I posted a few days ago about chat hosting for online services. Do you really need someone hosting chat? Short answer: Yes! The personal touch goes a long, long way in helping people to feel like they are PART of something, instead of just WATCHING something. Here are a few quick tips:
- Don’t get into long discussions in chat that draw away from what is happening in the service. Reinforce the service, don’t have separate conversations;
- Posts should be short & sweet. If someone asks for prayer, simply saying “praying!” is good [and then actually pray, of course];
- It doesn’t happen often, but if you get a genuine “troll” [someone clearly seeking to intentionally disrupt the service – which can be a criminal offence, btw], delete their post and mute them. This may not stop them, as, in many cases, they can simply come in again under a different name. If so, have a contingency plan with someone to contact who can potentially shut chat down for that service.
More to come….
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