[genmon]

(blog author here)

If you're interested in the multiplayer cursors + cursor chat, my philosophy is that every web page deserves to be a place, and pages should feel busy if lots of people are there

plus you can grab the code. here's the write-up:

https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party

[airza]

I think that’s a very cool philosophy but unfortunately it makes your website unusable for me on mobile. It feels like ants are crawling all over my screen.

[GuB-42]

First time I saw this, I didn't realize these were other people cursors, I really though the point was to be an annoyance (some people actually do this!). I thought the movement was random, and that it was a way to make it harder for people to see their actual cursor.

The country flags make it much more clear. Still an annoyance, but now I get it, and I am more than amused than annoyed now.

Anyways, it doesn't work for me on Firefox 128.11.0esr, Debian 11 (yes, outdated, I know, but still in LTS), I had to use Chrome/ium for the cursors to show.

[crazygringo]

It's very cool, but the motion is also incredibly distracting while reading. It literally makes it physically difficult to read.

Might I suggest quickly fading the cursors out entirely as soon as the user starts to scroll, maybe? Then you could have the effect at the start, but be less distracting while reading.

Or just a floating counter in the corner to say how many people are currently viewing it, maybe with the two most popular flags and your own flag and a fourth "other". Because it's one thing to know it's busy (cool, it's popular, I'm participating in something!), but it's another thing to feel busy, distracted, claustrophobic.

I assume you want to prioritize people reading your actual content over the feeling of busyness.

[genmon]

there's a Quiet Mode toggle in the corner of the screen for that purpose

[crazygringo]

Thanks. Honestly, given all of the random comments in bubbles and other UX I never even saw it. I realize it's obvious once you've seen it, but everything else was so distracting I genuinely didn't. And I was literally trying to just "tune everything out" and read, not assuming there was an option to disable it that I should look for.

Also, "quiet mode" doesn't suggest any clear link to the cursors. I get what you're saying with it, but I'm more likely to assume it's got something to do with the site playing sound effects I don't hear because I've got my device on silent mode.

[big_toast]

This is such a cool effect but I'm afraid its novelty is conflicting with its affordances.

Have you seen cases where people are using it in a more familiar manner? Like, they've moved on from the newness but there's still a bunch of people? Feels like being in a subway station where everyone is bumping into each other right now instead of just sharing the space as needed.

[genmon]

yeah this is definitely over the edge -- signal is lost in the noise

my main enjoyment has been to hang out on my own blog (which it generally pretty quiet) and say hi to people as they drop by. I've had a few pleasant interactions that way, and a couple people said hi in Unoffice Hours (link in the left column) or on the socials after

but generally I feel like "ambient togetherness" is just the beginning of something, and it needs to be paired with something more persistent to be useful (like a discord only open to subscribers, that kind of thing), and I haven't gotten around to building that side of it yet.

[chamomeal]

I absolutely love it