Friday, February 4, 2011

A Question For Fellow Bloggers

A question!

Would people use a virtual chat room if I were to set one up? I envision it as being a place for like-minded collectors to meet up and discuss... whatever they feel like discussing. It'd be available to both my blogs, which means there could be some interesting cross-over. (Most people reading my blogs are collectors, but the discussions would go wherever they're inclined to go...)

The chat room would always be open, so in theory, anyone could pop in whenever they felt like it. No need to schedule anything in advance (though there's also no guarantee anyone else will be there...)

Note: This isn't a forum, like Alphadrome or Rebel Scum or any of the million other forums out there. This would be a chat room -- similar to AOL Instant Message or Gmail Chat, except for multiple people at once. If you're of a certain age, think of those old telephone "party rooms," only without the implied sleaze.

I'd have to implement some level of security to avoid spammers, trolls, and all the other annoying denizens of the 'net that swarm to open, free, online chat sessions. The means, probably, either a list of pre-approved email addresses, or perhaps some sort of invitation system. Of course, everyone's privacy would be a priority, and if I do end up soliciting your email address, I'll never use it for anything other than making sure you can join the chat.

So... What do you think? Should I set it up? If enough people comment positively, I'll go ahead and set it up in the next day or so.

6 comments:

  1. I don't know if you mean for mostly vintage toy collectors, or?

    I offered the same thing a while back as my friend has had a chat board for 5 years now. It has over a million posts, a core group of regulars and different forums and such. He could easily add a vintage/collectors forum. Quite a few folks there already own or collect vintage stuff.

    But I didn't get much positive response, and was told there already is a "vintage" chat board (which I won't name here, unless you want me to).

    However, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer lol just sharing my experience on the subject. =)

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  2. I think you might be mistaking what I'm talking about. This wouldn't be a forum -- it would be a single chat room for real-time communication between whoever's in it at the time.

    Imagine AOL Instant Messenger or something, but with multiple people at a time and, well, no AOL.

    For example:

    Collector A: I just scored a great new robot!
    Collector B: Nice!
    Collector C: Really cool. How much?
    Collector D: I like peanuts!
    Collector A: Thanks. $200.
    Collector C: Wow. Lucky jerk!
    Collector D: I like peanuts!
    Collector B: We know, we know. But we have no peanuts.
    Collector A: Found it at a swap meet.
    Collector B: That one last week?
    Collector A: Yep.
    Collector D: I like peanuts!
    Collector B: Will someone find him some peanuts?

    So on and so forth, with people joining in and dropping out as the conversation progresses. Obviously, "Collector A" would be replaced by whatever name you logged in with.

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  3. Peanuts are okay, I find Cashews to be more tasty : )

    sorry I couldn't resist.

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  4. Ahh now I understand: you mean like live streaming chat? That's cool too. =D


    By the way, pecans rock lol =P

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  5. Much as I enjoy the idea, I likely wouldn't use it. I usually just call a friend and do it over the phone (the old fashioned way) or send an email and get the conversation going there. I can see it being of value for an occasional question, but I doubt I would spend too much time there. That's just my two cents ...

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  6. Well I used to drop by some nichie live chat on toys but sadly that group disbanded already. SO when is this live chatroom going to happen?

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