Talking together
Chat and rooms
Find Global, the current node’s room and your other conversations, then send and follow chat lines.
Chat is where you talk while exploring Glob Social. Global stays available as a common conversation. Current room follows the node you are in. You can also open topic rooms, direct messages and private group chats.
Sign in and use Open chat on the canvas. On a phone, Chat is reached from the bottom controls. The conversation opens over your canvas; Close chat window returns you to exploring. Where the side panel offers Chat, it shows the same conversations.
Choose a conversation
| Room | What you use it for |
|---|---|
| Global | A conversation shared across the site. |
| Current room | The room of the shared node you are exploring. At your own home, it can show Home chat instead. |
| A topic | A conversation you open from the topic list. |
| A direct message | A conversation with one other person. |
| A group chat | A named conversation with its own members. |
Use Add a chat room beside the room tabs to search topics or type a username. Topic names and subtopics filter as you type. Choose one to open it. If the topic list cannot be retrieved, the panel says The topic list is unavailable just now.
When the tabs no longer fit, they become a room selector. An activity dot identifies a room with unread lines. Use a room's close control to remove its tab. Closing a group-chat tab is separate from Leave group.
Send a line
Choose the intended room before typing. Enter a message and use Send or Enter. A line can contain up to 500 characters. The node-room composer warns Messages can be at most 500 characters. and disables Send if your text is too long.
In a shared node, its owner decides whether chat is On, anyone can chat, Group only, or Off. Group-only chat requires the appropriate membership. An off room says This room's chat is off.
A line of words appears in the conversation as soon as you send it, dimmed and marked Sending…, and becomes an ordinary line when the room has it. A line with a picture appears once it is posted. Your text clears after an accepted send. If a line is refused, its Sending… copy disappears and the refusal remains as a message beneath the composer. For Slow down a little and try again., pause before retrying. If the room's rules do not allow the action, joining another room does not change that room's permissions. See Communities.
Paste a node's link into a line to point people to it. Where a preview is available, it shows the node's title and the start of its text. Select it to open the node. If no preview can be read, it remains a link. Outside website links can show a Leaving Glob warning before opening.
Temporary slow mode
Open Room options in a node's Current room to read Temporary slow mode. It says whether slow mode is off or shows the spacing between lines and, where available, when it expires.
If you host the room, enter Seconds between lines and Duration in minutes, then choose Apply slow mode. The server accepted this setting. confirms the change. Use 0 seconds to lift it. A refused setting leaves the last confirmed state in place.
Slow mode applies to the room's conversation. It is separate from an individual posting pause.
Read without losing your place
The conversation follows new lines while you are at the bottom. Scroll up and it holds your reading position. New arrivals produce a new messages · Jump to latest control; use it when you want to return to the end.
Messages show the speaker, their picture, badges and the time. A name's menu opens actions for that person; a line's menu opens actions for the message. On touch screens, line tools sit beneath the text instead of relying on hover.
Typing indicators identify people currently writing. An online count can appear beneath room tabs. See Live rooms and presence for what those indicators mean.
Save a line to Listr
Right-click a line and choose Save to Listr. With the line focused, Shift + F10 or the Menu key opens the same menu. This saves its words as a note in your own Listr, with a title based on who said it and the start of the line. Find it under Notes in Listr.
Saved to Listr confirms success. That could not be saved to Listr. Try again shortly. means it was not accepted; check the connection and retry.
This is separate from Keep this line, which can create an author-owned node in the shared room and ask for the author's agreement. A Listr save does not make that room placement. Keeping a chat line explains the consent flow.
Lines fade
Ordinary lines leave the readable conversation after 24 hours, along with their reactions. The history shown in a room is limited to its newest 1,000 readable lines. Chat is not an unlimited archive.
In a node's Current room, Keep this line can turn a line into a node, with its author's agreement where required. Copy text is a separate line-menu action.
A connection interruption can temporarily stop new lines. Glob Social attempts to reconnect and reload the room's available history. Chat history is unavailable for this room. means it could not retrieve that history; it does not mean the room is empty.
Read Messages and group chats, Pictures and reactions, and the community rules for the other controls and expectations.