This is a topic we discussed in the past but it is a good time to bring it up. The reason is two-fold.
To start, we haven't spoken too much about it of late. Secondly, we are seeing more activity in this area, hence it is a great time to incorporate it into the UI.
What am I referring to?
The idea is to have a schedule feature on the UI for threadcasts and other users generated activities. In fact, this is a concept that is now expanding since we also have the ability to stream into LEO with so many different applications.
In this article we will discuss why these are need and what they will do for the platform.
Treat These Like Events
Many organizations have a schedule of events. This is often a monthly calendar with things such as Bingo on Wednesday night. It helps to alert the members ahead of time what is going on.
We also see the same thing with broadcasting. When one has a cable subscription, there is a channel where one can see all) that is being broadcast. This provides the ability to scroll through and see what is coming up (in addition to being on air at the moment).
Why doesn't Leo have something like this? Actually, the why doesn't matter. It is a fact that we need this.
Threadcasts are becoming somewhat popular. We know a few of them get large turnouts. This is because they are tied to events that has a decent following.
The problem is this misses a great deal. Community members are not incentivized to start threadcasts since they get buried rather quickly. Here is where having a schedule module is vital.
Imagine being able to open up the "calendar" and being able to enter the football match that starts are 1 PM GMT tomorrow. This would be entered with the teams, say Man City vs Man U. It gets placed on the schedule for all to see.
The next day, some Lions are going to watch the match. A couple get the brilliant idea to check the schedule and, presto, there is a threadcast set up by someone. As it nears kickoff, people can assemble and discuss what is taking place.
Here we see the ability to leverage what we are already doing, yet for greater effectiveness.
Streaming
We now have the ability to place YouTube, Twitch, and some other streams directly into threads. By using the embed code, anyone with [premium membership can do it. This is because the code usually eclipses the 240 characters.
Once again, we have a similar concept.
If a streaming broadcast on, say, Twitch, is going live at 1 PM, someone can enter it into the schedule. Here again, people can see the description and decide if they want to watch it or not.
The idea is to mimic what broadcast television did for years. One of the keys to getting viewer is to let them know what is going to be on air.
With Leo, we can do the same thing. A schedule will allow anyone to share what is taking place. The key is that it will keep focus upon Leo since the stream and/or threadcast are located here.
(Naturally the schedule can only accept Leo URLs, ie the thread where the stream is posted).
Discussions
The final idea that I want to mention is what I am calling "discussions".
This is similar to a threadcast except without the broadcast. Instead, it is something that is centered around a topic. One of the keys is that, by using the tag, the features of a threadcast are started. Hence we have a reversing of the comments along with auto refresh.
So what is a discussion?
It is a thread that is open with the tag based around a topic such as cryptocurrency. This means that we have a place to discuss cryptocurrency throughout the day. People can enter and have real time dialogue. Up to the moment information can be dropped along with links and other helpful information.
This could be on any topic. It is something that is built into the UI so that ongoing discussions can be accumulated. Naturally, there might be a time limit to cycle them out, say 24 or 48 hours. However, once again, people can quickly scan the discussions taking place and jump into the ones that are of interest.
Finding Information
All the ideas in the world will not help this platform to grow if things are not easily found. Right now, it is a difficult for people to locate things. Tags are one way but we know this is subject to mislabeling, abuse, and just a lack of common sense.
We continually mention making things easy for people. Having to search for a threadcast makes no sense. If one is set up for the AMA on Tuesday, people should not have to ask if one is available. They can look at the schedule and see it located there.
In my mind, this will encourage much greater engagement. The discussions are an idea that we see happening throughout the day, just in a haphazard way. WIth that concept, people interested could drop their Threads in there. Since those who are visiting the discussion are interested in the topic, it is more likely to get replies.
Hence, we suddenly start generating a lot more activity on the platform.
And one final thought: get some ads in each of the discussions.