IRC Revival of #macrumors

Hi everybody,

Some of you might have noticed that I revived an old MR IRC thread yesterday. Don't ask me why haha, I have no idea.

Anyway, I would like to propose an idea for MR. I thought it might be an idea to provide some sort of "MacRumors IRC Chat Support". Within the #macrumors chat group we could have a number of volunteers listed as contacts. A user with a problem can post a question in the chat, and a "volunteer" who knows the answer/wants to help can invite the user into a private chat to discuss the issues. (or something like that).

Maybe there could also be macrumors general chat area, which links to other chat areas - some related to MacPro, MBP, iPad, iPod, news events etc.

Media events are already in there, so that would once again be introduced.

I contacted Arn but haven't received a reply yet, I don't think he thinks it's a good idea.

So anyway, anybody have any suggestions? Good or bad.

DoFoT9

edit: i guess some connection information would be nice. download Colloquy and install it. Then connect to #macrumors in the "join rooms" section, and use irc.krono.net as the server.

you can also connect using adium - its very easy.

download the adium beta (from their website), and install the IRC client. use irc.krono.net as the hostname. then go to File->Join Group Chat, and "Chat Room Name" must = "#macrumors" (dont use inverted commas).

alphaod said:

IRC would mean less forums participation and it would be difficult to archive things. It would equate to less traffic on this site which is bad for business overall.

Finally, most questions are answered very quickly anyways. People with questions and need to ask on MR are unlikely log into IRC to ask random people online.

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very true. thanks for that input alpha.

what about if it were for live event updates? macrumors cant really convey that as quickly. or what about simply for social chatting? those things dont need to be archived.

arn said:

I appreciate how everyone else is more worried about the site making money than we are.

We tried IRC before. It was never very popular. And was hard to get consistent coverage for OPs.

arn

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what sort of things did IRC cover before hand? just social chatting?

i guess if you think its a bad idea then it must be ah well. was really excited and i had a few others keen too.

niuniu said:

Loads of sites try IRC, ends up being a small group of guys, and one token woman cracking a lot of in-jokes.. not saying MR wouldn't be different but I suspect otherwise

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naww ok.

properly advertised/moderated/setup i reckon it would be great!

just incase anybody cares, there have been around 12 independent users sign on and off today. some have stayed for a chat, others havent stayed too long.

even Knox (the creator of the MR IRC) came on for a bit.

niuniu said:

Is actually quite nice to be on IRC again, especially if more people log on..

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thanks for your interest niuniu, i really appreciate it

miles01110 said:

The average idiot who comes here and asks when the next Macbook Pro update is going to happen hasn't even heard of IRC.

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if its advertised a bit more the circumstances might change

belvdr, whats a MOO?

miles01110 said:

Doubtful. I'm not saying it's a bad idea- I would consider hanging out in an IRC chatroom every now and then- but the people that frequent it will be the same people who frequent the forums.

The vast majority of newbies that come to the forums are going to post a question on the forums; if only to ask "What is IRC and how do I get on it?" If they actually manage to find whatever information thread that gets put up about how to connect, they'll post a question about a connection problem, what port to use, how to circumvent a work firewall, etc etc.

I think that an IRC chat is a nice thing to have, but it's not necessarily worth pushing more than it already is. I just don't see it taking off to the point where you'd actually need more than just the general chat anyways.

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well what about something like a sticky at the top of each forum, that states "if you are having basic user problems, go here blaablaa" ?? that would provide enough publicity and wont get TOO much attention

belvdr said:

A MOO is a form of text based virtual reality. You get to build objects, add verbs, practically anything that extends the usefulness of the environment. I still have my old MOO account active and my character is some 15 years old now.

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ahhh i seee! quite timeless

miles01110 said:

Again, I'm not saying it's a bad idea... I'm just saying that a sticky or an FAQ or a Guide is going to be seen by a miniscule percentage of your target audience. Newbies create their account, log in, and all they see is the "New Thread" button. The Guides/FAQ/Stickies we already have (How many newbies actually read this one?) aren't very effective.

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i wasnt even aware of that one! it just means that they havent been appropriately displayed i guess. there are always ways to improve efficiency and maybe even enforce it. just depends how on board Arn/mods are to the idea. would anybody mind adding a poll for me? simple yes/no.