Who's for having a Chatroom?

1. 66

   aka-djposted 14 years ago

   Hey, how's this for a suggestion?
   
   For those of you that have been on the forums for a while, may be aware how "crappy" it can become, especially in the Religion forum. None of us really have a chance to really interact civilly, without various ones derailing every topic ever posted.
   
   So, how do you guys feel about a private chat room feature here?
   
   You can invite, or be invited, to engage privately, without being harassed by unwanted posters.
   
   I open it up for discussion and maybe, if enough people are for it, HP officials may consider it (if not already doing so).
   
   I like the idea, else I wouldn't have posted this.
   
   What do y,all think?

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      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Why can't you just go do this now, on any of the available chat sites that already exist on the Internet?

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2. 57

   climberjamesposted 14 years ago

   Hi aka-dj
   
   This has come up a few times over the coming weeks:
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/48924
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/49544#post1133401
   
   I like the idea but I know from my post that quite a few highlighted that it would be a mammoth task for HP to manage :S
   
   It would be good to hear from HP-HQ what the position is on this

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      camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's what I was thinking, but it would be a nice feature, although not really an absolutely necessary one, I think ...

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3. 0

   BRIAN SLATERposted 14 years ago

   I'm not in favour of chatrooms, there are plenty of places for people to go to if that's what they want.Hubpages needs to be unique and is so in my opinion, so don't follow the crowd.

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      aka-djposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      My thoughts were more along the lines of having it "in house" so to speak. Rather than trying to connect with other hubbers "off site".
      
      But still keeping "unwanted" commenters/posters OUT of the discussion.

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         BRIAN SLATERposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         aka-dj isn't that what the forums are for?

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            aka-djposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Read my reason for.....

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         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Aka-dj, if you want HubPages to offer this feature, you need to work out how it would benefit them. HP is a business, after all. They're not going to add a feature that's going to cost them money and create no income in return.
         
         HubPages forum debates turn up in search results so they do attract visitors to the site, so the forums do help the site's income.  Private chatrooms wouldn't, therefore they would contribute nothing to the site's profits, therefore i can't see why HP would be interested. 
         
         If you want a chatroom enough, you'll use the off-site version being offered - or start your own. It's not like you have to get in your car and drive for half an hour to get to another site...

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         china manposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         A chat room where only the chosen ones can 'enter' - sounds like a church sect more than a useful place to discuss.
         
         I guess I could support a chat room where those who engage in pointless and self-congratulatory 'happy talk' could get it out of heir system before posting with the grown ups; and those who want to qoute scripture endlessly to no purpose except their own gratification could discuss them with other scrippies - but the religious posters who post in the forums want to argue, want to try and  push their outdated and discredited god-ideas onto others, what would they do without us ?

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4. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I'm just restating my objection. Writing and promoting hubs should remain the focus of this site.
   
   If you want to argue politics and religion or talk about sex, there are lots of other places to do it.

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      camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      How right you are, Nelle.
      If it weren't for the Forums, I might be writing a Hub now ... a chatroom could only make things worse.

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      KCC Big Countryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree.  HubPages is a writing site.  If you want to chat with someone you can always email the person you want to chat with and give them your Yahoo or MSN info and utilize their chatting options.

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         alternate poetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Where did this come from - I looked back but can't find the original post !!   but anyway  -  the forums are not only for the mechanics and promotion of hubs surely !   They are for testing ideas and arguments, getting opinion on the ideas we get from time to time ??   Maybe you are getting a bit too jaded and fixed on the 'bussyness' of writing Nellie - go find a religious thread and kick the living c**p out of some unfortunate poster who puts up another "I made up this miracle" thread or something, it helps relax all the neck muscle groups and the lower back - just what we need after a hard days writing stuff we don't actually care about

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5. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   Poor info bucket is over on another topic trying to drum up interest in the chat room he set up for hubbers. Anyone interesting in chatting should give it a chance.

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6. 71

   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   The format HubPages already offers in the forums is already better than a "chatroom" of that on a social networking site.

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7. 76

   Shadesbreathposted 14 years ago

   Think how furious the people who flame out all the time about how they are treated in the forums--a slow moving conversation that <cough> allows time for thought between posts <cough>--would get over being banned for their emotional vitriol in a chat room.
   
   Who'd want to moderate that? (LOL, I actually would, but that's not my point.  )

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   Greek Oneposted 14 years ago

   you mean a place where we could ask sexy ladies what sexy clothes they are, or are not wearing, on their sexy bodies in a sexy way?

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      lorlie6posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      A la the other thread about foul language, "You betcha!"

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      Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Like you couldn't do that already?

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         Greek Oneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         yeah.. but i am persecuted for my love of fashion and sexiness

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9. 66

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   A chat room is a horrible idea.  It's just more work for the staff and just more silly crap taking up internet space. And it takes away from hubbing.

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10. 70

    waynetposted 14 years ago

    I hate chat rooms, as there is more of an annoying thing of texting talk and all that short chat shite that I really hate, adding a chat room feature to hubpages will just be the very worst idea ever!
    
    If you want to chat, why not talk to yourself, it's much easier!

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11. 62

    Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

    I've never been to a chat room but don't think it's anything I'd be interested in.  The forum is there for announcements, questions, discussions, and being silly.  Somehow, that seems like enough to me.  They provide a kind of low-pressure break away from writing and creating Hubs.  This may sound "paranoid", but I still like having just that little bit of time to think first before I share or say some things on the Internet.  It's bad enough as it is when it comes "opening doors" to (and conversations with) all kinds of strangers (even if some of it is only to get marketing information or something relatively innocent).

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       EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       It's not paranoid, it's sensible!  (The time thing is also why I personally prefer email to the phone - unless circumstances dictate picking up the phone that is.)

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12. 85

    Pcunixposted 14 years ago

    Uninterested.  I detest chat.

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    camloposted 14 years ago

    On the Forums, I'm sometimes silly enough to sit and wait for a new message to pop up (absent mindedly, you understand), then I realise I have to refresh the page.
    Wouldn't it be better if the new messages came up automatically, like in chatrooms?
    Or maybe I'm doing something wrong ...

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14. 62

    Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

    It has nothing to do with doing anything wrong.  It's preference.  Some people favor the chat thing.  A lot of forum participants pop on and off as they're doing other things, so refreshing the page isn't an issue.  I know for me, it always amounts to refreshing the page just because I don't stay there the whole time.  I keep often keep the forum up in its own window, as part of taking a break.  It's kind of pressure-free, as compared to a chat thing.  I don't want any more extra windows.  (That may just be me, though.)

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       camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Glad to know you refresh too. I thought there might be an easier way.
       
       But yes, the chatroom style does add pressure somehow - and I wasn't thinking of more windows ...
       
       Let's just leave things as they are

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       1. 62

          Lisa HWposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I was just thinking of more extra windows for myself.    Since I leave the forum up in an extra window (and leave up another "break site" too, sometimes), I just know I wouldn't be adding yet more.

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             camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I was just thinking of everything remaining as it is, but that new messages come up on the page without me having to refresh ... that's just my laziness of course.

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    Diane Insideposted 14 years ago

    I have found that most hubbers are doing a few things at once  like having several windows up, that they stray away from the chatroom then take forever to respond to what someone says anyway. It would be good otherwise, but most people will wonder off onto something else and the conversation doesn't flow very well in the chatroom.

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    1. 80

       camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, I think most of us use the Forums in between doing other things, or are active on several threads at once (or trying to be).

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16. 64

    Info Bucketposted 14 years ago

    I've posted this thread earlier and started a chatroom, but no one is coming there................Check it out here

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       camloposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       well that's good enough for anyone who wants to use a chatroom for HubPages.

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17. 66

    aka-djposted 14 years ago

    I guess the idea gets the thumbs down.

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    1. 58

       Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Perhaps if you just asked to have any unbelievers banned from the "Christian" threads?
       
       Although - I do get the sense that preaching to the choir is not as satisfying as sticking your morals to the pagans to demonstrate how "saved" you are.

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    2. 84

       Whitney05posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Yep, thumbs down.... The idea has been suggested before, and wasn't loved then either.
       
       
       I ditto the thought that HubPages is a writing site, not a social networking site. There are tons of websites to meet and greet, but not many that provide such a great source of potential revenue.
       
       And, like Nelle, I could care less if the forums disappear. Personally, I use the forums to waste time when I don't want to write or I'm not motivated. If there wasn't a forum, I would probably spend more time reading other people's hubs and writing more of my own.

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          EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I disagree - I've learned a LOT from the forums, stuff which I'd never have even known existed otherwise.  The HP forums aren't just for hanging out and having a laugh.
          
          That said, I can't see that an HP chatroom would really add anything to the party and it would only mean extra work for the HP staff, as other people have said.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I'm like you, Whitney. The forums are my way of procrastinating, and I do it far too much! 
          
          I wouldn't like them to disappear, because like Rebekah I've found them a great place to learn.  I'd be happy to see all the topic-specific forums disappear, though - all the religious and politicial forums do is scare newbies away from the forums as a whole, then they miss out on the learning aspects.

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18. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    No I'm not getting too jaded. There are limited resources at a HP, which is a very small company. I come here to make a lot of money every day, and I want the staff to know that that's where some of us would like their efforts to remain.
    
    If the forums disappeared tomorrow, I'd be fine. When I want a true break from writing I go to the coffee shop around the corner and hangout for awhile.

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19. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    I don't see how your chat room would work if you didn't want certain people to participate.. just make your own chat or visit another site.
    
    the forums do serve a purpose for HP besides being community oriented, as they also bring in traffic. it's nice to take a peek and see what's going on, we're from everywhere. it's interesting at times.
    
    if people don't like them, they don't have to participate. it's that simple.

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