caution on 24/7 chat

I think it's worth trying 24/7 chat using the self-organized schedule. It would be good to have a place for folks to post the days and time they're gong to be on.

I tend to favor several 4-6 hour windows on three or four selected days of the week.

Current RSVP should meet the requirement for'self-organization.' My gut feel is that RSVP use was better in 2009 than in 2010.

Aneros ran 24/7 several weeks last year. As Darwin notes, the fragmentation was pretty bad (even with banner advertising) and we tended toward small clusters of participants on two or three days of the seven when server assets were dedicated to 24/7 Chat.

To shift from naysaying to something positive -- How about getting History working or return to transcript publishing so that we can collect some hard data on what works and what doesn't ??

Hello Darwin, 🙂

I don't use it enough to have an opinion one way another. Just as long as the quality of chat doesn't degrade. For me personally, the chat here is like a bonus feature that is not necessary. If I'm logged in and did all my forum and private message reading and responding, and I still feel like interacting and the chat room happens to be open, I'll go and check it out. Otherwise I don't schedule my life around it. But I may be more the exception than the rule with this, as I know many people enjoy real time chatting on a regular basis.

Love_is

@ 'darwin',

I've attended in whole or in part nearly every scheduled Chat Session since this function was first made available back on 2/7/08. I concur there is a possibility a 24/7 Chat may initially have a dilution effect but that shouldn't be a reason not to try it out.

Over time I have noticed the chat is mostly frequented by a limited number of regular members (2-3 dozen people) and the peak chat times occur from 5-11pm local time for members in the USA. This is already a defacto self-organized schedule but still nobody knows when anybody else will be online as you said.

It is my understanding Aneros Support is in the process of acquiring/developing a new Chat Room software module for the Forum, so this discussion is timely in that regard.

I think it's worth trying 24/7 chat using the self-organized schedule. It would be good to have a place for folks to post the days and time they're gong to be on.

I think this is a good idea but how and where it gets implemented is a problem.

@ 'rook' - You are correct about the RSVP feature dropping in usage, I suspect some of this is due to operational inconvenience surrounding the multiple pages one must negotiate to see and enter data surrounding Chat Room usage. In my ideal scenario the click to the "CHAT" button would open ONE page where you would immediately see who is currently in the Chat Room(s) and what the featured topic is (if any) and perhaps a couple lines of the chat text in progress. This page would also show a 'Special Topics Room' section with dates and times for its opening/closing. Another section would list members proposed attendance times for a 'General Discussion' or 'Special Topics Room'. There would also be a section for reviewing archived portions of the Chats, perhaps in 24 hr. snippets. This page would also have a search function capability so one could find any members previous chat comments, times of participation or future attendance times.

@ 'Love_is' - By its very nature, a real time chat/discussion is going to be less structured, with less rigorous thinking by the participants. There will be more frivolous, off-topic banter, there will be many more 'typos' and poor grammar is rampant. I think we need to be more tolerant of these conditions when compared to the more thoughtful posts we see in this General Discussion Forum. We need to understand that some men enter this journey with high expectations and an impatient desire for immediate success/satisfaction to the exclusion of performing due diligence in gathering the information otherwise available on this site. Some of these men will come to the 'Chat' in hopes of getting a quick fix answer to their questions.

I'm blessed by living in the -8 time zone. I get to see the rest of the U.S. and Europe grow groggy and expire while Oceana and Asia wakes up and partakes of morning tea/coffee. So, my view of Chat is perhaps less critical than what might be contributed from another venue.

Some of the ideas offered in this thread were de-facto in the experimental versions of Chat offered last month (via login from the store or Aneros Home page). Multiple named chatrooms, downloadable transcripts and redirect to integrated, single-page presentations appeared singlely or in combination.

In comparison to last month's experimental versions, particularly the one based on frames, I continue to prefer the current multi-colored, single-line (tty) scrolling presentation, mostly due to it's compatibility with the short-cut keys in Firefox and Chrome. Better use of the entire screen space is also a plus when compared with the Chat options that were under development.

I do have some visual imparement and treasure the ability to rapidly change type-size and quickly open and close the 'smilie' box or shift windows and multi-task between private and public chat.

I think we all realize that when one has a piece of plastic up one's ass and a laptop or iPad on one's knees, there's not much heed paid to a formal style manual and most men won't compose offline for grammar checks. So, Chat is just that, rules of Twitter-grammar are OK and no one is going to get uptight about typos ! We tend to value spontenaety over propriety.

Hats off to Support for enabling spell check and arrow keys on the post-entry line!

The capability to support multiple 'private' conversations while monitoring the main chat group also works well; and, to some degree relieves the software of having to support multiple groups.

Private chat is also valuable to support innovation, trivia and techniques that might be TMI (or too outlandish) in the main Chat group.

While we don't always observe artform's talking stick protocol, Chat members seem to have a good feel for sensing the importance of quiet observation when detailed coaching takes place in the main group.

Were I signing the checks, I'd put the bucks on: improved software stability, real-time History and Transcript capture/publication.

Transcript review, when it was available was valuable for bridging time zones. It also saved a lot of marriage strife since I could go to bed, not make my wife a Chat-widow and yet see what transpired after I had signed off.

We should keep in mind that chat scheduling must also respect and exploit sales opportunities for HIH. Concentrating juicy chat during periods where potential customers are 'chatguests' helps pay the freight.

Nothing like a bunch of multi-orgasmic males trading experiential tales to cause the cash register to ring! Vive la caisse ! 😀

Hi Everyone,

We really appreciate the discussion here about the chat rooms. What Rumel said is correct, we are working on a completely new chat system that will add many new features and hopefully address the shortcomings of the current software, which was based off a third party package. More to come in the near future.

thanks,
Aneros Support

Hello Folks, 🙂

My comment about not wanting the chat room to "degrade" had nothing to do with typos and off topic stuff, that's expected. My apologies for not being clear enough. What I meant was making sure that the public portion of the chat room doesn't turn into a place where guys are commonly looking for sexual interaction or hookups in the chat rooms due to lack of oversight by admins because it is running 24/7. My intention is that new users are not scared off by a "creepy" environment. I know this can be a blurry line at times. I believe the whole energy sharing thing that was discussed about a while back sort of crossed back and forth over that line. I would hope that if this is done that Aneros support can keep close tab on what is happening in the chat room to make sure it lives up to their standards of quality.

Love_is

Love_is,

I understand and share your concern for pandering and/or solicitous behaviors as well (see this post). Hopefully, Aneros Support will establish some code of conduct to which all members must adhere to participate in the chat. I think maintaining a 'view only' status for the general public is also a good idea to prevent undesired interlopers from disrupting the conversations. Establishing an archived history of the chats will also serve the purpose of providing documentation for the Administrator to evaluate and act upon allegations of inappropriate behavior.

In the many hours I have spent in the Chat Room, I am pleased to say I have witnessed very few incidences of objectionable behavior but there have been a few. A few members have gone into rants about their dissatisfaction with the Aneros products, a few members have engaged in ad hominem attacks of other members, a few have demonstrated troll like behaviors. I think it would be desirable if some of the trusted veteran Chat Room regulars were given a modicum of ability to temper/mediate/edit/delete and/or temporarily suspend the Chat privileges of offending members. Even if those Chat Moderators are not present, just the knowledge they may appear should act as a moderating element to maintain a more stable Chat Room environment.

I believe if such policies are enacted, the odds of experiencing degraded chat sessions will be greatly reduced.

Guys,

On the whole I believe that the Aneros Chat has been a wonderfully enriching experience for all. It has served as an interactive venue for learning, communication and fellowship. Like any good thing the potential always exists for abuse. Given the thousands of hours that the Chat has been in existence, the problems have been relatively rare. Nonetheless, when they have occurred they have been very disruptive for the Chat participants. I believe that support is considering these aspects as they go forth with their development of the new Chat application. I too strongly support a Chat room Code of Conduct. I'm hoping that it will be put front and center and utilized as a sign-in for all that enter the Chat room. In this way there will be no confusion about what is acceptable behavior in this group setting. I agree with Rumel that establishing some number of veteran users with oversight capacity is in order, particularly if the Chat goes 24/7. In the advent of disharmony or a disruption having a referee, someone with boots on the ground, could be quite helpful.

BF Mayfield

Hello all. If it's going to be 24/7 the do like us Ham radio ops do. Schedule a topic the same day and time each week and of course someone would have to moderate it. Topics change each week.
Just a thought.