Should Pricescope have a Chatroom Feature

[Libster]

What do you guys think? Should Pricescope have a chatroom? A place to hang out and chat "real-time" with other Forum members? I would love to see a chatroom feature here and wonder if there are others who feel the same. I realize it may be quite labor intensive to add this feature and maintain, so it may not be an option. I''m just throwing the question out there!

 

[Kaleigh]

I would love that!!! It would be fun. Don''t know how much work it would take???

 

[ammayernyc]

I think the idea of a chatroom is cool. However, with all the different topics and opinions, it might be a wee bit difficult.

 

[Libster]

Date: 6/8/2005 3:26:37 PM
Author: kaleigh
I would love that!!! It would be fun. Don''t know how much work it would take???

That is what my concern is. I would love to be able to pop in and chat with whoever was on-line at that time and think it would be loads of fun. Also people who may be considering a quick purchase could pop-in and get a quick answer as opposed to waiting til someone viewed your post and replied. Curious what the responses will be

 

[Libster]

Date: 6/8/2005 3:27:32 PM
Author: AmandaPanda
I think the idea of a chatroom is cool. However, with all the different topics and opinions, it might be a wee bit difficult.

If there was just a general "Lobby" type area to begin with to see how much activity was there, that might be a good test run. I know that "chatrooms" can get out of control and may be more hassel than they are worth. Just brainstorming

 

[Kaleigh]

Libster,
I agree it would be fun to chat with whoever is on and you would get to know more people too.

 

[belle]

where''s the ''not sure'' option?

i would hate for a chat room to take away from all the activity that goes on here. it''s one of the reasons this place is so fun!

 

[Mara]

In my opinion, PS is too fragmented as it is...

For me, PS will always be first and foremost about diamond education, and I feel all the other topics are not as important as that first one. I prefer PS when it was smaller and more intimate. Off-topic stuff is fun of course, but it's not what I came to PS for.

However, traffic is king and in the last few years, the site has grown in leaps and bounds thanks to all the additional topics...but for me adding a chat room would just be another nail in it's coffin and move towards something more like theknot.com than a diamond education forum.

I know I am in the minority, but those are my two cents!

 

[lost on 5th]

i agree, a chat room would be fun, however am not sure of the result. i enjoy reading what all of you have put in your posts... many which are days /weeks old. even the silly topics or rants. it is what breathes life into pricescope.

i worry that the fun topics and postings and questions would no longer get posted in a form that has a recorded history, and would only have the short life span of the chat.

just my .02


maybe idle chatter can be picked up on AIM via screennames...... tho i am guessing some aready do that.

 

[Libster]

Date: 6/8/2005 3:44:44 PM
Author: Mara
In my opinion, PS is too fragmented as it is...

For me, PS will always be first and foremost about diamond education, and I feel all the other topics are not as important as that first one. I prefer PS when it was smaller and more intimate. Off-topic stuff is fun of course, but it''s not what I came to PS for.

However, traffic is king and in the last few years, the site has grown in leaps and bounds thanks to all the additional topics...but for me adding a chat room would just be another nail in it''s coffin and move towards something more like theknot.com than a diamond education forum.

I know I am in the minority, but those are my two cents!

Mara,
Actually I believe you will probably be in the majority. I know Pricescope was created for education purposes and to fill a niche in the diamond industry, and like all things, has evolved over the years. I think Pricescope is an invaluable tool to assist the consumer who wants to gain some much needed knowledge before making a diamond purchase, and that should continue to be the main focus of the Forum.

I too came here for the education and have stuck around because there is a "community" of really interesting and intelligent people, who I would like to get to know better. Pricescope may not be the place for a chatroom, just curious what other members think

 

[aljdewey]

Another vote against a chat feature.

If people were able to pop in and ask a quick question in real time, there would likely be a decrease in the questions actually asked on the forum, and that hurts us all. Folks learn from each others'' questions and experiences.

Also, no one wants to join a forum that doesn''t enjoy regular participation. If participation is going on more behind the scenes and less up front, it will decrease the attraction to potential newcomers.

Folks who want to chat and hang-out together in real time can already do that, if they wish. They can easily exchange email addys via PM and use already established chat vehicles like Yahoo, AIM, or MSN messenger.

I''d rather see PS focus on development possibilities that add more even value here. My two cents.

 

[Mara]

one other comment re: chats...which lost on 5th alluded to.

I think alot of what goes on now is that people who have their friends here do the online chatting on AIM or Yahoo or MSN and you can setup chatrooms on there etc to speak to your friends.

I find the PS PM feature very bulky and prefer not to use it to carry on a convo, so I am very sporadic in responding to PM's etc and prefer to 'chat' with PS friends on the external programs that all my other friends use too.

edited to add: Al you are my spooky spooky twin.

 

[IrishEyes]

Al and Mara, I totally agree with you. I like it just the way it is, I think that real-time chat would take some of PS''s "charm" away!

 

[Lord Summerisle]

Pricescope DID have a chatroom feature

i set it up about 3-5 months ago, after asking Leonid if it was ok to go up un the PS name. But it didnt take off too succesfully at the time. Since it wasnt integrated in the board, but merely existed along side it.

right now im still taken up in the fight to save my home from the bulldozer... but would be easy to set up if anyone wants to try again.

linky to info

 

[MINE!!]

I have to vote against it. Although I think that it would be fun.. I just do not think that it would be a good idea.

I get a lot of good ideas and information from posts. I have read MANY archives and I would hate to lose the exerptise of some of these wonderful people on PS just because I just I do not happen to be online when a topic takes place. Personally, I think it would create more chaos that anything else. But that is just my opinion.

I know that this is the age of ''live'' chat.. but I still think that I benefit more from the forums...

 

[widget]

Well, I voted no...for purely selfish reasons. I''ve tried a chatroom once, and it drove me crazy! I couldn''t keep up...maybe I think and type too slowly...

I like to think about what I''m going to say, like the ability to edit what I have already said, and keep secret the fact that I''m a lousy speller!.....oops...

widget

 

[Libster]

Date: 6/8/2005 3:57:50 PM
Author: aljdewey
Another vote against a chat feature.

If people were able to pop in and ask a quick question in real time, there would likely be a decrease in the questions actually asked on the forum, and that hurts us all. Folks learn from each others'' questions and experiences.

Also, no one wants to join a forum that doesn''t enjoy regular participation. If participation is going on more behind the scenes and less up front, it will decrease the attraction to potential newcomers.

Folks who want to chat and hang-out together in real time can already do that, if they wish. They can easily exchange email addys via PM and use already established chat vehicles like Yahoo, AIM, or MSN messenger.

I''d rather see PS focus on development possibilities that add more even value here. My two cents.

You make some great points! What type of other development enhancements would you like to see Pricescope have?

 

[Libster]

Date: 6/8/2005 6:58:00 PM
Author: Lord Summerisle
Pricescope DID have a chatroom feature

i set it up about 3-5 months ago, after asking Leonid if it was ok to go up un the PS name. But it didnt take off too succesfully at the time. Since it wasnt integrated in the board, but merely existed along side it.

right now im still taken up in the fight to save my home from the bulldozer... but would be easy to set up if anyone wants to try again.

linky to info

I didn''t realize you had done this

I participated in ICQ ages ago and MSN and Yahoo and I believe a chatroom that would be an additional feature, accessible through Pricescope''s site would be the only way people would participate on an ongoing basis. I don''t believe a chat feature would take away from the forum participation in any way, but I could be wrong, I have been many times before

I do believe that it would be an additional item to manage and like Al said, she would like to see efforts made into other board enhancements. I totally understand everyone''s viewpoints and reasons for concern regarding a chatroom. If something isn''t broken why fix it? However, most people are resistant to change and find a comfort level with things just as they are.

I want to thank all of you for taking time to comment and vote, as this is something that I''ve thought about quite a lot and just wondered how other members would view such a feature

 

[Jennifer5973]

Libster, that avatar is just precious!

Don''t know about chat rooms (literally) I''ll leave it up to you guys.

 

[perry]

I think it would take too much away from the forums.

My experience with chatrooms is that a lot of minor "fluff" converstation goes on, but that you cannot take the time to delve into a detailed question and write a good answer - or you loose whomever you are "chatting" with.

Perry

 

[websailor]

I think a chatroom would be a nice addition to Pricescope. Some of the PM conversations I''ve seen would have been so much easier on a chatroom. Plus it is always interesting to listen to all the side conversations and gossip (not that any of us ever do that at work!!!).

The way I look at it is that a chatroom is simply one more tool that can be used. When appropriate a chatroom is better than PMs or public posts. For the detailed, information sharing posts, the public posts will remain the best tool. When discussions are private, then PMs are best. When you are just chatting away, and you don''t mind who is reading it, then a chatroom is nice.

Granted chatrooms can get out of hand, but so can the public forums on Pricescope.

Perhaps it can be made optional - if a user wants to see the running chatroom on the side of their screen, they could check an option. If unchecked, it just wouldn''t show. That way the folks who like the old ways and the folks that feel like trying something new can both have it their way.

 

[lostdog]

It would be fun, but chatrooms are essentially social in most cases. I don''t think it will add to the education front very much, a lot less valuable than the threads, anyway. (and count the number of people online at typical times, it''s a bit unwieldy for chat.) It''s not that you couldn''t archive the transcripts, but that most of the topics here benefit from the time people take to compose decent replies.

A hosted chat is sometimes interesting in relation to an event. Say an interview or a sort of panel discussion. This seems more difficult with diamonds than some other topics, though. The point of a chat is really that it''s live and/or it''s interactive. Still, I''d rather hear a webcast of the audio in many cases.

 

[websailor]

Lostdog,

Both the hosted chat and the webcast are great ideas. And they can be used for educational purposes too.

There are too many excellent folks to mention here, but I''m positive there are a number of them that I''d love to hear them discuss various aspects of their work. Even a simple "What is it like to be a jewelry dealer?" would be interesting - case in point the pictures and text from the recent JCK show. On a more technical level, "How does Homer make those stunning concave cuts in stones?".

 

[Shay]

Totally off topic but Jennifer when did you get that pink asscher in your avatar?

never mind found the thread... silly me!

 

[Mara]

I think a hosted chat could be a great idea...aka they could address larger topics that people want to ask about (though it does beg the Q, if you want to know something, why not just post a thread???) or we could get an expert in here to have a hosted discussion...it's kept more professional and therefore 'fluff' does not enter into the equation.

I agree, perry, where you note that many times chats are just about the fluff, and we already have alot of that going on to begin with around here! Again, I note that if you really feel the need to chat with friends or have a PM kind of back and forth convo, that taking it to an existing chat tool like AIM/MSN/Yahoo is the smartest way and does not entail any big changes to PS itself.

I also have done ICQ and other old style message/chat boards in the past and my two cents is that it's easier for someone to type something without thinking than with this forum style board...and if we have scraps and disagreements around here now, just imagine what it would be like if we actually said what we thought in real-time?

I am the queen of editing my posts down from what I start with...and that is the beauty of the forum boards as is.

As others mention, the archiving features and/or being able to search to find your answers is priceless and I do agree that an ongoing side chat room will take away from that because people who come into PS will just automatically go to the chat and ask a question because no one wants to actually have to wait for an answer. Depending on who is online at that point, they may or may not get an appropriate answer, or may not even be speaking to people who know the answer. Not to mention all the actual management of a real-time chat room vs a forum!

My thoughts...if the chat feature is just for fun and/or to ask experts these Q's...post a thread on the Q, and take the fun PM-style chatting to another venue.

Or, start an ICQ room for your PS friends on one of the servers. It's free. Then you can chat til your heart is content.

My two cents.

 

[aljdewey]

Some of the PM conversations I''ve seen would have been so much easier on a chatroom. Plus it is always interesting to listen to all the side conversations and gossip (not that any of us ever do that at work!!!).

I agree that some conversations are cumbersome via PM.

I guess I still don''t understand why you can''t use Yahoo or AIM or MSN to gossip and have real-time conversations? I''m missing why it has to be a PS based chat.

What''s the point of recreating the wheel when the existing one (AIM, MSN, Yahoo messengers) work just fine and can be used simultaneously with PS?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/9/2005 3:19:05 AM
Author: websailor

Both the hosted chat and the webcast are great ideas.

''What is it like to be a jewelry dealer?'' would be interesting -

''How does Homer make those stunning concave cuts in stones?''.

It seems that the pros here could handle that kind of question...

Some of my professors organize virtual conferences like this and charge admission, of course.

 

[cinnabar]

I would love that!!! It would be fun. Don''t know how much work it would take??? That is what my concern is. I would love to be able to pop in and chat with whoever was on-line at that time and think it would be loads of fun. Also people who may be considering a quick purchase could pop-in and get a quick answer as opposed to waiting til someone viewed your post and replied. Curious what the responses will be

I''d get very frustrated if I went to a chatroom hoping to get advice about a diamond, but everyone was intent on discussing their favorite breed of dog, or how to get bloodstains out of carpets. In a forum like PS where dozens of threads can exist simultaneously, all three discussions can go on without upsetting anyone; but in a chatroom, a dominant personality can dicatate the theme of the conversation and if two people were intent on discussing something "off topic", newbies would get discouraged quickly and never come back.

If this were to be a way to deal with the off topic discussions, which don''t need to be kept for people to search on later, that would work fine. I personally don''t think it works at all for diamond questions though.

I agree with others that AIM, Messenger, ICQ etc already exist for the purpose.

 

[fire&ice]

I voted no. I just don''t see how it could enhance the goal of PS - diamond information. But, admittedly, I''ve never been in a chat room.

 

[hoorray]

I vote no. I think it would dilute the lasting value of the discussions... even, as lost says, the frivilous ones. We are all in differenct timezones and have different online schedules, so you might be able to chat with a friend, but you wouldn't get real conversations going that included critical mass, just those on your schedule. I think those who want to chat should set up AIM accounts with their handles. Aim, et all is already established to handle this. I'm not against chat, but I would hate to see the meat of PS be diluted.

ETA: I also agree with Mara's comments way back when. The real lasting value here is the unique educational value. Fragmenting it into more of just a social circle takes away it's uniqueness.