18 replies to this topic

[Mandrew968]

In my opinion, the last 2 minutes is a worthless piece of information. I know that the reason it was changed was that the names listed, were already off line(possibly) but it does let us know who has been online. Anyways, I liked the 30 minute version much better...

[santoury]

Just curious, why would you care to know ?

[Kim]

I would like a compromise, say 10 minutes. This is essentially a social networking site that happens to be focused on palms. If you look at the bottom and see Google and another robot online, it's not very social. It makes the site look dead, which does not encourage 'stickiness'. 30 minutes was too long, but 2 minutes is much too short. Seeing more people online encourages more activity. Think of it this way -- you walk into a party and see one person holding a tray of hors d'oeuvres and one person sitting alone at a table with a sick palm in his lap. Great party? Or, you walk into another party and there are a dozen people in the room, eating, drinking, laughing, trading lots of palms, and lots of conversation flowing. Where would you rather be?

[John in Andalucia]

I would like a compromise, say 10 minutes. This is essentially a social networking site that happens to be focused on palms. If you look at the bottom and see Google and another robot online, it's not very social. It makes the site look dead, which does not encourage 'stickiness'. 30 minutes was too long, but 2 minutes is much too short. Seeing more people online encourages more activity. Think of it this way -- you walk into a party and see one person holding a tray of hors d'oeuvres and one person sitting alone at a table with a sick palm in his lap. Great party? Or, you walk into another party and there are a dozen people in the room, eating, drinking, laughing, trading lots of palms, and lots of conversation flowing. Where would you rather be?

I agree, Kim. I think it's an essential marketing opportunity to entice the general public. Other than that, I'm sure it helps those already a part of PalmTalk in choosing their moment to post. Personally, I'm not so interested to know who is on-line at any one time, but to know that the forum is busy can boost sociability, as you say.

[Mandrew968]

Kim, when I look and see only two people, it just doesn't feel as good as when there were a bunch of names--I also like seeing when the busy times, on palmtalk, are(helps to keep the chat a more fun place too). Fifteen minutes?

[Jeff Searle]

I totally agree with the above comments. To scroll down and see 3 names,how discouraging is that?

[Stevetoad]

IM ALWAYS ON...

[paulgila]

good point,kim.totally agree.that "2 minute" thing sucks! now it even says i'm not here when i am here.

[Mandrew968]

good point,kim.totally agree.that "2 minute" thing sucks! now it even says i'm not here when i am here.

Paul, wasn't it my idea?

[Kim]

I would like a compromise, say 10 minutes. This is essentially a social networking site that happens to be focused on palms. If you look at the bottom and see Google and another robot online, it's not very social. It makes the site look dead, which does not encourage 'stickiness'. 30 minutes was too long, but 2 minutes is much too short. Seeing more people online encourages more activity. Think of it this way -- you walk into a party and see one person holding a tray of hors d'oeuvres and one person sitting alone at a table with a sick palm in his lap. Great party? Or, you walk into another party and there are a dozen people in the room, eating, drinking, laughing, trading lots of palms, and lots of conversation flowing. Where would you rather be?

Yes, Andrew, it was your idea, but I wrote a persuasive explanation of why it's a good idea.

...at least I hope it's persuasive. Where is our Mod on this?

[MattyB]

Paul and I have been exchanging PM's, so we know we're both online, and periodically it shows that he's logged off. Why does it do that? I know for a fact that he's online. Maybe it's indicating "logged off" if you're inactive, just reading a topic and haven't posted. In which case, a 30 minute recycle would be better because some people can read a lot before deciding to post.

Or if we're just marketing, lets just have the computer choose a random 25 people to keep recycling down on the "online" list.

[paulgila]

good point,kim.totally agree.that "2 minute" thing sucks! now it even says i'm not here when i am here.

Paul, wasn't it my idea?

and you are...?

just kidding.

[PALM MOD]

I can change it to anything anyone one wants. As mentioned, I thought it would be a more worthwhile tool for actually contacting someone. I could never contact anyone that I saw on the list. I would see them there and send them a quick PM to no avail. For that purpose it was useless.

I'll change it to ten, or anything management wants. If it's more important to know how many have visited (however briefly), then I can set it to an hour for that matter. So, what's more important - how many are here when you are, or how many have visited?

I'll try Kim's suggestion of ten for now. It won't change how many are really "in the room." But will give an indication of how many "pass through."

[John in Andalucia]

Or if we're just marketing, lets just have the computer choose a random 25 people to keep recycling down on the "online" list.

The placebo effect.


Dean, "how many have visited" floats my boat. I take it as a sign of "much posting activity". I also make a mental note of when that happens, which days of the week etc.

[Kim]

Thanks for being responsive, Dean! I wonder, do you have any statistics about the average time a user stays on Palm Talk? If a person doesn't click anything, but is online reading or posting, under the 2 minute rule, they "disappear" even though they are still "in the room". Under the 30 minute rule, a user could come in and go out within seconds, and still appear to be "in the room". Is there a more precise tracking tool to give you a better picture of reality? Not that it matters, just curious.

[PALM MOD]

Thanks for being responsive, Dean! I wonder, do you have any statistics about the average time a user stays on Palm Talk? If a person doesn't click anything, but is online reading or posting, under the 2 minute rule, they "disappear" even though they are still "in the room". Under the 30 minute rule, a user could come in and go out within seconds, and still appear to be "in the room". Is there a more precise tracking tool to give you a better picture of reality? Not that it matters, just curious.

Kim,

You said, "If a person doesn't click anything, but is online reading or posting,......" - A person couldn't read very much without clicking on something. In other words, there is only so much info or things to do on one page, and to leave that page you have to click on something. And even if you are posting a long post on one page, every letter you type, and possibly even scrolling, should classify as activity. But if you visit the bathroom, answer a phone call or the door, then you would be dropped from active. In the past I have seen some people sit on the same page for hours. Obviously they forgot to log off, or are not multi-tasking very well.

And no, the PT software doesn't track anything like time or pages - but there are programs that do that - and just about any other stat you would want. Average time, average number of pages viewed, active times, where they come from, where they go, search words when they arrive from a search engine, monitor resolutions, type of computer, operating system, browser, location, and on and on.

[PALM MOD]

Paul and I have been exchanging PM's, so we know we're both online, and periodically it shows that he's logged off. Why does it do that? I know for a fact that he's online. Maybe it's indicating "logged off" if you're inactive, just reading a topic and haven't posted. In which case, a 30 minute recycle would be better because some people can read a lot before deciding to post.

Or if we're just marketing, lets just have the computer choose a random 25 people to keep recycling down on the "online" list.

Matt, as mentioned above, if you spent more than 2 minutes grabbing a beer and chips, or resizing some pics, then you would not be shown as active - given the two minute constraint.

[Mandrew968]

As always, Thanks so much, PALM MOD, for being so accomodating!

[_Wal]

agree.....

with somebody