SF Beta Demo - Recap & FAQ
Kevin and I sweated profusely for over 2 hours under the punishing glare of the spotlight last night at 111 Minna Gallery, where we demoed Dyalogues to dozens of new technology enthusiasts. It was worth it! The reception was overwhelmingly positive, and we got plenty of great feedback from people who stopped by our table. And there was cold beer with which to rehydrate and bring the body temperature down below 100 degrees.
Since we had a lot of questions that might well be asked by others taking a look at Dyalogues for the first time, I thought I’d answer some frequently-asked questions. If any others come up, feel free to pop them in the comments for this blog entry, or, of course, you can send us an email.
- Who’s your target market? Who’s going to use this?
We believe that, at the beginning, bloggers and entrepreneurs will take to Dyalogues.
Bloggers are the ideal userbase, because they are comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas online, and they’re always looking to attract new readers to their blog. Each dyalogue you participate in includes an excerpt of your bio, plus followable links to your blog and elsewhere people can find you. The more popular your dyalogues, the more traffic to your blog.
Entrepreneurs are always looking for mindshare, and are often eager to share their thoughts on what’s going on in their industry with like-minded people. For instance, the owner of a green tech startup can debate with another green tech startup owner he/she knows on how best the government can spur innovation and growth in ecological technologies. The resulting dyalogue is excellent publicity for both businesses, and a highly-readable reference for interested readers.
- How is this different from having an IM/chat session with someone?
Two differences: 1) Dyalogues are not real-time, and 2) they’re public. When one person writes their response, their counterpart receives an email notifying them that it’s their turn to respond. So, the dyalogue proceeds at a pace that’s comfortable for both participants (and gives you time to write a thoughtful response). And dyalogues are public, and shareable with your friends and others. Your dyalogues will live on our site for as long as we’re around! (A bit more about the differences here)
- Why can’t I just do the same thing through email?
You should use email if you want your conversation to remain private. Dyalogues are public and are meant to be shared. They have an easy-to-read, naturally conversational format. And if you have an intriguing “dual review” or debate, you’ll probably want to share it with others, because people like intriguing conversations.
- Can’t I do the same thing on my blog?
No, not exactly. Blogs are great platforms for monologues, with an “after-speech mixer” via the comments. The blogger has the “home-field advantage”, and comments are not the best way to have an in-depth conversation between the blogger and a respondent–they’re just not set up that way (you can’t restrict a comment thread to two people). More on the differences here.
- How are participants paired up with each other?
A key aspect of Dyalogues is that when you start a dyalogue, you have complete control over whom you dyalogue with. You’ll never get paired with someone you don’t have any interest in dyaloguing with.
There are three ways you can choose your counterpart:
1) You can invite someone you already know. Just enter in their email address, and they’ll be emailed an invitation to join you in dyalogue.
2) You can invite someone who’s already a user on the site.
3) You can choose to meet someone new, and designate your dyalogue as an Open Dyalogue. A link to your topic, with description and opening statement, is listed on our Open Dyalogues page. People interested in dyaloguing with you can enter their response to your opening statement. You’ll be emailed each time someone expresses interest. When you’re ready, return to your dyalogue page and select your counterpart from among those who’ve responded.
- Can more than two people participate in a dyalogue?
No. Dyalogues are strictly limited to two people. Why? There are plenty of options to have discussions with multiple people online already (like in blog comments or discussion forums, but these have some drawbacks that Dyalogues don’t). With exactly two people, you have:
- mutual agreement to talk to each other (no trolls, spammers or noobs jumping in and derailing the discussion)
- richness and intensity of discussion (each participant must directly respond to the other)
- no distractions or noise, which tend to arise when you have dozens of people jumping in and out of the discussion
- no “mob mentality”- Dyalogues is neutral ground where each participant is shown no “home field advantage”
We will likely put in various commenting features to allow people to weigh in on the dyalogue, but these will be peripheral to the dyalogue itself, which will always remain the focus.
- Are you guys in beta? When are you going to launch?
We are about to begin our private beta, after having hammered out all the bugs with our dozen-odd alpha participants. Our private beta means we’re limiting participation to people we’ve invited, as well as those expressing interest by signing up on our index/splash page. We’re looking to open Dyalogues up to the public near the end of the year.
- What does it cost?
Nothing. We eventually plan to support the site via advertising.
