Suggestion Seeing who is reading threads on the thread itself

[Bunny]

I am not sure what all would need to be done, but being able to see who is reading a thread at any given time, while on said thread. I know it was on another site I was on a long time ago.

Pretty sure it's not as easy as it seems to implement something like that, but I think it would be really nifty! Personally, it would be kinda neat to know who might be reading my RPs.

I do understand though if it also breaches some privacy issues too, which is why it hasn't or would be problematic to put into place, alongside with any technical issues.

 

[obieblu]

I would have hated it when I first started on public forums, but by now, I'd be very curious. When I see a thread of mine has like 20 posts and over a hundred views, it's pretty clear that someone else is looking at it.

I've also seen contradicting thoughts about users reading threads that aren't theirs. When I was nervous about my first public thread, a bunch of people said no one reads threads that aren't theirs. Then, there are threads asking if you think it's creepy when outside observers compliment your writing. Clearly people look enough to be noticed.

This function isn't important, but I would use it if it was available.

 

[Staine]

We were told just a little earlier somebody was reading one of ours, and I liked it to be honest. I don't mind people reading my threads and opinions are very welcomed!

I think if it's possible, maybe just a little button you can press to leave something similar to a like. Just a "I am reading this thread" button. I wouldn't even want it to give alerts but be more like a visitors book that people who have posted in the thread can check to see who is looking, if they sign it. If they don't want somebody to know they are reading, just don't press the button!

Not sure how much value it would add to the forum so likely low priority, but like Siren said it would be nifty because I'm sure a lot of us like the idea of it.

 

[obieblu]

Yeah, this is the only one of 4 RP forums I'm on that keeps the Like feature disabled. It really could be multi-purpose and be used as an indication of other users reading our stories. I barely post in my art thread here anymore because it's so desolate without Likes.

 

[Breezi]

I also think a feature like this could be useful if only to know just who exactly is drawn to your content or at least curious enough to give it a shot.

 

[Tanakalian]

As a person who reads a lot of posts. Introductions, (female) request threads, some roleplays and pretty much everything in the OOC section I really don't see what would be beneficial to knowing who exactly reads your threads. The only reason I can think of is a negative one, and that is to block that person from reading your content. But I don't know if that's possible.

 

[Tia Ruby]

I think I pretty much have the polar opposite view to Breezin. Lets says the title of your post drew someone in, and you see their name as someone who has read your thread but didn't message you. They've clearly read what you wrote and decided "Hmm, no thanks, that's probably not for me". What good does knowing who has done that actually do you? The only use for it I can think of would bw a negative one, where people you decided not to contact decide that they will contact you instead - which in my view would effectively a cold call at that point.

It almost seems like those 'pay to use' dating sites, where you can pay for premium services like knowing if/when your messages have been read, or seeing who has viewed your profile. It's irrelevant information unless that person actually decides to contact you, in which case it becomes redundant by default anyway.

So personally I can't see any positive ways to use this function. Maybe I'm just being pesimistic, but I can see it being used for stalking / possessive behaviour, i.e. checking up on what your partner is doing, to make sure they're giving you enough attention, and not looking for new partners or conversations while they 'owe' you a reply.

I would say that if you want to know if people are reading your posts, use the view count. There's no reason to need to know who is reading it. So that's my two cents, much like the part of the profile where it shows you what a person is currently doing / viewing, I would prefer it if this was not a part of information offered to other users. Staine's suggestion of an 'opt in' system such as like button would seem much more appropriate.

 

[obieblu]

I don't think would be a big value in knowing who read RTs. The only function I could see would be that they looked at my RT after I contacted them, so they are definitely not interested. But that's about the same as seeing they read my PM asking if they were interested and didn't reply. I don't see the primary value of the Viewed function being for RTs.

If I noticed someone reading all of my story threads, I might give them a ping and see if they're interested.

On the forums that activated Likes, I use them to get someone's attention. We might not be a great match, and my anxiety tells me not to contact them. But I've gotten a few RPs from someone seeing my Like, then going to my RT, and then they contact me.

It seems like half of everyone has anxiety these days, so some 'softer' ways of being noticed would be welcomed by some. Whether a Viewed list or Likes.

 

[Staine]

I definitely didn't read this as RT's, I'm honestly not interested in knowing who has read my request thread or why, I was coming at it from a purely roleplay thread perspective. If this was a feature, I'd go so far as to say it should be disabled for request threads but that's jumping the gun a little since it isn't a feature we have at all.

 

[Bunny]

I get all of the points offered and honestly I didn't think of it like Tia mentioned. I could see how that's an issue, my desire is more to see who enjoys my publicly posted role plays.

I didn't consider the negatives at all, though, I still would like a feature like this. However I don't think the list of who is looking should persist, but only be available while you're activity viewing the thread. I'm not sure how much more complicated it would be to do, or if even to separate sections of the site, should separating RTs be required or requested.

Knowing who is viewing it really isn't a big deal for me, but when I have posted an opener and it has had 30+ views, or have been writing for a while in one and the view count is enormous, just out of curiosities sake, knowing who enjoys my writing enough to read it is nice.

 

[Ironic]

When BMR used to be ran by a different kind of forum (I forget what it was called), you were able to see who was reading the current thread that you were also viewing at the very bottom of the page. I miss it. And you used to be able to see who was online viewing a list, and seeing what all they were viewing at that very moment.

 

[Degusaurusrex]

You may be thinking of Vekseid's other site which allows you to see who is viewing your thread, if you are also viewing it. I've never seen any site that keeps a list for you to view later, although it could be an interesting thing to have for public threads in the roleplaying sections, not the RT's or normal conversation. I, for one, would love to know, although I think in the end I would actually prefer to know who has put my thread on their "watchlist" to read as it updates, rather than just "Oh this person is viewing it currently." I have a lot of threads with very large view counts and it does make me question who keeps up with it. But I could see how people would see this as a breach of privacy and not want others to know what they follow. Then again, to me, getting a notification someone is "watching" your thread isn't much different than the notification for them "following you".

 

[Vekseid]

Well privacy settings exist to let you hide yourself. I'd certainly add a privacy setting for that if I wrote a "Who watches" addon.

Enabling it here is possible, but because of Xenforo's inferior database it makes it significantly more load intensive than on Elliquiy or even MyBB. I've been shying away from it, accordingly. Maybe once we're a bit further into the server move business >_>