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A number of people have asked us to build a chat feature for Weddingbee:
http://ideas.weddingbee.com/topic/weddingbee-chat-room-or-im
As I mentioned in that thread, if we built a real-time chat feature... we'd need a way to police and moderate it. It would be a lot of work to build that feature and then staff it up...
So in the meantime, we've been allowing chat threads in the boards while we figure something out. But while we do that... we've been getting pushback on that recently as well! As a few people pointed out in that link above, chat can inflate post counts and impact the bee levels - definitely not our intent!
We thought we'd turn to the hive for guidance... we have a few possible approaches in the short term, while we hash out our long term chat strategy. Can you vote and comment below to let us know what you think?
Thanks!
Personally, I think the current situation is OK until a more long term solution is implemented, provided there is some moderation of the current situation. I don't think that the people in the chat threads have the intent of post count inflation, but I also think that a little bit of moderation is required with this, and if people are using the chat thread to "spam" or inflate post count, then the thread should be deleted. This comes up a lot on one of the other boards I frequent, and that policy has always worked pretty well.
But, for right now, I really don't think the chat siutation is out of control, and while the posts aren't totally content heavy, they don't look so light that people are attempting to inflate post count with them. Not every thread has content heavy posts, anyway!
While a chat room would be nice, i can see the dilemna to building one. That being said, i dont' think people should be complaining that it inflates post counts and bee levels. If you don't like it, jump right in! Since when are bee levels such a competitive thing anyways?I don't think anyone's intent is to go crazy with their post count--they just want to chat and they're bored.
Fow now, i say we leave it. Plus, if you add a real chat options, i'm afraid we might all get blocked at work.
I agree with ejs, please don't get this site blocked at work! lol
I voted that the daily chat threads are fine, but that they should be deleted the next day...or at least closed. For me it has nothing to do with large post counts but rather the fact that the next day we are on to the next chat thread =) I haven't seen any signs of anyone using it to inflate thread counts...and if they wanted to do that they could just as easily go around to individual threads and post comments anyway.
I think right now it's fine. I don't chat to "inflate my post count" but because I am home alone a lot, and like to have some sort of interaction with others. I guess I don't understand why others are offended (?) by the fact that there are chat threads to begin with. We never told anyone they couldn't be involved. I think the more the merrier.
:D I am what near the top of the leader board and i only sporadically respond to the chat thread because I cannot seem to jump in and figure out what's going on lol!! i had a lot to say before Thanksgiving on them then I went down and rarely said anything lol!!! I don't think people use them to inflate their levels, I think they use them to communicate and see what else is going on in the hive. I also don't think they are relevant the next day, a new one is created so they can be deleted. I think I joined in rather late on the thread that started it all and had fun catching up with old friends, I had been at work earlier that day.
To those that think the chat threads allow bees to level up: Regardless of the chat threads or not, some of us still level up rapidly. I am pretty sure before they started I was quickly on my way to being a bee keeper. I hit over 100 posts per day long before the chat thread started and since it started I have rarely hit over 100... I feel that I can speak because I'm number 3 on the leader board (woohoo look out EJ!!) lol!!!!
edited because the last sentence made no sense!! guess i'm still sleepy :D
I tried to do the chat thread thing, but they're too overwhelming for me. Things move too quickly for my tired brain; so I stopped even checking in on them.
@Crebre, I think the difference (for some people) might lie in the fact that you're leveling up quickly because you post on everything :) you give people great advice, you encourage people, you post silly pictures to lighten the mood of the boards...your 100 posts are on 100 threads, whereas a chat thread may provide a single user a dozen or more posts on just that one thread. Does that make sense?
@DD: ohhhhhhh yea okay i gotcha :D.... I am rarely on the chat threads, they move too quickly for me too and I'm all over the boards seeing what's going on lol!! but i don't know if i have noticed one or two users who only post on the chat threads? i think from what i've noticed people post everywhere and the chat thread is where you post totally random things... for example i posted about my car situation.... where does that go? i suppose i could have made an entirely different thread about looking for a car or something that random? i think the chat threads serve as a great place to not start "thread killers" and just say what you have to say get advise, input, or encouragement and just keep swimming (you know what comes next)... speaking of something i need to know, why in the world are all of my pictures coming on here ginormously?! the tech geek in me is freaking out.
i don't really see the difference between posting on a chat thread versus commenting on every single topic in an attempt to boost bee levels. is that necessarily a bad thing? it's not like we get a prize for being the top chatter. i don't join every single chat thread but i like that it's a fun way to connect to other members of the hive outside of our weddings.
that said, i think the current situation is find, but maybe we can close the previous threads.
I love Dori, Crebre! lol.
I feel kinda bad. I didn't expect there to be a blow up of chat threads after my original post. I was bored, and about to level up anyway. lol.
I also don't see anyone specifically only posting on the chat thread. I see them all over. And I totally agree. Most of the other threads I start die within an hour anyway, so I usually just talk about it on the chat thread. = /
I don't use the chat threads as a way to inflate post counts or anything like that. Yes it's fun when I go up a level but it isn't something that I think about and plan. I like having the chat threads so that we can have a little bit more personalized interaction with other people on the boards!
I think that the current chat threads are fine. I don't see any reason why they should be delted as they are always dated in the title and so members should be able to see which one is current. I haven't really seen the chat threads used to boost post counts. Mostly I think it provides a way for bees to communicate about daily life and get to know each other better. I can see how building hte chat feature would be a lot of work, but it would be nice to have eventually as the chat threads are hard to keep up with and to read. If i don't get involved at the beginning, I tend to not jump in.
I think there should be a separate chat feature. Chat threads are long and consuming to catch up on when you are trying to get up to speed in one of them. The more rapid pace of a chat room is necessary to have better discussions and conversations.
What I will say is that recently with the increase of the chat threads, I see a lot more Lounge posts in general. While I understand that some people want to discuss non-wedding related things, I feel that the boards page is flooded with more non-wedding related posts than wedding related ones. This is still a wedding website and I like to read the posts about peoples' plans, not the 15+ non-wedding related topics that seem to be flooding the boards recently.
A separate chat feature would possibly eliminate a lot of the Lounge threads about non-wedding related, more immediate discussions that are going on.
I'd love a separate, more real time chat feature, but don't want it blocked from anywhere.
I personally think it's fine now, and don't think it's used to inflate post counts. I really don't think about it, and just want to chat (and procrastinate homework).
I do think we should close the threads at the end of the day, but don't let us not do it when we can't chat another way on here.
It's a tough situation!
Why does the chat need to be policed?
There is a board I post on that is fairly simple in form that has a chatroom and when people log into it, they can chat and then they can leave. No policing needed.
It's at http://www.ndnation.com/boards/index.php?football - there is a link to the chat feature. The caveat is that all new handles need to be approved by the board operators and must use a pay email address so people don't post under fake names. It keeps everyone honest.
I definitely think that we need some sort of chat feature, but I don't necessarily see a problem with chat threads. I'm pretty surprised to hear that some people think it's used to inflate post counts, because I never really thought of it that way. I haven't been following the chat threads much lately, because as others have said sometimes if you don't get in at the beginning it's hard to keep up. But I'll pop in sometimes and chat for a little bit. I think it's a nice way to connect with the other bees!
I think it would be nice if it were a separate feature. I'm usually too late to the game to participate in any chat threads, it takes too long to read through like 80 posts and finally respond! :-) I don't really take note of bee levels, but if it is making other people upset I think it's a good idea to delete them day to day.
I don't see anything wrong with the chat threads. If you jump in late and don't feel like catching up and reading everything, do what I do - just jump in and start babbling! I like the chat threads and I don't think they are used to drive up post count - it's not like we get a prize or $$$ if we have the highest post count, you know? As for NWR stuff - that's mostly posted in "The Lounge" or "Beehive" so those people who want only wedding-related stuff can easily avoid it by going into other categories. I think something was thrown around a while ago about being able to filter out certain posts - maybe if it's annoying people that there are NWR threads that is something that could be created.
I was thinking the same thing as Kittyachi. If there are 80 posts, you don't need to read them all because we probably aren't even talking about that anymore. Usually, I go on and read the last few posts to see if I can get an idea of what people are talking about and then jump in.
I think one reason why there are more NWR posts is the larger number of married bees. When I first started, I don't think there were as many hanging around the hive as they are now. We don't want to go to the nest child of the evil knot!
@Kittyachi & MissAsB - I wasn't complaining, just saying I'm not a jumper-inner! I have no issues with chat threads, I just usually look at most threads with a bazillion posts and go "too lazy to read that one".
MissASB has a point. There are a lot more married Bee's hanging around. I'm 9 months away, but I have no idea what I can be doing that's wedding realated everyday. I'm ordering invites, not making them. A lot of my big stuff is already done. And stuff like center pieces are being done the day before. So even though there's not a lot of stuff for me to talk about on here, I like to log on and see how the other Bees are doing.
I know it might be more work, but I think Chat should be a separate feature....kinda like BeeTv...where there is that chat thing under the video.
@MissAsB - "We don't want to go to the nest child of the evil knot!" - Well said! :)
How about having a daily chat thread, but have the posts in said thread not count toward post count? Or is that really dumb? Just if you're worried about inflating post counts, etc.
I kinda like the chat posts. I think it's nice to be able to contribute to random and often NWR conversation without clogging up the boards with a million different topics. I'll usually jump in for a few minutes then go on to the other threads.
Like crebre said, I never notice people *only* posting or over-posting in the chat threads. I think that would be the case if people were trying to boost their post numbers.
Also, if a seperate "chat" application/function is used, Weddingbee could end up totally blocked at my work and then I'd have a serious case of the sads.
I think the threads are fine for now, but I think I'd prefer a seperate chat feature. Then I cold chat and look at the boards. Chatting would just be optional. What if we had a chat board that didn't count as posting? We would just chat on it but not get posting points. I don't think anyone would get snarky on there and if they did, how is that different than being snarky on a post? Lastly, a chat board would be nice because it would update itself with the latest comment as opposed to having to refresh the page.
Here's my 2 cents, don't mind daily polling.....but it's REALLY ANNOYING having to scroll all the way to the end to figure out where the topic has progressed to. So, it may just be easier to make it it's own thing (even though I voted for a daily earasable chat)
I agree with charm bracelet.
I have no real issue with the threads (except when 4 different people start them and one dies out and I get confused lol). I just really think a chat function would be great. I understand the difficulties of adding the feature but it would be nice to get updates in real time rather than continuous updates.
People will "level up" however they want, if they want, thats a non-issue for me.
Though I usually don't participate in them (since they seemed to have recently become popular and it is finals time for me) I don't have a problem with the chat threads now or them taking up space on the boards.
I like the current situation. I don't see why we would have to delete chat threads because of post counts. Would the post counts be deleted then too? I guess I don't see the big deal about post counts. The people that are most likely to be chatting away on a thread are already the people who have a huge number of posts, so 50 more in one day from a chat thread probably won't make that much of a difference on their post status.
I don't like the chat treads- they move too fast, are too long to keep up with after just a few minutes, and its chaos. I would much, much rather a real time chat room or chatting feature (like facebook has) then the treads. It would be nice to have actual conversations with people, but at the same time, it might detract greatly from the boards and blog, in that people will put everything out into chat land instead of in a blog or board post. I would worry that we'd lose a great deal of posts this way. What would be worse is losing these posts to a two person conversation, where no one benefits from the knowledge exchanged except the two people talking (great for them, bad for the hive.) I would rather see our collective knowledge out on the boards, where anyone who needs it can access it, then lost to chat space.
I actually know what you mean about post inflation! I have seen more then a few posts of people just trying to make a certain number of posts or to be pushed up to the next level. Well I find that more amusing then annoying, it IS happening. I don't think different levels get you anything other a new bee level, so I'm not against people doing this, I just find it silly.
I'm pretty new in this community - can somebody please explain the purpose of inflating your post count? thanks!
I was actually going to suggest the same thing 50 did. Is there a way to make our posts in the chat thread not count toward our post count? I don't know how that would work, but I'd be all for it. I'd hate for people to think that I was trying to inflate my post count, because that's totally not the point at all. That seems to have been brought up more and more recently, which is part of the reason why I've kinda let other people start the threads- I felt self-conscious about being one of the only ones to do it cause I didn't want people to think it was some kind of number and/or popularity issue!
Hey fiftyfootbride and KMSull - Alas, the post count/bee levels software we're using doesn't have an option for excluding particular posts from post counts...
Anyway I don't mean to overplay post counts here as the only reason for opening this thread! Mostly we just hoped to get a dialogue going about chat, to help figure out how people feel about it... not just to address this short-term stuff, but also as input into our long term chat strategy!
I've tried to do the chat thread thing, and it's a bit overwhelming for me. I don't think that people necessarily have a problem with people increasing their post count. I think it has more to do with the fact that originally, the post counts were kind of a nice way to see what members have been around for a while. These were people that were people you could count on for great info or advice. If post counts start skyrocketing because of all the chat threads, I would feel a little sad that it wouldn't be as easy to distiguish members that have been around for a while. My other fear with them is that they might seem a little clique-ish, which might be a bit off-putting for some members, and possibly even intimidating for brand new members.
Anway, I think that if the chats happen to be something that people are really enjoying, then having the daily chat thread isn't a bad thing until we have an actual chat feature. I do, think, though that deleting the chat threads the next day would be great so people don't participate in the chat threads because their sole intention is to boost their thread counts.
@Mr. Bee- Bummer.
Ok, so I'm sort of thinking out loud, but if we had a chat feature, couldn't it possibly kill some of the social aspects of the board? Stuff could happen in the chat that might have been a great thread, but got thrown into a chat and is just fluff. (Not like you can search for a board post if it's in a running chat!) Also, then what if the boards became more q and a rather than social stuff? That'd be bad. So, I guess if there isn't a problem being generated by chat threads, i.e. people abusing stuff, then I say no chatroom.
As of my brain thinking right now. :p
Edit: After reading Lil's post, I also remember that I had thought of the cliquish point too. That would/could happen with a chat room or chat thread.
I dunno.
Yah, we've been very careful about any chat stuff b/c of the potential impact on our thriving boards community! So we're feeling our way into it very slowly. :-)
So... if the chat threads get deleted the next day, the posts don't count? I had no idea! That's cool.
If any thread is deleted, then those posts no longer count towards the post count... although first, we have to click a button that does a global recount of all the posts.
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