Chatbox?

[JennyorAlice]

Do you think adding some type of chatbox is a good thing to add to a forum or a bad thing?

I'd be too afraid to add one because it can take away some of the discussion that could be going on somewhere on the forum and that could be bad. Especially if you've got a new forum. So I typically avoid having a chatbox.

 

[Cam]

I think it depends on the genre of the forum. For a forum like this, I think it would be bad. It would take away from the discussion, and it would basically be the hello/goodbye general chat topic in a chatbox. Personally, I don't see the purpose in doing that. With other forum genres, there are actually a few potential benefits of having a chatbox. For example, a roleplay forum might find a chatbox useful when discussing their plans on how they will be extending the game. By doing this, they would be able to discuss a game in real time, while they are roleplaying on the forum at the same time.

Basically, there can be good and bad involved with it, and the purpose of a chatbox may change with the type of forum that you own. That is why it is important to listen to your community, and see if the majority of your community actually wants one. Then you figure things out as you go on from there. With free chatbox scripts all over the internet, it is easy to implement.

 

[reddyash]

I dont think having a chat box can a affect the forum. Normally what I have seen in some webmasters forum, is they use chat box for general purposes. I dont think that the post count will reduce, as long as they use it for general communication.

 

[Dancing Mongoose]

I think shout boxes / chat boxes are a bad idea. They drag activity from the main forum as members will then not be bothered posting on the forums and just state whatever they want to in the shoutbox.

 

[xXInfectedXx]

Adding a chat box can be a good or a bad thing. I would personally wait until my community becomes more popular and successful before considering a chat box.

 

[Creaky1]

Personally I would never use one on my site, never really liked them.

 

[Shortie]

I used to think it was a good thing to have a chat box on a forum but then I found that the chat box would get used a lot more than the forum meaning I was losing posts around the forum. I eventually took the chat box down and didn't bother with it anymore after that and found that activity rose considerably.