Structuring and supporting persistent chat conversations

Persistence of conversations has been found to be a useful feature in group chat tools. When conversations are stored and made accessible to all members of a group, they can facilitate organizational memory, group awareness, and other beneficial practices. However, the lack of structure in chat conversations makes it difficult for users to read and keep track of lengthy conversation histories. To contend with this problem, we have developed a persistent chat system that incorporates a number of features which facilitate participation in long, ongoing conversations. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.3 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Group and Organization Interfaces. General Terms Design, Human Factors Keywords Chat, CMC, persistence.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: CSCW
• Authors: David Fono, Ronald Baecker
• Keywords: Chat Conversations, Conversations, CSCW 2006, Group Chat Tools, Social Sciences