Using Microblogging to increase site interactivity?

[escom98]

I was considering setting up a microblogging service that businesses can easily install on their site and that allows direct communication with the business owner and the client. (The installation makes a small button appear in the corner of the browser window when someone open's that business' website. Clicking on this button opens a small window with a microblog. clients can ask questions, leave feedback, etc. and business owners can respond either privately to that client, or publicly so that all clients who click on the button will see the answer).

The messages the business owner sends and receives can be viewed on their microblogging backoffice, providing a useful archive of customer communications. The idea is to increase interactivity on the sites that install the button and drive up sales. The service would be free.

Do you think that this type of service could be effective/successful? Do you have any ideas about how to make it better? Are you interested in helping? Any opinions/thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[sillyboy]

I think this type of service is good, but I am not sure it is going to be anything new. I am also unsure it is actually "microblogging", but more of a chat system.

Regardless, good luck with your plans.

[escom98]

@ Sillyboy Thanks for your opinion! You're right, it's not really a new technology. In this day in age I'm not so sure that many genuinely "new" things ever get invented. You're right, in the end it feels almost more like a chat system than a microblog. But the technical workings behind the service is a standard twitter-clone, so in that sense it is a microblog.

Personalizing this twitter clone to sort of de-socialize the microblog, the service turns into a note-taking corner. Users make notes for themselves (which have an RSS feed, so they can import it into their personal feed reader if they want).

It's not your traditional chat system because the conversations are not necessarily live. Also, each comment is taggable and rankable, a function that chat systems don't have. In addition, each user and site owner has a permanent trace of their conversation (sort of like Skype).

Do you think that new services need to be really "new" to be effective? Or can alterations on already-created technology be successful as well? Thanks again for your input!

[rundie]

You definitely don't need to be "new" to be effective, the question is whether or not such a platform would be effective.

I think it would depend on a lot of factors. What would make this better than simply a phone conversation? For smaller businesses who may not have the savvy required to install this program, the technicality of it might also be an obstacle. And larger businesses are likely to have their own IT infrastructure for building such interactive tools on their own.

But, there might very well be a market for it. I think particularly for products where users might have a lot of specific questions it could be effective (like software, for example). For others I think email will probably suffice.

[sillyboy]

I agree, in that your technology doesn't need to be new. It seems you have put a lot of thought into the idea, and should be effective as long as you can get people to use it.

I think there are good things going for it:
"What would make this better than simply a phone conversation?" A common problem can be answered to many clients at the same time.