To add or not: Live Chat Room for 60Patrol?

[azsteve]

Many times I've logged onto this forum or one of the several others that I visit regularly and seen a handful of users online at the same time. It's always been a little frustrating to me that there is no instant form of communication, only pm's and posts. It feels like a party where we all have duct tape over our mouths and have to communicate with whiteboards hanging from our necks... or something like that.

Unlike all the other forums, this is the one I call home and I want to do what I can to help it grow. After a little research I found out that a live chat room is an option that can be incorporated into the type of bulletin board software used by 60patrol.com.

I pitched the idea to the admin here and after a few emails it was determined that the question should be put to a vote, so...

Are you in favor of adding live chat room capability to 60patrol?

Please vote and share your opinions


p.s. You can change your vote as many times as you want!

p.p.s. I tried to present this poll in an impartial way, recalling the brief period of time I worked in market research, then after playing with the wording for about 10 minutes and getting pissed about things that happened to me 10 years ago I realized I was taking it way too seriously and went back to what I'd written in the first place, lol.

[Swerve]

I voted no, as the forum is based around post conversation. Every chat conversation will subtract from user posts and thats it for me.

Sorry Steve

[miksum56]

I have no need for chat here or anywhere for that matter!

[azsteve]

I wanted to wait for someone else to respond first before I chimed in with my .02$...
It seems to me that everyone comes to a forum for 2 reasons (in varying proportion): exchanging information and socialization. Imo, enabling instant transfer of information can only improve both of those activities and, by extension, make 60patrol an even more attractive place to Patrol folks (if that's even possible!!!).

I should also say that the admin pointed out that a chat room might not be a good thing for all members. For example, if someone comes on with the intent of posting a question and then sees that the chat room has people in it, instead of posting they ask their question in the chat room and then log off and no chat log is saved. T answer to that question now cannot be answered for future members. I don't know how easy or difficult a fix it would be to make a searchable chat log, but I think that question is putting the cart before the horse. The kinks could be worked out if people decided they wanted it.

I voted no, as the forum is based around post conversation. Every chat conversation will subtract from user posts and thats It for me.

Sorry Steve

No need to apologize at all. Yeah, I like the idea and am in favor of it, but my interest isn't focused on chat, it's focused on helping 60patrol however I can. So chat would only be a benefit to the site if it's something that people here want and would use. I figure it's better to pose the question to the forum than not, yaknowwhatimean?

[MadTripper]

I think it's a decent idea. Sometimes it's nice to just bs and I feel that if there are any topics covered that should be a topic, it's easy enough to copy and paste. Personally, I doubt I'd be asking or answering many Patrol related questions but I'd like to ask Swerve how he and the family are doing or check with Norville on whether or not he went camping last weekend. Those are random examples but I could see a use for it.

Tripper

[norville]

I'm not that into chat but, I can see the desire.. I agree with Swerve and the concern with loosing info because of chat formats.. Is there any possibility to do something like Instant messaging? Or is that what we're talking about?

[RiverPatrol]

Chat is pretty much the same as instant messaging, but typically it can involve a group of people rather than just one-on-one.

I don't see a need for a chat room here (yes, I am the admin that isn't thrilled about the idea). All of the points made are good points. My opposition comes from a technical standpoint: if the Nissan Patrol Club of America site had had a chat room then we would not have the 5000+ messages that were posted by the members. Some of it would have been lost in the instant chat process. A forum is just that, a place for everyone to gather and be involved and provide their knowledge and advice for every topic. We have a global member base. If a chat were started at a time of day when other member are sleeping or working, then those members are unable to participate and gain from the interaction. That's part of the benefit of having a global membership: questions can get answered while you are sleeping or working by members on the other side of the world. Cutting and pasting to save the topic wouldn't have the same involvement affect, and some of the enjoyment of being involved would be lost. The instant gratification for some would serve as a loss for others.

It is not uncommon for me to exchange PMs with people in real time. Others will email me directly, or have my phone number and will call or text. Some actually just call to say "Hi"! I guess I just have never been much of a social butterfly. I have never joined in chat rooms of any kind. I even have less than 100 friends on Facebook. For me it's quality, not quantity, that counts. I am a member on a few other forums, none of which have chat rooms.

I think azsteve must be a politician or a very, very good salesman.

BTW - the votes in the poll are anonymous.

[azsteve]

Chat is pretty much the same as instant messaging, but typically it can involve a group of people rather than just one-on-one.

I don't see a need for a chat room here (yes, I am the admin that isn't thrilled about the idea). All of the points made are good points. My opposition comes from a technical standpoint: if the Nissan Patrol Club of America site had had a chat room then we would not have the 5000+ messages that were posted by the members. Some of it would have been lost in the instant chat process. A forum is just that, a place for everyone to gather and be involved and provide their knowledge and advice for every topic. We have a global member base. If a chat were started at a time of day when other member are sleeping or working, then those members are unable to participate and gain from the interaction. That's part of the benefit of having a global membership: questions can get answered while you are sleeping or working by members on the other side of the world. Cutting and pasting to save the topic wouldn't have the same involvement affect, and some of the enjoyment of being involved would be lost. The instant gratification for some would serve as a loss for others.

I could not say it better myself. But I believe that the application could be tweaked to save a searchable transcript without the need to cut/paste, thereby making the issue of lost info moot. I believe consideration of chat should be based on the assumption that no info would be lost... That's where I'm coming from. In fact, if the chat wasn't archive-able I wouldn't be in favor of it at all.

It is not uncommon for me to exchange PMs with people in real time. Others will email me directly, or have my phone number and will call or text. Some actually just call to say "Hi"! I guess I just have never been much of a social butterfly. I have never joined in chat rooms of any kind. I even have less than 100 friends on Facebook. For me it's quality, not quantity, that counts.

That's more of what I had in mind with the chat than a bunch of people swapping recipes and fish stories... Just a way to speed up the rudiments of communication that become building blocks to deeper relationships (did I sound like dr. phil just then??? ). Enhance interaction between members. But in and of itself chat is nothing, it would only be what people want it to be.

I am a member on a few other forums, none of which have chat rooms.

That is a reason why I thought it was a good idea...
Something we offer that other forums don't = something that makes 60patrol more appealing...

I think azsteve must be a politician or a very, very good salesman.

Lol, no way Jose-fina... I tried a sales job once, quit the same day. And don't get me started on politicians
...I'm an intermittently employed home remodeler with about 40 different jobs that could be listed on my non-existent resume. ...And a guy who loves the Patrol!

[bosque]

I don't know....I always say stupid shit then go back and pretend I'm Ghandi and clean it up. Well....maybe not always.
Live chat? ....but I curse like a son of a sailor (Which I am..... Kin'A!) and Sierra Patrols kids are on board.... I have no experiences with live chat except when buying stuff and it always seemed goofy. We are a pretty good site for Patrols as is but I have always said to try something new to see if it has merit. Some things we have not considered may come about. I would not be against having it for say a certain period of time to see what may come out of it.

[RiverPatrol]

But I believe that the application could be tweaked to save a searchable transcript without the need to cut/paste, thereby making the issue of lost info moot. I believe consideration of chat should be based on the assumption that no info would be lost... That's where I'm coming from. In fact, if the chat wasn't archive-able I wouldn't be in favor of it at all.

If you have discovered a way to save the transcripts to the database, please share. The mods that I have researched do not include any archiving. And 'tweaks' are not so easy.