A couple of other thoughts and possibilities on the instant messaging.
1. An on/off button for the option and perhaps, even better, for each subject and person bookmarked (which could also lower the demands on SI's servers). I am sure that I would not always want it on and would certainly not always want it on for all subjects and all people.
2. Rather than making it an internal SI notice, SI could use some kind of email autoresponder and generate an e-mail with a link to the new post. Anyone keeping up with things that closely, should have an empty email box anyway, and, at least in the case of AOL, would get a happy, audible, "You've Got Mail" notice. This would probably take more work on the users end that simply hitting refresh, but it is a thought.
3. SI could license/use AOL's or MSFT's Instant messaging software and link it to the bookmarks so that a new hit on a bookmarked person or subject (inside SI's server) would generate an Instant message across the net to the person that had it bookmarked. Thus, even if one were not logged onto SI, one would get the IM. Or, it could be set to only send such IMs if the recipient were logged on.
4. Perhaps this could or would need to be be a "value-added" service...i.e., for a fee. Then again, AOL or MSFT might just give away (read free, without cost, with tribute to Stuart on the commercial) (one can always hope) the license to their IM software just because of how good SI is and how much each would like to scoop the other.
Just some thoughts......
Troy McKinney
PS - why does SI's spell checker say that both "e-mail" and "email" are potentially misspelled? Someone please hit the "add" or "learn" button....:) |
