Chat threads

oops hadn't finished!

And it would appear that people were 'opposed' to a chat forum being introduced - yet it's widely used (obvisouly happened before 'my time' so I don't know the in's and outs').

Im MY opinion many of their worries are unfounded and sound like the sort of stuff we read in the daily mail about how 'awful' chat rooms are.

yes I've read all of the posts -

Gwenwick, with respect - have you actually read any of the posts of those of us who have reservations - a lot of them are very eloquent and specific. It's not about being scared of change, it's not about age or lack of experience. It's unfair to belittle an argument you don't agree with in that way.

I was using religion as an EXAMPLE - not saying it's like a religion

at mn being compared to a religion!

But change isn't always better either.

seems to me that lots of people are like 'some' people in the CofE - scared of change!!!

change doesn't have to be a bad thing, and if you oppose it all the time then places can't 'evolve' - the www is an 'evolving' place - like it or not 'things' (not just talking chatroom) have to change or you get 'left' behind.

I love MN and it's my new 'online home' since finding it - but I feel that a chatroom is one thing it's missing.

I don't like the photos at all - I love the anonymity of MN (I mean, I'm incredibly unanomymous in many ways, have been recognised by friends solely by posts here - but I like the way we can converse, support and get to know each other across rather a lot of social barriers here).

And thinking about it, I don't want a chat room. I do type quickly, and I'm no stranger to MSN. But the quality of the exchange on MSN is profoundly different - even for someone like me who can type quickly and writes for a living. I like the quirky wordiness, the sheer intelligence of MN (at its best, obviously). If the site lost that, I'd be terribly sad.

I also think it's too easy now to let MN assume a bigger reality in one's life than is always entirely comfortable or healthy.

I know georgina - but I prefer not to have the speakers on - all the extra sounds you get online with ads these days are very distracting - and you can't multichat with users using different messengers - ie I've got 2 goods friends who I've never talked to goether - one uses MSN the other uses Yahoo.....

Prufock, Enid and all other chat topic dissenters - have you noticed the new link at top of page - you can now have active conversations without chat? Go on, someone say something nice about it .

Gwenwick: you can set trillian up to beep at you too, you know - of course, according to preference. What I generally mean is that you don't have to sit there watching the conversation flow in case someone says something you're interested in.

And trillian is another excellent counter for the people on AIM, yahoo etc, too ;)

I like the security of seeing people's email - even if it is their public hotmail account - it means you know who people are so people can't just change their name to troll. And we've had a few trolls on the boards, so I don't think registering is that much of a barrier...

It beeps if someone says something to you

NOt for me. And not everyone has MSN - some eople may use AOL,or Yahoo - and like it or not ti DOES involved giving out your email address to someone.....even if it isonly a hotmail one.

I never preview posts anyhow, and I'm sure a lot of others don't judging from the number of obvious mistakes (which people often 'correct' themselves after seeing it!) I think lots of others don't too

I often get left behind on threads - and on MSN

People can felt 'igonred' on threads too

With regards to people coming here specifically to 'troll' on the chat - it VERY rarely happens, generally it would be someone that was already registered and using the forums. There are MUCH more enticing, and easier to access, chat rooms for people to troll on than one where you have to register first.

Also agree with Twiglett that slow typers get left behind - although that can be for the good. I taught myself to touch type due to my addiction to IRC - AND that skill has got me more jobs than my degree ever did

Hmm, I'm supposed to be listing cons, aren't I?

justine, gimme some power, go on go on go on

"Oooooo, No!" to a chat room . Sees tumbleweed blowing through threads.

I want to read the rows, tehy are the things that keep me addicted. (So, maybe not a bad idea to get rid of them in chatroom??) But no, no, chat rooms ae soooo inane

Me; "hi, anyone here?"
You: "I am"
Her: "and me"
Me "hi you"
Me:" Oh hi her as well - you ok?"
Her: "yeah, you?
Him: " Hi"
Me: "Hi him
You: "hi me, her and him"
Her "hi him"

ad nauseum

All good points GeorginaA - though would not be 24/7 would be open for specific time periods. Yes think we would have to think carefully about ejection procedure.

Part of me would like a chatroom - it would maybe get rid of some of the more inane threads from chat.

I'm like Enid - I never wanted a chat section because I thought it would change Mumsnet, and it has. For the worse IMO. But that is just my opinion, and I recognise that much as I would like Mumsnet to be exactly what I want it to be, it's got to appeal to all sorts of other people as well, many of whom do want a chat section or chatroom.

chatrrom would only be open in evenings i think justine said

hehe marina you know me so well

ks i could be bribed with a trip to waitrose tho

live chat on here and msn is diff

you might not want to have a huge list of netters on msn that you have to allow on your list to speak to them, when all you want is a quick chat with someone you may not know that well.

Sorry lou, missed that

I meant more in terms of the process though - kicking people out of chat? What criteria consitutes a kick? Bans for a certain period of time? How long does a kick last for?

You have to bear in mind that Mumsnet, bless it, is a sort of organised anarchy - this will get amplified in a chatroom, so I do think you have to be prepared for that and have some more rigid systems in place.

For one thing, several threads on mumsnet have become severely nasty because no-one was around at HQ to do anything about it. You CANNOT rely on that with a 24/7 chatroom - you're going to need to give the mods some sort of actual real power. Which can lead to a whole other set of issues in itself

Don't hold your breath, ks, one of the lovely things about Lou33 is she is everyone's friend and ruthless about modding

sorry haven't read thread but as its not like me to miss an opportunity to give an opinion

I'm against incorporating a chat area. I think they're divisive, cliquey and if people want to chat real-time then they can use MSN

if you're not a quick typist you can get left behind

people won't preview and any arguments / grudges will spill over onto forums

you won't be able to see how a conversation progresses so if something flares up you won't be able to learn from how it resolves

people can feel ignored in chat, or like an interloper

MSN is more than satisfactory for chatting

it feels a bit 'gang' like

I'm repeating myself so I'll go now

PS I vote NO in case you didn't realise

have already offered to mod, how or when would be up to hq, but am about most evenings as you may have noticed