New Chat Interface

So, as many of us have discovered, we have a new chat interface!! I'm interested in fostering a discussion on it.

Do you like it? Why or why not?
Notice any bugs that need to be addressed?
How likely are you to use this feature?
Would you recommend this feature to your friends and family?

1. NOPE. It's annoying because it pops up every few seconds to show us who's online and available to chat.

2. Robo turned it off for me, so I don't see it. But it would be nice to have the option to turn it off without admin intervention.

3. Will NEVER use it.

4. None of my friends and family on here, but if they were, I'd tell them to have it turned off..

Yes Pruny, I do.

It’s pretty easy to navigate through as well. What I like most about it is the ability to converse in real time👍🏽

I'm kinda an introvert, so I'm not sure.

I wouldn’t have guessed! Lol!

Hahaha

i'm doing ok with it.

🚽😂😂😂😂

You were using it fine the other day👍🏽

There are some things that are kind of clunky with the interface and the refresh time can be a little painful, but I am enjoying it. I never use the older chat, so it was nice being able to chat with folks in real time.

I can see there being some concerns with moderation or not being able to opt out if you like without help.

i don't like that when i close the chat window (because i want to see my entire browser), it pops up again when someone in the group says something new. maybe admin can have the option of minimizing the window and have it blink when there's a new message. right now, the only option is the click the X, which closes the window entirely.

i should add that i use the chat while on my laptop. I haven't used it on my phone. as for when i'm on CC via phone, i haven't been bothered by the chat window popping up.

I see that now. I was using my phone or iPad before, so I didn't see how it overlays the forum when browsing on a PC. An option to open it in a new tab, or start mi

Concerning moderation, an ignore feature would be nice

What I've discovered on the chat app so far:

1) If you click on the 3 dots at the top you get a mini settings menu. From there you can disable all the annoying popups about so and so just came online or left. Now that it's not giving me popups I don't care about every minute I don't mind it so much. You can also add users to a block list. There's also a translate converstations feature which might be handy for some of our non-native Englsih speakers.

2) There a tab called recent in the main chat window that keeps track of you last few chat discussions. So you can get back to them easily if you want to close the conversation window out. You can also minimize a conversation window by clicking on the person's name in the title (not sure yet if it will keep popping up if the other party keeps sending messages to you).

3) Biggest annoyance / concern right now is that as far as I can tell everyone shows up in everyone else's chat contacts. Brings back too many memories of chat room days when guys would come in and PM every girl in the room to try to get one to talk with and usually those moved pretty quickly into questionable territory. So I would definitely prefer to limit who I'm willing to receive chats from without going through and ignoring a bunch of people.

4) As to good or bad, I can see it both increasing or decreasing the level of conflict around here. That's much more to do with how people use it rather than an inherent quality of the functionality. Overall I think it could be a nice feature and could be better if more user customization were available (similar to what is available for conversations / PM's now and the previously mentioned flash instead of cover my screen when someone messages me).

I kind of like it but I kinda wish you had the option to be able to have it in like a separate window. I noticed when I was trying to type something it would go BLING BLING BLING right in my face and I kept having to exit out of it. Basically don't do any group chats.

I, for one, love it! I like it because you can have instant conversations and 1 on 1 conversations. That's pretty cool. The most prevalent bug I have noticed is, on mobile (Android) if I leave a conversation and go back, the most recent messages won't load. I notice everyone talking about the windows that pop up. I've noticed it on mobile they don't pop up but on a laptop they do. The feature is pretty new so I would imagine these bugs are to be expected. I am very likely to use it! I have already used it many times today. 10/10 would recommend.

Side note: How did you make the poll?

I can't get any talk to come through. All I get is a bell and a text message telling what was said. I can't find any options for sound.

I'm really liking it. I used to be in the chat rooms quite often back in the day but eventually faded out of the scene... This new interface is really handy for being able to get to know each other in real time. Being able to interact in real time gives a whole new perspective about someone's personality and how they react to various situations.

Thanks to everyone who is posting tips on how to navigate around the new system--I've learned quite a few things from reading these threads.

Also, just a word of caution to anyone who might be new to instant chats--be safe out there, and don't ever let anyone bully you into giving them any information about yourself that you don't want to share.

For instance, I don't give out my personal contact info until I get to know someone here pretty well, but in the past, have had people say things to me such as, "Well unlike you, I'm a grown adult and not paranoid about everything." Well, in my opinion, a grown adult doesn't try to bully you into giving them your contact information either. Don't fall for these kinds of manipulations if someone asks for your number, personal account name, or asks you to contact them on another site when you don't feel comfortable doing so.

I've known a few people who were constantly having to change their phone numbers and contact info because they'd been giving it out to anyone who asked online, and it turned into a disaster.

I'm very optimistic about these new chats, but I really feel for the mods in having to keep up with the ways in which some might abuse it. As a Christian site, there will be guidelines for use that other secular sites wouldn't bother with, and I realize it has to be a bear to try to keep them in place.

But as a word of concern for our younger brothers and sisters especially--don't let someone talk to you in a way that's intrusive, demanding, manipulative, or abusive, and don't be afraid to go for help (to the administration) if someone insists on trying to erase those boundaries.