Threadcasts are getting an upgrade.
Anyone who followed what @khaleelkazi posted the last couple days knows there are a few upgrades to the UI coming. This is going to enhance the threadcast concept. This is an idea we can carry much further.
Before getting to Discussions, let us explore what is going on with the Threadcasts.
The new update is live on Labs. What is happening is the one who sets up the threadcast is listed at the top of the home page. With multiple ones taking place, we see a number of people show up.
This is not only a notification feature, it is also a link to the threadcast. To access it, simply click on the profile icon.
Another feature is the individuals who are in the threadcast have a notation denoting they are in one. This appears throughout the site.
The goal is to make the threadcasts available for others to join. At present, they are often lost or only known if people keep promoting them. With the upgrade, we are then able to quickly scan what is available and join the one we want.
Pushing threadcast to the forefront of LEO is a smart idea.
There is another one that can enhance engagement even more.
Discussions
What are discussions?
This is a concept similar to a threadcast but without the broadcast aspect. Instead, we are dealing with something that promotes engagement around a single topic.
How does this work?
To start, we mirror the characteristics of the threadcast. When using the tag in a thread, we set off a series of features that are unique to it. The two big ones are reversing the order of the comments, with newest appearing first. This is helpful to follow during the broadcast.
A second feature is auto-refresh which updates the comments on the fly. This makes the threadcast model other applications meant to stimulate similar engagement.
Leo can do the same thing with Discussions. We set up the platform to use the same Discussion tag to kick off the same features as are in the threadcast. This allows for real time engagement among the community members.
Here is the key difference:
Instead of a broadcast, a Discussion is centered around a particular topic. This could be anything that people are interested in. We could have daily discussions about the stock market, cryptocurrency, some hobby, music, or a television series.
The idea is to get hundreds of comments going, all based around a certain topic. These can also be tagged for future reference.
A New Level of Engagement
Threadcasts have been a big success for Leo. We can see what it offers to the broadcasters as well as community.
The challenge with Threads is that they quickly get buried. This will only get worse as the site gets more activity. We all know that after a dozen or so threads on the latest feed, things are buried.
Discussions will allow the threads to be captured in one location. Then others can join the conversation throughout the day, comment on what appeals to them, adding to the engagement. It is easier to scroll through a Discussion as compared to trying to find things throughout the thread feeds.
We can start the process of starting to utilize this and them look to integrate these into the UI. Again, we can ultimately a Discussion tab to the menu so people can look at what is set up.
For example, how many would drop into a Discussion about Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency. This is something that could be active. Another might be the stock market as it is open. Many like to talk about market activity during trading hours.
These are not focused upon particular broadcasts as much as topics that are ongoing throughout the day.
We also can use this a mechanism as a way of posting and spreading news. It is likely that a Discussion about cryptocurrency will have different pricing, announcements, and updates about what is taking place. We can see how the same thing will happen with a Discussion about the stock market. Heck, we could even set up Discussions about news, with people commenting on the different news events of the day.
In my mind, this could bring the level of engagement to a new level. A thread with a piece of news might end up getting lost. If it is in the News Discussion, others can see it a couple hours later and engage with it.
We started threadcasts as a way of grouping the comments together. It is time we start to evolve the process. As threadcasts are getting upgrades on the UI, we need to take this a step further.
The goal is to make Leo an epicenter while also enhancing the value of individual threads. That is the concept behind Music on Leo. On their own, most threads are fairly worthless. However, once captured, even if on a temporary basis, they increase in value. If someone can comment on them a few hours later, it is no longer lost after 10-15 minutes.
It seems like this will be little more than duplicating what is available for Threadcasts with the tag discussions. This will provide the features making engagement easier. Then we can start the process of having them searchable on the UI.
To me, this is the next step in the evolution.