Making small talk

I've been using VOX since the beginning, and as I've used it I've become a relatively vocal proponent of comments and their importance in building connections between people. My metaphor for VOX continues to be that of a cocktail party, as opposed to myspace or livejournal which are more akin to frat parties - fun for many, but a totally different scene and one that I am too old for.

My VOX cocktail party has been getting really active lately. I've met a bunch of new people and many of them are good writers telling interesting stories. Very few of  them write like Prince (die 4 U) which is great. I love a healthy vocabulary and complete sentences that make big and little stories...but I'm starting to digress and today I have a point to make. Really, a plea.

I've met these new people in large part because I have commented on their blogs or they have commented on mine. Very often these comments turn from "you go, girl" into real conversations. The conversations rarely last for more than a few days, but during this time I frequently check VOX for updates. I do this while I'm working, and it used to be an easy and relatively guilt-free activity because a quick peek at the home page would show me what I needed to know without sucking time away from critical projects. Wham, bam, a quick reply and "enter" then back to work. It was totally working for me. And more than once it enabled me to turn neighbors into friends.

The redesign of the home page has completely changed my behavior. I now have no idea from one hour/day to the next if someone has replied to my comment (except of course if they have done it on my blog - but I am not talking about that). The only way to find out is to click back to the reader (which I never, ever use) to "recent activity" (a name that means little to me because only comments are there and not a complete list of recent activity) to a list of every single comment I've been connected to for the past several weeks - not the kind of "recent" I'm looking for.

Oddly enough, my own comments are not listed here. I often comment on the blogs of strangers who are too new (and unknown to me) for me to want to make them neighbors. I suspect the (perfectly rational) thinking went something like "who doesn't remember what they wrote"?  Well I, for one, don't.  Perhaps it's early on-set of Alhzeimer's, the fact that I'm hugely busy, or simply a sign of an active commenter. Regardless, the net is that I now have to weed through a very long list of stuff, in search of what just happened now. It takes forever and consequently I rarely do it.

This is a loss for me. Now instead of making small talk at my cocktail party I'm watching a movie. Occasionally I throw popcorn at the screen but I don't have time to see if anyone is throwing anything back. 

I feel like the relationships I've built are suffering somewhat because I can't nurture them like I did before. And most sadly, there is little chance of turning new neighbors into friends.

I know that you folks are hard pressed for real estate on the VOX home page and you have a bunch of competing priorities not the least of which is driving revenue. But small talk, or commenting, will become the life-blood of the community. It's the difference between a monologue and a dialogue. Of talking to friendly people or whispering in the wind.

Keeping the entire list of comments in recent activity is okay if you will put the short list of what just happened back on the home page. That is my plea.

And yes, I know that you cannot reinstate this feature just for me. And it could be that my way of using VOX is different from the great majority which you must serve. But this post has been rattling around my head for over a week, and it's taking up much needed space.

I'll take my answer off the air. ;-)

Comments

[Anil]

I don't disagree with you, but it's probably worth mentioning the recent activity page in the reader. It's not that prominent, and it's only just been launched, but it's a good starting point.

[jenny]

Gee, one has to wonder if Anil read the whole post? Hmm...
The recent activity page is all well and good, but I, too, miss the recent comments on the home page. I actually posted about it (far less eloquently) immediately after the release of "Bee".

[Eindoodle]

I also miss the recent comments on the homepage...

[djchall]

The Recent Activity page is a poor substitute for the recent comments module that used to be on the home page. It's incredibly confusing, and when you make the mistake of commenting on something that's a really long thread it takes over the entire page. It's very inefficient in how it uses screen space, too, which results in a lot of scrolling. Users hate scrolling. Furthermore, because the home page has become much less useful, I tend to not see the Vox QotD and Hunt as often as I used to, which is sad. User interface design is fun because everyone's an expert!

[Bonnie]

I'm really quite new to Vox, but I have to agree with this post. The first thing I noticed was the general lack of comment communication on Vox. Very nice post. :D I love how proper and stuff everyone is on here.

[Laurel]

You go, girl!
Well put. You were able to clarify the issues very nicely, and get at exactly why the new format is troublesome. I just ranted (also far less eloquently) on the Team Vox page...

[Kelev T. Cat]

u go, grrl [sic]. Actually,Recent Activityisn't an entirely new feature, it's been available through in the header of the Profile page for a while. It's just new to the Reader. (Interestingly, the results are slightly different between the two Recent Activity pages.) It does have it's uses, but it's still lacking in some capabilities. My chief complaint about Recent Activity is that entries don't appear as soon as I post a comment, but rather only after someone has posted a follow-up comment. I sometimes leave random comments on posts for people who aren't in my neighborhood, and if no one else comments on that post I usually can't remember where I engaged in hit-and-run commenting.
The Home Page used to focus on personal community, and the pendulum has swung to highlight more of the global community. It needs to swing back to put a little more focus back into personal community. Also, since people tend to expand their circle of friends through mutual friends, perhaps there should also be a section for "Friends of Friends (who aren't in your neighborhood)". [Eek! Flashbacks to designing a community-based website where they also wanted to show FoFoF.]
Karen, from the other side of the community interaction perspective (i.e., how other people can view and interact with your blog), I'm curious as to whether you turned off the "Recent Comments" section on your blog or if perhaps the theme you're using has it off by default. When browsing other people's blogs, I find it fun to see what comments have been generated (and then might jump on to the comment bandwagon). It also helps on my own page to see what people have saying.

[karen]

Kelev, I don't know where the switch is to turn recents comments on or off. I would be happy to have it on (and embarrassed to think I'd turned it off), if I only knew where to find it...

[Laurel]

Funny this came up. I actually had turned my Recent Comments off before, but put them back on after the Bee release just to try to get a little bit more ofcommunity-ness back.
(Go to Design Customize Your Sidebars,and check Recent Comments.)

[karen]

Thanks Laurel, you were right. I fixed it. Now at least I'm not contributing to the problem. ;-)

[Julian]

You go girl.Your experience totally reflects mine re: the home page redesign.

[davidhornik]

I completely agree. I'd be thrilled to turn back time and go back to the older home page. If I could I would make the home page serve as a feed reader on one side that had EVERY new post by person in my neighborhood and the other side would be recent comments on my posts or any post on which I had commented.

[imkwazy]

Oh thank you, Laurel. i had mine turned off as well. And Serendipity, well said :)