Forum Shout/Chat Box

[Teapot]

Do you use Shout/Chat Boxes on your forum?

I, personally, am against having them on a forum. I feel like it takes away from the overall discussions that could be happening in the forums but are instead going on in the chat box. This is mainly why I think that Chat Threads are a great idea. In a way, it kind of ruins your forum. I mean, that's how I see it but if you think about it, it kinda does. It sucks the discussion values out of your forum and decreases the amount of posts coming in.

 

[drucrazy]

It doesn't suck the posts out of your forum, the shoutbox is just another place to talk directly with people instead of having to post a topic and then wait for a reply. Your thinking so negative of a shoutbox but it's really not, it's another way for your members to talk to each other about other topics and share information.

Can I ask you if you have ever placed a shoutbox on your forum before? I currently have one on my forum and it's not bringing down the value and decreasing the amount of posts.

I don't know why you are so worried about the amount of posts anyways to your forum, thats not what a forum is about. I myself am not going to be bias on how much posts a forum has or try to compete with others on posts. I could care less about the post count, my forum is for the community not for the competition.

To review, a shoutbox doesn't affect the discussion on your forum it actually increases the amount of discussing happening and is like another forum for people to post on but get an instant reply.

 

[Teapot]

It doesn't suck the posts out of your forum, the shoutbox is just another place to talk directly with people instead of having to post a topic and then wait for a reply. Your thinking so negative of a shoutbox but it's really not, it's another way for your members to talk to each other about other topics and share information.

Can I ask you if you have ever placed a shoutbox on your forum before? I currently have one on my forum and it's not bringing down the value and decreasing the amount of posts.

I don't know why you are so worried about the amount of posts anyways to your forum, thats not what a forum is about. I myself am not going to be bias on how much posts a forum has or try to compete with others on posts. I could care less about the post count, my forum is for the community not for the competition.

To review, a shoutbox doesn't affect the discussion on your forum it actually increases the amount of discussing happening and is like another forum for people to post on but get an instant reply.

Yes, I have had them on my forums before and have also worked at some places that had them. Ive noticed changes in activity before due to them. It's just that I have had a bad experience with them that's all.

 

[MasterA]

Do you use Shout/Chat Boxes on your forum?

I, personally, am against having them on a forum. I feel like it takes away from the overall discussions that could be happening in the forums but are instead going on in the chat box. This is mainly why I think that Chat Threads are a great idea. In a way, it kind of ruins your forum. I mean, that's how I see it but if you think about it, it kinda does. It sucks the discussion values out of your forum and decreases the amount of posts coming in.

This is an interesting topic and I think this highly depends on your opinion. I personally think that Chatbox does kill forums. The reason is because if someone wants to talk about a topic, they will just talk on there instead. They lose the incentive to post. A possible solution is use a chat system like Comet Chat or Arrow Chat which is more like a private chat system. This is better because while people may talk to individual people who they know well, they will most likely still make a good amounts of posts and form discussion publicly.

 

[John]

I'm in the opinion that they're bad for long term activity. People are lazy, and posting on a forum takes more time than posting in a shout box. So, naturally, people will want to post in the shout box instead of on the forum, because it's more of a convenience.

 

[Thomasss]

I think this all depends on the community. People will get lazy, but at the end of the day, general discussion forums are the ones I see being affected by shoutboxes the most, since shoutboxes/chat rooms are somewhat like posting around in a general forum.

Now if it was for another niche or something, I can see it taking away form the general talk board of forums, but if you have enough content and discussion around in other boards that cannot be posted in some kind of chat, then I don't see it being affected. But again it depends on how lazy your members are. 😛 Some might think posting in the shoutbox is being active when it's really not. :lol:

 

[MeganChan]

I recently put one on mine. I find it sometimes nice to have like off topic chats with people, or just to post random stuff. It hasn't really taken away from activeness on mine. I've used them on other forums. I can't say if it took away since those weren't super active either.