So what is this “persistence” stuff anyway? (pt. 2)
(…. from the “back from the dead” department … this is Eric. Apologies for being gone so long…)
Recall my (now ancient) post from 26 January with a description of what makes IM/chat “persistent.” I alluded to some of the secondary benefits that accrue uniquely from persistence. I have been meaning to follow-up that post, so here are some further thoughts on why chat “persistence” is so important.
- Persistence often creates a tangible sense of community among members of a given group channel.
- Persistence allows for the automatic, transparent, and “free” capture of knowledge and enterprise memory.
- Persistent groups make it easier to help identify the experts in your organization, and perhaps even a little easier to create new experts.
Today, I’d specifically like to talk about the first one, chat communities. Merriam-Webster provides several key insights into community, including:
- “a unified body of individuals,”
- “people with common interests living in a particular area,” and
- “a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society”
Implicit in each of these definitions is the notion of a group. So, let’s relate this back to chat and instant messaging. Group membership is a cornerstone of any community, and therefore communities are something which uniquely emerge from group-based chat/IM systems, as opposed to one-to-one based IM.
What exactly is group chat, though? Let’s compare it to something we’re all familiar with – the telephone conference. Imagine a teleconference with a group of your colleagues. Except that the conversation is being held in text instead of spoken over the phone. Further, imagine that the call may have dozens or hundreds of people on it (without it degenerating into complete chaos).
Group chat can have dozens, hundreds or potentially even thousands of people participating. While it is possible to have a teleconference with 20 or 30 people on it, actually getting all 30 to meaningfully participate is an exercise in patience, cajoling and choreography. Using chat means that each person can either contribute or just “listen” as they wish, without concern of talking over someone or getting talked over. All of the messages are captured and displayed – nothing is lost. This is something you cannot say about teleconferencing.
With a group chat system, a variety of forums (called channels or rooms depending on the chat/IM system) will emerge over time. Some examples:
- It would probably be useful to have a channel for all of the employees in your Cleveland office. Or Chicago, or London, or Los Angeles. All of the above. You get the picture.
- You may also have channels emerge that are organized along topical lines. For example, a software development company might create a channel for everyone who programs in the Java programming language.
- Project or event-oriented groups are
- In another scenario everyone with a given type of job might be on a common channel. Perhaps all project managers in a company join a shared chat channel. A forum like that would be a great way to share best practices and war stories, and to do a little mentoring.
So, the point is, you’ll see different groups emerge over time as users become familiar with the technology. Each of these groups will develop into a community in and of themselves. The Java channel I mentioned will have certain resident experts that others recognize and respect. It may develop a practice of people quickly sharing newly learned tips and tricks with everyone else via the chat channel.
History shows that communities have a tendency to emerge anywhere people can congregate. Professional organizations such as those for attorneys (the American Bar Association), computer scientists (the Association for Computing Machinery), and doctors (the American Medical Association). Labor unions. Immigrant communities in their newly adopted country. Local neighborhoods. These are all examples of communities of one form another emerging from groups of individuals. In the chat/IM world, retained membership and group message history are two key features which make that group “persistent.” And persistence is what gives a chat community the sense of continuity and permanence that you would get in a real-world local neighborhood.
Group chat goes beyond simple one-on-one instant messaging and establishes that place of congregation around which a community can form. Persistence is what makes it feel like the community is around to stay.
Cheers,
Eric
Leave a Reply