Backchannel is a real-time view of the conversation happening in the #etech IRC channel on Freenode. Read more about Backchannel.
Each participant in the backchannel is shown in a circle, with nicknames arranged alphabetically, counter-clockwise from right. Blue bars next to each nickname show how active each participant has been. Connections between nicknames show participants who’ve spoken around the same time. Events are marked in a narrow strip across the top, in blue. The most recent events are at right, stretching back in time about three hours to the left.
The pointer graphic indicates “now”. It can be dragged. You’ll see nicknames grow more or less opaque as you do this, which shows how close to the chosen time those participants have spoken.
Clicking on an event or participant nickname will load a short excerpt of chatter from the IRC backchannel in this space.
Backchannel was developed by Stamen Design for E-Tech 2006. Read more about this project.