The Potential Benefits of a Shoutbox Feature on Online Forums

[nanunath]

I think it would be better if we have a shoutbox on physicsforums...
would help in faster communication in some cases..
What u think about this?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think it would be better if we have a shoutbox on physicsforums...
would help in faster communication in some cases..
What u think about this?

Ordinarily I'd be against it. But you've made me think of a possible good way to implement it. Stay tuned.

 

[nanunath]

Ya..thanks..Im right here...waiting!

 

[Moonbear]

What is a shoutbox?

 

[Pengwuino]

What is a shoutbox?

It's a box on the front page where you can just type or "shout" something to everyone else whos on the front page. It's like a mini-chat room except it's not a chat room, it's just a place where people go "hey everyone" or "I just ate a cheeseburger" or "Moon blew up, watch the news".

 

[Moonbear]

It's a box on the front page where you can just type or "shout" something to everyone else whos on the front page. It's like a mini-chat room except it's not a chat room, it's just a place where people go "hey everyone" or "I just ate a cheeseburger" or "Moon blew up, watch the news".

Oh good grief! I suppose as long as it's collapsible like other things on the front page so you don't have to look at it if you don't like it, the Twitter addicts can have their PF version.

 

[Doc Al]

Oh good grief!

LOL. More clutter on the front page. (I'd much rather have the "jump to forum" menu at the bottom of each page. Like we used to.)

 

[cristo]

(I'd much rather have the "jump to forum" menu at the bottom of each page. Like we used to.)

I forgot about that, it's been gone for a few years now! It was a pretty useful feature.

 

[Moonbear]

LOL. More clutter on the front page. (I'd much rather have the "jump to forum" menu at the bottom of each page. Like we used to.)

Indeed! Then I could ignore the cluttered front page entirely if we got our forum jump feature back. If we had that, I wouldn't much care what else got added to the front page. I guess my comments in the few feedback threads I've posted in this weekend probably make it clear that my own preference is clean pages with minimal other "stuff" besides what I'm trying to read.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I'm tending towards: Shoutbox = entropy machine

 

[Redbelly98]

How about this: implement a shout box for 1 week, then have a poll for members to vote on keeping it or scrapping it.

 

[Evo]

I'm trying to think of ANY reason this would be a useful feature. I am trying to think of ANY reason this would make any sense at all.

I also want the "jump to forum" feature back. That was useful.

 

[Redbelly98]

I'm trying to think of ANY reason this would be a useful feature. I am trying to think of ANY reason this would make any sense at all.

I can think of 2 reasons not to do it.

1. It's another opportunity for new members to post homework or other questions inappropriately. I look at the blogs and library enough to know this would happen.

2. It could become a chat room, which we already have, if it's overused. 5 minutes after a post is made, it could have scrolled off the page. This may or may not happen, it depends on how frequent the posts are.

A 1 week trial would answer any doubts whether these concerns are justified. I'm pretty certain about #1 though.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I can think of 2 reasons not to do it.

1. It's another opportunity for new members to post homework or other questions inappropriately. I look at the blogs and library enough to know this would happen.

2. It could become a chat room, which we already have, if it's overused. 5 minutes after a post is made, it could have scrolled off the page. This may or may not happen, it depends on how frequent the posts are.

A 1 week trial would answer any doubts whether these concerns are justified. I'm pretty certain about #1 though.

#1 would be taken care of because it would be for staff (hh, sa) and gold members

 

[GeorginaS]

#1 would be taken care of because it would be for staff (hh, sa) and gold members

Okay, nifty. But I don't think I quite understand the purpose of it, though. Surely it has the potential to increase the cost of this place. And, if that is a fact, couldn't those resources be better used elsewhere? Assuming, of course, that it's as senseless a feature as Pengwuino describes it as.

 

[nanunath]

Ordinarily I'd be against it. But you've made me think of a possible good way to implement it. Stay tuned.

Can we have an idea of what the new possible good way was??

I just wanted this feature for faster communication...

Like if I wanted a particular member/s[experts in a particular field] to immediately pop into my thread ...for some discussion in there ...a shoutbox can be useful...some members disable their PMs so you have to wait until they look your new reply and then Re-reply ..which sometimes even takes 4-5 hours currently...with a shoutbox..the chances of member replying immediately in thread are much higher..I think..

I don't think I came with this sugestion for "Greetings...hi..bye...cheers..."...

 

[Evo]

Can we have an idea of what the new possible good way was??

I just wanted this feature for faster communication...

Like if I wanted a particular member/s[experts in a particular field] to immediately pop into my thread ...for some discussion in there ...a shoutbox can be useful...some members disable their PMs so you have to wait until they look your new reply and then Re-reply ..which sometimes even takes 4-5 hours currently...with a shoutbox..the chances of member replying immediately in thread are much higher..I think..

I don't think I came with this sugestion for "Greetings...hi..bye...cheers..."...

It is very unlikely that an expert would be checking the 'shoutbox'. The people interested in helping with homework do so, at their leisure. You should never pm another member or leave a visitor message requesting home work help. Requesting homework help would not be allowed in the shoutbox.

 

[Vanadium 50]

#1 would be taken care of because it would be for staff (hh, sa) and gold members

But they aren't the ones asking for it. Are they?

 

[nanunath]

It is very unlikely that an expert would be checking the 'shoutbox'. The people interested in helping with homework do so, at their leisure. You should never pm another member or leave a visitor message requesting home work help. Requesting homework help would not be allowed in the shoutbox

I'm really sorry..but I don't find any reason why PMing them for poping into my thread for helping on my doubts isn't "Ok"...

 

[Doc Al]

I'm really sorry..but I don't find any reason why PMing them for poping into my thread for helping on my doubts isn't "Ok"...

There's no problem with PMing someone, of course, as in "Could you please take another look at my thread?". But all homework help belongs in the homework help forums, not in PMs or visitor messages.

 

[negitron]

I can think of 2 reasons not to do it.

1. It's another opportunity for new members to post homework or other questions inappropriately. I look at the blogs and library enough to know this would happen.

2. It could become a chat room, which we already have, if it's overused. 5 minutes after a post is made, it could have scrolled off the page. This may or may not happen, it depends on how frequent the posts are.

I can think of one more: websites with shoutboxes and chats on or accessible from the index page frequently get classified as "social networking" sites by filtering services and these are often blocked by employers. I say don't do it. It is more likely to hurt than to help.

 

[Moonbear]

#1 would be taken care of because it would be for staff (hh, sa) and gold members

I don't think we're the people interesting in having the feature. More likely, we're the ones that would consider it a "perk" to be able to hide the feature.

As for nanunath's thoughts on using it to ask people to look at his HW help threads (or for using PM for that purpose), I think he needs to take a look again at just how many new HW help threads are posted every day to understand why people don't want their PM inboxes filled with requests from everyone for individual attention, or why his "shouts" in a "shoutbox" would be quickly drowned out by the chorus of shouts from everyone else who thinks it's the way to demand their thread get priority attention.

If you want people to notice your homework thread and help quickly, the best way to do that is not by using a shoutbox or PM, but by following the HW forum rules and by creating a thread title that gives a clear indication of the topic of the HW question so someone scanning for interesting looking problems might take a look before one of the threads titled, "DUE TOMORROW...PLZ HLP!"

 

[nanunath]

I don't think we're the people interesting in having the feature. More likely, we're the ones that would consider it a "perk" to be able to hide the feature.

As for nanunath's thoughts on using it to ask people to look at his HW help threads (or for using PM for that purpose), I think he needs to take a look again at just how many new HW help threads are posted every day to understand why people don't want their PM inboxes filled with requests from everyone for individual attention, or why his "shouts" in a "shoutbox" would be quickly drowned out by the chorus of shouts from everyone else who thinks it's the way to demand their thread get priority attention.

If you want people to notice your homework thread and help quickly, the best way to do that is not by using a shoutbox or PM, but by following the HW forum rules and by creating a thread title that gives a clear indication of the topic of the HW question so someone scanning for interesting looking problems might take a look before one of the threads titled, "DUE TOMORROW...PLZ HLP!"

Right..."perfect reasoning" I should say...
that would render shoutbox useless...and have -ve effects in some cases as "negitron" says in the immediate earlier post

 

[Moonbear]

Right..."perfect reasoning" I should say...
that would render shoutbox useless...and have -ve effects in some cases as "negitron" says in the immediate earlier post

I still haven't seen a good argument presented as to how it would be useful, and improvement rather than a detraction on the site. I'm listening, but haven't seen it, and quite frankly, just don't get it.

Can you please explain why it would be a benefit to have a shoutbox...especially keeping in mind the negatives already presented. Can you think of a way to have the feature that avoids the negatives? Or something overwhelmingly good about it that would outweigh the potential negatives? What exactly do you want to do with it that can't be accomplished using features the site already has?

I'm all for new technology and new features...but not just BECAUSE they are new or the latest toy out (I was never the kid who got the toy everyone else got just because everyone else was getting it). Rather, I'm a bit old-fashioned in requiring evidence be provided that something new provides a benefit that old technology/features cannot already provide, and those benefits don't come at such a cost as to be a hindrance to the primary functions of the site.

 

[nanunath]

I still haven't seen a good argument presented as to how it would be useful, and improvement rather than a detraction on the site. I'm listening, but haven't seen it, and quite frankly, just don't get it.

Can you please explain why it would be a benefit to have a shoutbox...especially keeping in mind the negatives already presented. Can you think of a way to have the feature that avoids the negatives? Or something overwhelmingly good about it that would outweigh the potential negatives? What exactly do you want to do with it that can't be accomplished using features the site already has?

I'm all for new technology and new features...but not just BECAUSE they are new or the latest toy out (I was never the kid who got the toy everyone else got just because everyone else was getting it). Rather, I'm a bit old-fashioned in requiring evidence be provided that something new provides a benefit that old technology/features cannot already provide, and those benefits don't come at such a cost as to be a hindrance to the primary functions of the site.

No..No...I think you misunderstood my last reply...
I wanted to say that your reasoning as to "how a shoutbox would be more of useless than useful"...was "PERFECT" {and right}... even I agreed{100%} to what you stated in that post...
In short that reply of yours completely changed my view as to the usefulness of a shoutbox!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I will put the idea of a shoutbox to rest. thanks for your input

 

[Moonbear]

No..No...I think you misunderstood my last reply...
I wanted to say that your reasoning as to "how a shoutbox would be more of useless than useful"...was "PERFECT" {and right}... even I agreed{100%} to what you stated in that post...
In short that reply of yours completely changed my view as to the usefulness of a shoutbox!

Oh, okay. Since it was written in quotes, I thought you might have been being sarcastic (the trouble of interpreting intent online).

Thanks for explaining your intentions, and it looks like the matter has been settled.

By the way, don't let this hinder you from making other suggestions along the way. Sometimes they get shot down, but sometimes they stick and get added. You'll never know until you ask.