Would adding a chat feature to RallyPoint take away from the discussions?

2015-07-23T08:16:03-04:00

For those of us that been on RallyPoint for some time now, we have seen this site come a long way since it's public launch a few years ago. We have seen the community grow from a few hundred to over 750,000 registered members. We have seen improvements to the User Interface and the introduction of best practices documents.

From time to time, you'll see threads asked looking for your thoughts and ideas on future improves. I think it's great that the RP staff is truly interested to hear from us and take our input into consideration when looking to make improvements. One feature that keeps getting kicked around is that of an online chat. While it would allow for faster communication between members, do feel this sort of feature will take away from our discussions in the forms? Or do you feel having online chat will help spark better discussions?

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 23 at 2015 8:17 AM

2015-07-23T08:17:21-04:00

SGT Ben Keen IMO it would take away some of the discussion because people would get into side chats.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 23 at 2015 8:21 AM

2015-07-23T08:21:38-04:00

I think a online chat could be great in areas like when we have special guest come on; but on the other hand, if I miss them, I like to go back and read what the questions and responses were. I love the discussions, but feel a little side bar chat isn't a horrible idea either.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Jul 23 at 2015 8:22 AM

2015-07-23T08:22:43-04:00

Id say it would make it easier when your in the middle of a back and forth conversation.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Jul 23 at 2015 8:34 AM

2015-07-23T08:34:28-04:00

I think it would detract from the overall quality of the site.
A main feature of the site is that it is asynchronous. Conversations can take place and develop over days, weeks, and months.
Another feature is that there is a "permanent record" of what was said (not perfect, people can edit posts, and at least some admins can delete). This makes it easy to review what others had to say on a topic.

Chat forums tend to be impermanent. Even when the chat logs are kept accessible, it becomes very difficult very fast to keep track of who said what about what and when. To the point that it isn't even worth doing.

As far as individuals having private/sidebar conversations, that can already be done via messages, or moving the conversation to another medium.

Response by CMSgt Mark Schubert made Jul 23 at 2015 8:50 AM

2015-07-23T08:50:40-04:00

I don't think a chat feature for members would be a good idea - too many side bar conversations and really, I think those should be kept public anyway - if noting else, it at least makes MOST people more civil to each other! :-)

Now - I DO think we should have a chat feature (real time communications) for featured guests! It's kind of weird when RP says "So and So is here @ 1000 hrs" and I type in a question and have no idea who's looking at it, when, or IF they are even looking at it! There have been times we this happened, and I was watching the thread, and no responses presumably because the guest was a "no-show" - or could hv been tech issue - who knows... So I would focus the effort there.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 23 at 2015 9:23 AM

2015-07-23T09:23:52-04:00

SGT Ben Keen, I'll echo what has already been posted here. I think we'd be missing out on a lot if people took the chats to the side. The ability to tag a specific person allows the user to ensure the person(s) they're directly addressing are aware of the response. For the random personal messages that need to be sent, we already have the message feature available.

Personally, I view this site in a much different light than social networking in general, which is the place I go just to "chat." This isn't a site of mundane status updates, but rather a forum to present, discuss, and debate Veterans issues, and therefore benefit from all of the varying opinions presented. To take that away would definitely detract from what makes RP unique and appealing.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 23 at 2015 9:28 AM

2015-07-23T09:28:49-04:00

You have realized changes that has made discussions less contentious and that would be the next step. Good idea Ken!...

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jul 23 at 2015 9:32 AM

2015-07-23T09:32:43-04:00

I think having the ability to message someone without necessarily "connecting" with them first would be good. There are times it would take some of the noise out of the posts to clarify a point etc. Unless I am missing something I think you have to connect before you can message.

Response by SSG Izzy Abbass made Jul 23 at 2015 10:17 AM

2015-07-23T10:17:09-04:00

I so think it would take away from the discussion threads. There are enough IM platforms out there and it's not to hard to email someone and start one somewhere.

Response by SPC Thomas Johnson made Jul 23 at 2015 11:06 AM

2015-07-23T11:06:43-04:00

It's a bit of a catch 22. The live chat would encourage more one on one interactions but I feel it would take away from the forum style discussions. There are pros and cons to both.

I guess it would ultimately be up to how the community as a whole responded.

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Jul 23 at 2015 11:06 AM

2015-07-23T11:06:53-04:00

I agree with SPC Private RallyPoint Member. I think it would be useful to roll out whenever RP has special guests. Otherwise, I wouldn't enable it for regular use. That would detract from the discussion boards.

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Jul 23 at 2015 11:11 AM

2015-07-23T11:11:39-04:00

I think it would not be a good idea and it would take away from the forums. I think it could or would cause real time arguments.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Jul 23 at 2015 11:34 AM

2015-07-23T11:34:27-04:00

A good idea!

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 24 at 2015 9:09 AM

2015-07-24T09:09:03-04:00

i love the idea of having a real-time chat because then i can watch the flow of the conversation better, but the downside is that i would not be able to see any of the previous comments that were made before i entered the chat. i like being able to see what everyone posted. now if we had a live chat instead of normal private messages that would be nice, but for the sake of the forum no, a live chat would be detrimental.