BillW, thanks for your input!
As far as I know, an IRC channel (i.e., chatroom) is always available. The problem is/has been getting enough people together at one time to participate in a chat. Setting up a specific time is generally a good idea. That way, people know when others will be there, ready to chat. I don't know if things would be any different by having a link to a chatroom. If people are like me, they go in to see if anyone's there; if not, they leave.
An option would be to suggest a daily time for chatting...say, every night at a certain time. That way, people who cannot participate on Fridays can join in the conversations on the day(s) convenient for them.
There is another option I'd like to put out there for comments...
Google has initiated an instant messaging feature they call "
Talk" (still in Beta/testing.) Unlike the IRC chatting, it does not require installing "client software" (e.g., Pidgin, iChat, Trillian, etc.), although it does support many of them. It can be accessed directly from the web, using a link to the
Google Talk Gadget on the home page.
The catch is that it does require a (free)
Gmail account and chatting is done only with people on your Gmail contact list. That would limit the people with whom you could chat to people known to you (which
could be a good thing!), but doesn't allow for just anyone to drop in (as has happened in the past.) The implication would be that people who chat would have to:
* have a Gmail account
* have a list of contacts - to include all the chatters
This last item is where I see a bit of a problem. It would mean sharing Gmail account names between everyone who wants to chat. But, because a Chat option is built into the Gmail interface, you'd be able to tell who is online (logged into their Gmail) and initiate a chat anytime.
Another nice feature is that using Google Talk would allow for sharing files, etc., and would integrate with some of their
other services.
Opinions?