Real Time Chat
- Thread starter Jason76
- Start date
Chat isn't as high as it used to me, I know when website that still uses it and there are members chatting but it tends to be more for content feed update.
People like myself use Discord or TS3 allot more. I used to have the chat mod with 5 users slots and never gets used
People like myself use Discord or TS3 allot more. I used to have the chat mod with 5 users slots and never gets used
Shannon Apple
Resident
We actually have an IRC chatroom where people hang out while at work lol. The older members tend to prefer it to some of the fancier ones. Easier to hide from the boss. 😀
Discord is a terrible idea. If your members become super active on discord, and your forum is small, say goodbye to your forum activity.
Discord is a terrible idea. If your members become super active on discord, and your forum is small, say goodbye to your forum activity.
Definitely this ^
While I don't believe Discord is a terrible idea, if your forum is just starting out or small in general, Discord will really suck the life out of it. However once your forum is self-sufficient, a Discord server can be a good addition if made easily available for unregistered traffic to find, and if your server has a means of feeding back to the forum. You'll get lots of extra activity in there that wouldn't have joined your forum on its own, so you can take advantage of this by having a bot that automatically shares new topics relevant to specific channels in your server. This will help keep the forum relevant to both your regular members and those previously uninterested in the forum, and also encourage new content that would otherwise be shared in Discord to go on the forum instead, as it will end up referenced to the Discord audience as well. It's also way easier to gain members for Discord than it is to gain them on a site, so this integration works both as a means of introducing it to prospective members at their own pace, and by broadening the audience for your existing member's content (which is what they most want out of a social network).
There are plenty of bots for Discord that post based on RSS feeds, and going this route has been one of the best decisions I've made for our forum.
Shannon Apple
Resident
@Tucker933: Oh yeah, I meant as a main chat for forums as small as some of ours. We actually have a discord server, but it's definitely aimed at the gamers. We don't advertise it on the forum index since we're not directing traffic there. When someone clicks on the "chat" tab, they are taken to the IRC chatroom. That's deliberate. Our most active chatters hang out there. We want the activity on the forums. IRC being a very basic stripped down chat works since people will chat there all day, but will always come back to the forum. I noticed on a friends site that has an actual active discord, his members have stopped posting on his forum. The forum is a lot bigger than ours, so it's definitely a double edged sword. 🙂
This is why I am hesitant to add a chat to my forums - especially a chat like Discord that is located somewhere else than on my website. I even think a more regular chat that is integrated with your site could result in less activity on your forum.
Affiliates
