News AI
September 6th, 2024

Every webpage deserves to be a place

Matt Webb's blog highlights innovative website features like multiplayer cursors, cursor chat, and Quiet Mode, promoting user interaction and community, while encouraging others to adopt these enhancements for better web experiences.

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Every webpage deserves to be a place

Matt Webb's blog post discusses the innovative features he has implemented on his website to enhance user interaction and create a sense of community. One of the key features is "cursor party," which allows users to see and interact with each other's cursors in real-time, creating a multiplayer experience. This feature includes a "cursor chat" function, enabling users to communicate while browsing. Webb emphasizes the importance of shared presence, likening it to the cozy atmosphere of a small gallery where visitors can feel a sense of togetherness. He acknowledges that while these features can sometimes be distracting, they also foster engagement and connection among users. The post also introduces a "Quiet Mode" to manage busy interactions and highlights the ephemeral nature of shared text highlighting, which allows users to see what others are reading without tracking. Webb encourages others to implement these features on their own sites, noting that they can be added with minimal technical effort. He believes that such interactive elements should be a standard part of web design, enhancing the overall experience of visiting a webpage.

- Matt Webb's blog features interactive elements like multiplayer cursors and cursor chat.

- The "Quiet Mode" helps manage user interactions during busy periods.

- Shared text highlighting allows users to see what others are reading in real-time.

- Webb encourages others to adopt these features to enhance web interactivity.

- The post emphasizes the importance of creating a sense of community online.

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AI: What people are saying
The comments reflect a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism regarding the innovative web features discussed in the article.
  • Many users appreciate the concept of multiplayer cursors and chat, expressing a desire for more interactive web experiences.
  • Technical issues are common, with several users reporting that the features do not work on certain browsers or devices.
  • Some commenters find the features distracting or intrusive, suggesting that they may not be suitable for all users.
  • There is a call for improvements, such as better execution and compatibility with existing tools like dark mode.
  • A few users express doubt about the long-term viability of such features, referencing past attempts that failed to gain traction.
Link Icon 24 comments
By @7373737373 - 6 months
There was (is?) a VR app/"social browser" called JanusVR once, that rendered every website as a room (either how it was explicitly defined through an extended HTML language on the website itself including custom 3d objects (https://janusvr.com/docs/build/introtojml/index.html, exportable from 3d software, or by some default 3d layout process for those sites that don't) and other users visiting it in it - and you could walk seamlessly from room to room like in the game Portal, and see/talk/interact with others! https://youtube.com/watch?v=O4rstRgUsBs

Never took off unfortunately (yet? maybe due to a lack of social/avatar/rendering features?)

By @jakelazaroff - 6 months
The cursors don’t move on iOS Safari for me, but I love that people are trying things like this! Maggie Appleton has explored some ideas about how to make the presence indicators feel less intrusive: https://maggieappleton.com/ambient-copresence
By @joemi - 6 months
I thought it was broken until I decided to try it in another browser. I guess it works in Chrome on Windows but not Firefox on Windows. Not sure if it works in Safari or not since I don't have my macbook handy right now.
By @slater - 6 months
Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server at wss://disco-party.genmon.partykit.dev/parties/page/[random-string]

Uncaught TypeError: CSS.highlights is undefined Or https://cursor-party.genmon.partykit.dev/cursors.js:19

By @dSebastien - 6 months
That's cool. I love ideas that make the Web come alive.

But I also feel like many more people need a fourth place, somewhere to think: https://www.dsebastien.net/you-need-a-fourth-place-a-place-t...

By @CM30 - 6 months
It's a cool concept, though distracting as all hell. Might work okay for something special like an /r/place successor, but I sure hope this doesn't become the norm for web pages in general.
By @mock-possum - 6 months
It’s a fun idea, though generally I want all my web activities to be solo, not multiplayer, so I’m clearly not the target audience for this feature.
By @nsonha - 6 months
This is not the same but reminds me that every piece of writing deserves annotations and discussion. I don't care much for the "live" part. I wish there was some social network built around that idea, kinda like reddit and twitter, but with in-place comments and side annotations.
By @boo-ga-ga - 6 months
Doesn't work on FF on mac sadly. But the idea of togetherness and shared place on each URL is very curious to think about.
By @apitman - 6 months
It took me a solid minute to be 100% sure the background color was, indeed, slowly changing.
By @mettamage - 6 months
This is really cool actually. It also makes me think that more places should have like a chatroom or something. Just brainstorming here, maybe it needs to be fleshed out more than that.
By @broses - 6 months
That's so cool! Is there a way to talk on mobile? Maybe we could add a talk button in the bottom right. I might add this to my website!
By @Fauntleroy - 6 months
I like the general idea, but the execution here is lacking. The inclusion of the "type to reply" feature quite terrible turn off, because it's abused by other users immediately. Further, these cursors are really distracting—ideally they'd be less intrusive and more ambient in nature, at least by default.
By @naming_the_user - 6 months
The keys used mean that it doesn't work properly for me on Firefox, hitting / opens a search box (in the browser) that I have to close and the Return key to send a message doesn't work at all.

I also don't see any other cursors though that may just be that no-one else is on the site.

edit: works fine in Safari.

By @tompetry - 6 months
Cool concept. Anybody know of a project with realtime spontaneous interactions like this that fits a defined use case?
By @scyzoryk_xyz - 6 months
This is wonderful. How would this work with more than, say 100+ users? Is there some cut off?
By @thomashop - 6 months
I added it to our page https://pollinations.ai :)

I've always liked the idea but found it a little gimmicky. I would love to find a good use case for it, like in Pollinations' case, it could be a collaborative art-making game.

By @rachofsunshine - 6 months
This feels ripe for a browser extension moreso than code on a page itself.
By @vanjajaja1 - 6 months
love the concept, i want to be able to chat to the people on all pages I visit. why do i have to socialize OVER THERE when I could do it right here?
By @dzink - 6 months
This page is unreadable on mobile - safari on iphone.
By @xyst - 6 months
bro is nudging me to get up from bed and use his site on my laptop or desktop.
By @larsrc - 6 months
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa<breath>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
By @poopsmithe - 6 months
Needs a dark mode, or at least Dark Reader browser extension compatibility. As it stands, the bright BG hurts my eyes.
By @dvt - 6 months
People don't want this. It was tried endless times during the web2 craze (when tech like AJAX and WebSockets picked up steam). At best it's a cute gimmick, at worst it's distracting and annoying.

There have been browser extensions, website plugins, and many, many startups that tried to make this a thing. It's not a thing. Social elements have moved from the comments section to Slack or Discord or WhatsApp or Twitter.