[skillipedia]

I removed chatrooms from my web site because I won't be able to monitor them.
Do you think including a chatroom in a web site is a good idea?

[olani]

In my opinion it is, considered as a way of communication U2U (user to user). They can comment your content and they will spend more time on your website, so you can rotate your banner ads to increase your cash and do somekind of extra services for the chatroom as moderators, VIP group, bla bla.
Think about it!

[crackah]

depends on the site, i dont think they are a good idea, make it feel tacky and idk...

[Young Spark]

As olani said, it is a very good way of getting interactivity to your site. Think of it like this: Having a chatroom makes my site U2U... (User 2 User) --- they'll comment about my site and I can review transcripts to see what they are saying should be changed to better suit them.

That's how I look at it... BUT BUT BUT, be careful and you should find monitoring and close the chat when you don't have any at a certain time. You need monitoring for this and need to record CHAT transcripts (not PM's ... or MAYBE you should) as it'll be a possible way of people ending up on your site and your sitting in the middle of a legal battle for something happening to someone, courtesy of your site.

Just my .02 cents.

[greggomatic76]

Chatrooms are really not a popular way of building a U2U site. Better are forums (like YE), comments on a blog, reviews of your content etc. While chat rooms are very viral, they are very hard to monotize because the users don't want to click on ads lest they interrupt their discussion and the people using them are often kids who don't pay for hardly anything online.

[Young Spark]

^^ I still beg to differ, chatrooms are surely more active then forums are, with forums, you post and wait for a response... which in this term means who really wants to wait now-a-days, time is money (in an entrepreneur-state of mind.)

To be quite honest, it is easier to monetize your chatrooms with ad's... I don't know who said you couldn't but some people must realize that running a chat isn't cheap and the sponsors keep the chat from the need of being paid for. If they don't want to see it, then they can make a monthly donation (a small one of course) and the ad's disappear.

The fact of the matter is that chatrooms are more active then a forum because of it "live environment." But all in all, if you ask me, forums and chat's are the same thing... just that one has the advantage of the topic lasting a while, but not being "instant" in terms of activity. Chatrooms are the opposite, they are "instant" in terms of activity, while the topics don't last long from one day into the next unless that is the general topic of the chatroom... hope I am explaining clearly.

[darkman]

i think chatrooms are a good thing but you need moderation otherwise you will get all sorts of weirdos abusing the facility.

stick with a forum, much better option

[Dale King]

Chatroom safety has absolutely nothing to do with the moderator. Chatroom safety is a personal issue. Because chatrooms in general are more intimate than forums, you have to use even more discretion when sharing your personal information. This is especially true for women and children, whom are often the victims of stalkers and pedophiles in chatrooms.

Because of the "SLEAZE" reputation of chatrooms in general, I personally wouldn't have one on my website. But that's also a personal issue and choice.

Dale King

[skillipedia]

My main concern is the abuse of chatrooms by pedophiles which can legally screw my web site . Yahoo removed their charrooms for this reason

I created chatrooms for employers to interview job seekers or service providers to receive quotations.

For the size of my web site there in no way I can monitor chatrooms, so the safest way is to remove them.

I think blog, question& answer and news are all what users need to network

Cheers

[NeeJam]

Both namepros and dnforum have chatrooms and they dont affect their sites if anything they benefit them.

[Young Spark]

The major thing is that its an easy way for stalkers, pedophiles, etc. to target victims. The best way isn't to remove, but to think some confident ways of making it safer. My advice would be to make the chat a member's only chat, this can somewhat decrease and even if somebody on the chat feels threatened, they can report the person and you'll have that person's IP info as well as name (if they provide it.)

Fact of the matter is that no matter, chatroom, social network, forums, etc. The result ends in this: there is no sure-safe way to protect yourself but to NOT give out your important information... and common sense allows for this to be successful.