[holler]

Appreciate your thoughts on this topic. What are some things that would help keep your interest in a topical chat app? Is it strictly that you're uninterested in the content and so the discussion is boring? Or is the asynchronous/disjointed conversation more of an issue?

> My reaction is always kind of, well, we're here in this reddit where there is already a community

I think that misses the different ways people seek to interact online. Reddit/HN style threaded comments have played a traditional role in social/aggregation sites, whereas live chat-based platforms are newer and facilitate a different kind of experience.

Both have value but they are different, and it could be that the latter is simply less interesting to some people.

[radarsat1]

> you're uninterested in the content and so the discussion is boring?

I would say that perhaps, at least from what I've seen, it's often not really a discussion at all, but more like a question answering forum. I suppose what I like about HN/reddit style forums more, is that there is a "post", with a clear topic or article, and then people actually have a full, long discussion about it. Sometimes of varying quality, but it's at least full of threads where people react, people react to those reactions, etc. Whereas what I've seen on IRC is mostly just "how do I do x", and then some random short-lived arguments about how to do X better, or why are you doing X, etc. It doesn't seem to be a discussion but more like a problem solving brainstorm with a bunch of people who aren't stakeholders in whatever the original poster is talking about.

So, I'm not sure, but maybe the way the discussion in a link aggregator is specifically oriented around a "post" and clear topic is what makes it more engaging for me, rather than just a nebulous promise that "this channel is to discuss X.." followed by people just sitting there with not much to say about X.

But, maybe my take is completely wrong, and that's why I asked the question, maybe I've missed the very interesting and dynamic back-and-forth discussions and funny moments that attract and keep people engaged in a chat room. Maybe it's just a matter of being there long enough.

[holler]

Disclosure I'm building a topical chat site at https://sqwok.im

One thing I've noticed is many conversations will start out on-topic but eventually the active participants will exhaust whatever they have to say and it will pivot to more casual conversation. It isn't necessarily bad, but it creates the problem where new/arriving users see a conversation that appears unconnected from the topic. I recently received a bunch of feedback to that affect.

Another factor that someone else already mentioned is simply that many people like to lurk and don't want to engage in live discussion. Also not a problem if the previous issue is solved.