Author Topic: Spam vs Chat (Read 4809 times)

kylite · « **on:** February 13, 2009, 03:23:52 pm »

This poll will run for 7 days.

Please vote as this will affect things down the road

Trumby · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2009, 06:04:27 pm »

For the love of god please do so. The random chatting in threads = annoying (especially outside of this board).

MiriaRose · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2009, 06:43:50 pm »

Please don't.

We already have threads for that.

onyx · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2009, 06:49:50 pm »

I DUN CARE.

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #4 on:** February 13, 2009, 08:48:29 pm »

I think it'd be a great investment in the forums. I personally find all the idle chatter and countless threads that spring out of nightly boredom really tiresome. I think a chatroom would hopefully sort that out.

tofutakeout · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2009, 08:53:14 pm »

I'm up for it. EveofAbyss couldn't have said it better.

Man of the Public · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2009, 09:36:30 pm »

If it moves faster than the forums I'm for it.

superjaz · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2009, 10:59:16 am »

yesh please

TomtheFanboy · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2009, 05:21:47 pm »

If the convention can successfully maintain a chatroom then I think that it will definitely be worth it in the long run. It will take up less space on the server over time but use about the same bandwith and all the page loads that the heavy spam periods use.

Oh and "we already have threads for that" is the whole reason it's being brought up as an option. The threads are conversations. the convention doesn't need records of the goofy conversations in the spam section, the convention needs records of conversations about the convention's policies and events.

MiriaRose · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2009, 08:24:41 pm »

Then what's the point of having a spam board?

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2009, 08:33:17 pm »

Spam is more meant for games and things that can be carried on for long durations of time and still keep to a single purpose, but don't really hold any significance to the forums as a whole. The threads that are being discouraged by the creation of a chatroom feature are those threads that don't have a particular focus, they are just meandering ramblings and brain farts, better typed and forgotten in a chatroom than kept in a forum's archives.

MiriaRose · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2009, 08:48:42 pm »

=\ Some people actually make plans in these threads.

Do you participate in any of these chat threads? I do, and I prefer being able to go back and look at what I've said instead of having it be lost forever in the vortex of the internet.

Naruchan · « **Reply #12 on:** February 14, 2009, 08:51:06 pm »

please don't do anything mean! DX I'll be so sad if the spoon castle was to go bye bye >*:

Seraph · « **Reply #13 on:** February 14, 2009, 08:54:58 pm »

@Naru
I'm pretty sure this isn't aimed at spoon castle, but rather those really small & short threads.

makichan · « **Reply #14 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:10:16 pm »

I'm up for it! ^^

MiriaRose · « **Reply #15 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:17:55 pm »

Seraph, I'm pretty sure it's for ALL chat threads. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems illogical to only get rid of the small ones.

However, I and many other users would be really upset if the Spoon Castle was shut down.

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:20:53 pm »

It's not aiming to do away with spam all together, it's aim is to decrease the abounding threads that start over night and dwindle by the next, threads like "Showers!" and "Post Faster", which are not so much public threads for discussion as messages and conversations between two or three people, things that could easily just be carried out in a chatroom.
The threads where things are actually accomplished, plans and events, are obviously not the target here. Just the forum litter, so to speak.

Just think of it as text messages vs. emails, one is generally much more worth keeping than the other, because the other has a reputation for sporadic and impulsive thought.

*And you are misunderstanding the point of this topic, Miria. The point is to differentiate between spam and chat. The chat threads are, essentially, the problem because they are so abundant and only important for a moment, if at all. There is a difference between chat and spam, chat is like the lowest level of forum content, whereas spam is too minor to include in a post count, spam could be seen as even lower because it is just so...unnecessary and universally functionless (generally).

MiriaRose · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:30:01 pm »

But what about those of us who actually LIKE forum "litter?" I like keeping texts, and I get a little sad whenever I have to delete them to save space on my phone.

Again, I like having a record of everything I've said. It could avert a misunderstanding. =\

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:58:35 pm »

Hmm, well sometimes a compromise needs to be made for the greater good of the forums. If the majority of the people here find it distracting or bothersome, then it would be logical to attune the forums to the requests of the majority. The poll will help sort out where the majority lies, so we'll see.

MiriaRose · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:59:47 pm »

Why don't we have a chatroom AND keep the chat threads, if we want a compromise? That way the people who prefer chatrooms can have that and those of us who prefer threads could have that?

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #20 on:** February 14, 2009, 10:02:06 pm »

Because, I would imagine, the chatroom would be made as a deterrent to chatting in threads, an encouragement to handle your conversations in a chatroom. If you really like keeping conversations that badly, you can always save them to your computer. This is just, at its core, an effort to streamline the forums since there have been so many chat threads popping up.

kylite · « **Reply #21 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:30:49 pm »

let me be clear.

There are no plans as of yet to remove the chat threads.

This is mainly an option to add a chat room to offset the load of the chat that goes on daily in the spam boards. Eve is correct. The original purpose of the SPAM board was for game threads such as "3 word stories" or "this or that" or "name that movie quote". It was not intended to be a chat room with a never ending backlog.

Additionally I would like to point out that the forum uses bandwidth. A LOT of it. each time a page is loaded or refreshed, each image on the page is reloaded. even small images when loaded thousands upon thousands of times DAILY can add up pretty quickly. People often wonder why the forums are loading slowly. Well here is ONE of the answers.

Again, I do not plan to remove the chat threads at this time, but intend to run the chat room and see if the activity in the chat threads decreases to a more manageable level.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

Trumby · « **Reply #22 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:31:20 pm »

The way I see it is this: you can have your chat threads, I don't really care about that part. But don't spam normal threads with chat.

The part I care about is where I am reading a thread outside of the spam board where people are chatting. I usually check the forums before I go to work (9:50pm) and sometime before I go to bed in the morning (sometime between 7:00am and 9:00am). If a thread outside of the spam board get 2+ pages of new posts in that time..that is pretty much always something that can be taken to a chat or PMs.

Radien · « **Reply #23 on:** February 16, 2009, 02:25:52 pm »

I think every interest-specific forum has the potential of going through these stages:

1. People sharing a specific interest gather on a forum dedicated to that specific interest.
2. These people discuss every topic they can think of related to their shared interest. Some of the topics become exhausted.
3. Many of these people become friends with each other, and start using the forum as a social meeting place.
4. The "friends" stop using the forum to discuss the shared interest.
5. The forum is derailed; discussions are overrun with (or overshadowed by) chatty posts and threads. On-topic posts by lesser-known members are often ignored completely.
6. Future members with the shared interest are driven away. New members become limited to existing friends of the most active members.

It's perfectly fine that people make friends on the forums. But if the original purpose of the forums are abandoned, it makes it impossible for anyone else to make friends through our shared interest. And with all due respect, I find that this happens on most convention forums. Since chatty members often don't have an alternative place to meet (after all it's usually the con itself which connects them), I think our best option is to relegate it to a specific section on the forums so newcomers won't be driven away when they visit the "main" areas on the forums.

So, basically, I think a chat room or chat area is a good idea. Just be careful that they are carefully monitored; chat rooms are a frequent source of pointless drama that can potentially spill over into the forums (this happened at another forum that I staff as an admin).

Rathany · « **Reply #24 on:** February 16, 2009, 02:45:50 pm »

No. There would be no way to effectively moderate it, which could cause alot of problems. Unless it's only 'open' when mods are around, no.

TanisNikana · « **Reply #25 on:** February 16, 2009, 02:52:21 pm »

I'm around at least 95 hours a week to moderate it.

superjaz · « **Reply #26 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:05:00 pm »

oh lordy if it means we have a few less "spammy spam threads" yes please, but if it dosent happen i think the spam threads need some ground rules because its turned from the place to post when you don't know where, or for fun and games, but its seemed to be overloaded with just multible threads of the same stuff

TanisNikana · « **Reply #27 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:44:24 pm »

What if we just have the chat open during peak hours -- 4PM to 11PM, five days a week?

StarryShay · « **Reply #28 on:** February 17, 2009, 06:54:19 am »

Wouldn't opening and closing it everyday become a problem?

EveofAbyss · « **Reply #29 on:** February 17, 2009, 07:07:01 am »

I don't think so. It'd be as simple as clicking a button, if I remember how chats work correctly.

TanisNikana · « **Reply #30 on:** February 17, 2009, 03:24:28 pm »

Quote from: StarryShay on February 17, 2009, 06:54:19 am

Wouldn't opening and closing it everyday become a problem?

Don't have to code, compile, and publish a new chat application every day. Just have to hit a check box and push 'apply'.

Syd-chan · « **Reply #31 on:** February 17, 2009, 04:32:56 pm »

Hm, that does make sense. But, a topic I heard brought up was to eliminate those topics caused by "late night boredom". Wouldn't it make sense to have it open overnight on the weekends and in the summer? I wasn't sure if you said this with your "4 pm to 11 pm; 5 days a week" thing, though. ><

TanisNikana · « **Reply #32 on:** February 17, 2009, 05:20:33 pm »

That was my idea. And overnight isn't an option; I don't think any moderator or admin could put in their night to moderate a board which is usually totally dead by midnight.

Cassiopeia · « **Reply #33 on:** February 17, 2009, 06:32:43 pm »

I like to be able to read records of conversations that I miss. A chat room is a good idea to clean up the forums (or at least prevent them from getting messier?) but it will make me sad. It will be a big change to what has become a home at home for me and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. :/

News:

Poll

What would you think of adding a chat room to help with the "chat" in the spam section of the forum?

Author Topic: Spam vs Chat (Read 4809 times)