Blog Chat Add-ons: 3Bubbles, Gabbly and Mobber
Posted on March 25, 2006
Three more ridiculous Web 2.0 names: 3Bubbles, Gabbly and Mobber. Three new chat add-ons for bloggers.
The first tool to debut was 3Bubbles. This tool offers a free ajax based chat service for blogs. ProBlogger has discussions about 3Bubbles here and here. The product is still in limited beta testing.
Gabbly is another blog chat add-on. Gabbly also has a blog where you can follow product developments. Mashable blogs that Gabbly isn't as bad as 3Bubbles.
The other reason this doesn't quite suck on the same level as 3Bubbles is that they're not trying to put these boxes on blog posts (which, as I mentioned, rarely have the traffic to sustain these things). The interface is nice and the functionality is good - you can also subscribe to chats via RSS. Nonetheless, this is just a bit of tech-wizardry on top of an old idea - will it be enough to distinguish them from the crowd?Mashable's post also mentions several other chat tools in the comments.
Om Malik explains Mobber, which in addition to offering chat also shows you who is currently chatting on each blog using icons on a slider bar.
Essentially you create a profile, upload a little photo, and if you show up at a site that has Mobber-code (tiny bit of Javascript really) embedded, then you can be visually identified in a little slider bar. You can click to browse people or chat with them. Sort of trying to add visual depth to the community of readers on the site.Mobber's also has a blog.
Many bloggers are not interested in hosting live chat on their blogs. However, eventually one of these companies or a competing company will come up with the kind of chat tool that some bloggers find valuable and incorporate into their blogs.
Update: 3Bubbles, Gabbly and Mobber are no longer with us.
