeing who was online, deciding if you really wanted to go through the trouble of PMing them, then constantly refreshing the page until you get the new PM notification. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nowadays anyone can just type and hit enter, simplifying the process and allowing your message to be heard by a much larger amount of people. This forum has gone from a stagnant pond with the occasional fish floating around to a flowing river of activity. There is almost never nothing going on, with the obvious exception of the middle of the night EST.
My final point is thus: it has brought us closer together as a community. Before the shoutbox, I didn't really feel like I knew anyone on this forum. Sure, we were acquaintences, but I didn't really know anyone. Since the shoutbox came around, I have gotten to know several people on this forum better than I would have with just the posting and PM systems. If you want to ask a question of someone, you can just use the shoutbox to get around the unwieldy PM system. You can get instant replies as well. You can just chat about absolutely nothing and not get in trouble for low-content posting or useless posting. It's like the best parts of a chatroom, but well moderated and with very, very little idiocy.
In conclusion, I believe that the shoutbox has transformed this place, like I said, into a very active message board and chatroom, rather than a static forum. It has changed it from a place I would visit a few times per day for a couple of minutes into a place I keep open in a seperate Firefox tab almost constantly. It is like the best part of a revolution, just without the killing and such. I believe that it is an incredible addition to the forum, and one that should not leave anytime soon.
I welcome anyone else to post their opinions on this feature here as well. It's always good to get multiple opinions on a given topic, after all.
This has been a GramercyRiff99 essay.