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- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 6 months ago by Doris Kenney.
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October 13, 2009 at 7:00 pm #31259Jeff HesterKeymaster
I’m looking into the possibility of partnering with Meebo to include their “bar” on BigBlueBall. If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, visit Social Media News and Web Tips ? Mashable ? The Social Media Guide and you’ll see the Meebo Bar on the bottom of the page.
What is the Meebo Bar? Essentially it provides an easy way for people to forward any page on the site via Twitter or Facebook. It also provides the ability for users to sign-in to Meebo and IM their contacts directly on BigBlueBall.
They are planning to add a community chat feature in 1Q10, and that’s the one bit that I think would be most interesting to our community.
It’s an interesting concept, but I wanted to get some feedback from the staff before I commit to anything.
October 13, 2009 at 9:23 pm #175892DermotParticipantis it optional? if so why not.
October 13, 2009 at 10:04 pm #175894Doris KenneyParticipantI don’t personally care for it – but that’s just me. I’m not a big fan of Meebo in general – I avoid it unless I’m forced to use it for some reason. The bar wouldn’t bother me as long as I could hide it easily (and it appears quite easy to do so.)
October 14, 2009 at 5:27 am #175891Jeff HesterKeymasterIt’s not exactly optional, although as Doris noted, it is easy to hide. If you don’t run javascript (not many people) or if you are behind a corporate firewall that blocks meebo, it won’t load or appear (but neither will it cause errors, supposedly).
I should note that the key benefit for now would be increased exposure. The bar makes it easy to share a page via Twitter or Facebook, and they claim that most of their partners have seen at least a 200% increase in referrals, and as much as 2000% increase. This is mainly because you don’t have to have a Meebo account or login to Meebo to use the “Share page” feature.
There is one thing I DO NOT like about it. I noticed that if you DO sign into Meebo with it, it “remembers” that setting, so then next time you visit that site (i.e. Mashable) it automatically signs you into Meebo. I did this while connected via Adium, and got disconnect notices for most of the IM networks (from Adium) as now I was connected via Meebo. Not exactly what I wanted.
The IM functionality is less useful for a site like BBB, but it IS interesting and apros pos, given our subject matter. I could see a lot of people who would find it interesting and who might want to play with it. But for practical application as an IM system, it’s best suited to they type of community where people “hang out” all day — something like a Facebook-type social network site.
Even so, the “Share page” thing is interesting, as is the potential of a community-based Meebo room on the toolbar (promised for the first quarter of 2010). I might accept it on a provisional basis, testing it with a select group of users. As long as it doesn’t create more headaches than the benefits it brings, we can make it go live.
October 14, 2009 at 11:50 am #175895Doris KenneyParticipantIf their claims of increases are true there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It’s simple and easy to see what to do with the bar. I can’t see any users being confused with how to hide or use it. Even if they were to get signed out elsewhere, it only takes one time of that for most people to go find what to uncheck to stop it from happening – not a big deal for most.
I can’t really see any downside.
October 21, 2009 at 1:28 am #175893MrOatsMemberDoris wrote:The bar wouldn’t bother me as long as I could hide it easily (and it appears quite easy to do so.)Jeff wrote:it is easy to hide.As long as it’s easy to hide, I’m for it! 🙂
I have used Meebo occasionally, and I have used IM toolbars on other websites before. I ussually have left them off, but sometimes I found them really useful for quick communication with other users. I think this would be a great addition to BBB.
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