Who's Online?

Useful Feature or Annoying Resource Drain?

[rogerd]

Various forum packages let users see who else is online. It may take the form of a general list of everyone who has been active in the last few minutes, or even who is viewing a particular page. (At its most minimal level, it may simply flag a member's profile with an online/offline indicator.)

Is this a useful feature? Or a drain on resources that makes pages bigger and slower to load? Have you ever PMed or IMed someone you saw online in a forum?

[Marketing Guy]

I think if there is a low member count online, then making that visible may add to the "people won't post on empty forums" principle. However a large member count online may encourage more registrations and less lurking.

If a large community has a lot of moderators, then it is sometimes useful for people to be able to contact those who are online if they need to.

I have occaisionally PM'd moderators on forums to query issues relating to posting guidelines (on forums I had just joined) - I think it was better to get a quick response than not.

MG

[rogerd]

Interesting point. I encourage mods to stay "invisible". If all mods are clearly offline, then it's an invitation to troublemakers. But your point is well-taken - knowing that a mod is online is good if you ahve a problem and are looking for help. And, of course, a visible mod presence may deter problem posters.

[Marketing Guy]

I was thinking about a few forums I post on rather than those I run myself - a large "online" list does give a good impression of an active, large community, which in certain subjects areas can be a very good selling point.

To be honest, I think problem posters are going to be a problem regardless of any mod presence - it's the nature of the beast. But to a certain extent I think recognisable names (usually mod / admin) are a deterant to some extent, but usually only if the problem posters are familiar with the market.

For example, WebmasterWorld or SEW I'm sure are a no go area for some forum spammers simply because they know (and in cases, respect) the people moderating.

The only time I've disabled the feature myself is when the forum I've been developing is new and I've felt the subject area + low members online would deter potential posters. Made up example - a business networking forum may look worse if the who's online shows that no registered memebers are online.

[Casethejoint]

'Who's online' has influenced me in decisions to post on certain technical support forums, particularly if I have seen a user who has provided useful info on a thing I'm having trouble with.

Perhaps it's really about instant gratification: a matter of how stressed you are about the problem, and how hung up on getting an immediate response you are.

Many people on my own forum post by email and visit the site only from time to time, so online contemporaneousness is not so important.

[rogerd]

I've visited some really busy forums that have gigantic online lists - dozens of lines of tiny type. I don't really find that useful, and it really increases the weight of the page. (Especially if it is followed by a list of a few hundred members whose birthday it is today!)

I think those super-long lists are just too much info to scan. Now, I do find the "who's viewing this page" feature slightly more useful - you'll usually find a small number there, and you might actually recognize someone. And, since you are viewing the same page, you have something to chat about if you wish.

[Frequent]

I agree with RogerD. On a busy forum the who's online is almost useless and intereferes with the look of the page.

On small forums I really like to know if certain people are on-line. I will often jump a few forums that I know someone visits if I need to get ahold of them with an urgent question.

Freq---