LG15 Today lets you talk to your friends on Facebook
If you scroll to the bottom of LG15 Today you will find a new (experimental) feature. We have integrated Facebook chat into the blogspot so you can stay in touch with your online friends while you catch up with the latest antics in the Breeniverse. If you are already logged onto Facebook there is nothing to do. Your online friends will show up and if you hear a sound while reading the blog they probably have sent you a message.
Right now we are testing out this feature but we hope it goes over well because we live in a social world. Facebook is rapidly becoming the standard in social networking (for now at least). If you don't have a Facebook account this feature should not affect your enjoyment of LG15 Today. If you do have a Facebook account then it should make the blog more social.
We did consider the option of "embeds" for other messengers or universal messenger services but right now each of these has its limitations and drawbacks and if you are tied to one particular messenger then you probably already run the client for that messenger (or a universal client). Facebook is a little different and is developing rapidly so that makes it an attractive option right now.
If you have any feedback on this feature just leave a comment below.
Due to problems with tab browsing we have pulled the experiment for now. This was never our long term solution but as we said an experiment to better understand your needs. With the feedback we have received it may take some time, but hopefully the feature will be back in a more elegant implementation.
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Seems wholly unnecessary to me. Tabbed browsing has been the standard for a while now and, although the blog is great, I doubt anyone's primary site is this blog. No one can devote their full attention to both a Facebook chat conversation and reading an article (or watching an embedded video), so why try to make that a reality? A simply Ctrl + Tab, and there's Facebook, along with Facebook Chat.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I'm sure I'm not the only person who sometimes avoids friends on Facebook. I don't want to have to go through the trouble of logging out if I want to read an article on lg15 today. Not only is this unnecessary, it's a hindrance.
The "avoiding friends" is definitely a consideration as you say. Personally I prefer not to use tabs for real estate reasons but I may well be the exception so your point is well taken Thad. Still "presence" is a growing trend online so that is the reason for experimenting with it. It is likely you will be encountering this on other sites in the near future so it may become the standard to have to control your online presence on the user end. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteYou know you can go offline on facebook Thad....and they'll never know you are there.
ReplyDeleteThe odd things it does for me is that if I'm chatting on facebook that chat window disappears and the chat appears here, which is rather annoying. I had to close the blog last night because I got confused. But no worries, I can handle the confusion. Keep on experimenting.
So, VV let see if i get this right.
ReplyDeleteLike Thad you use tab browsing and keep Facebook open in one tab to create "presence" while "surfing" other sites in other tabs. When you visit LG15 Today and have an active chat going on Facebook the chat is also active on the blogspot and that is confusing.
Thanks. It helps to understand the work flow of other people when playing around with this stuff. Not sure we have an easy fix for that while experimenting but we will see what we can do.
Also note that there is a feedback link to this article under the Facebook box so it will be easy to access even after this story runs off the front page of the blogspot.
Due to problems with tab browsing we have pulled the experiment for now. This was never our long term solution but as we said an experiment to better understand your needs. With the feedback we have received it may take some time, but hopefully the feature will be back in a more elegant implementation.
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone who provided such helpful feedback on both LG15 Today and Facebook chat itself (which was part of the goal of the experiment).
I understand that I can go offline, but if I am NOT on Facebook (but logged in), and I come to lg15today to read an article, I'm online. Now, I avoid certain people for the fact that they ARE slightly...annoying, and those types of people usually send me a message as soon as I get on Facebook, so in some cases, there might not be enough time to go offline.
ReplyDeleteEven if it's not as big of a hindrance as I'm making it out to be, I still stand by my point that it's unnecessary. I really doubt it will be as widely integrated as MM is saying it will be, because, as I said, tabbed browsing is the norm, even if there are some people that don't use it.
We understand your concern Thad. That said "presence" will become a universal reality so if you do not face it here you will face it other places. But for now its off the site.
ReplyDelete