You're in a chatroom typing with others and everything is going great! Conversation is flying! Until it slows down, or suddenly stops. And then you see it:

We call this the dead chat effect. Someone types dead chat,Looks dead LOL, or posts a meme regarding chat being dead, or anything similar because conversation seems to be lacking.

You are texting somebody because you want interaction. If someone else posts #deadchat, how likely are to bring up another topic? What information does this message give you? If you are like the majority of people, this information does nothing. You already know it's quiet in the chatroom before this is posted, this doesn't make you likely to introduce a new topic, and this comment doesn't give you a new topic to comment on. Ironic isn't it?

No, but also yes. Typing #revivechat? That gives the same issues as typing#deadchat. But what if we could take the idea behind it and actually solve it?

We are people who have lives. (Yeah I know...some people have lives!? Hard to think about!) Understand that a healthy community will have periods of inactivity! But instead of wasting time contributing to the dead chat effect, skip straight to the solution of the original problem: introduce a topic! Give people a reason to talk. Everyone who types #deadchathas the ability to solve the issue they're complaining about. This shows respect for people's time, reduces spam, and contributes to healthy conversations! I ask you then:

Help make our communities better.