My use case failures: mp3 (file) sharing

So, recently I have been using go2.me primarily to share mp3's with my
facebook friend network (and twitter network on the way).

Knowing that this is not necessarily the use case you want to service, I am
clumping these recommendations together. 

My motivation for using go2.me lies in the following places.
1. I like the idea of distributing links to free mp3 files, go2.me
facilitates this.  go2.me is just one of many tools that i can use to do
this, however.  
2. Main reason: being able to see a view count, number of friends that saw
and clicked my link.
3. Hoping that I will get comments, which for the most part has been a
bust.  I get comments on stuff directly related to me, but random stuff I
save, friends usually don't say much about.
4. Having a list of previously saved items.

Currently, I:
1. Find an mp3 file that I like, then click the go2.me button to create a link.
2. Usually enter in a comment about it, maybe the title/artist or tags.
3. Click the twitter icon, go to the twitter page, delete the automatic
title, or at least the "(audio/mpeg object)" part that is in the title of
files when viewed in the browser.  Change to Title/Artist and maybe add
small comment.
4. Twitter automatically updates my facebook status.
5. I usually look at the go2.me page a few times in the next couple of
hours, watching the view count and hoping for comments which don't come. 
All traffic is from facebook friends (or perhaps a couple twitter friends)  

Problems with my experience:
1.  Confusion with removing the frame: The link in the header which shows
the original URL is doing the wrong thing in my oppinion.  I think it is
confusing as to how you close the frame (the "X" box is subtle), and
clicking the original URL seems like the most likely element which would do
that.  Clicking it now just refreshes the page, leaving me confused as to
why anyone would want to do that (unless they had navigated away, but is
that a more common use case?  Maybe add a reload button if you don't want
to lose this functionality).

2.  Download link in header: Some of my friends didn't immediately think/
know how to save the mp3 as it was just sitting in their browser (even
after figuring out how to remove the frame).  Adding a button which
downloads the target URL (if its a file and not a webpage) could help the
site become popular as a file-distribution mechanism.  I would love to be
able to send my friends a link and there would be a link in the header
"Download".  I think it would make it easier for my friends to go from
landing on the page to getting the file on their hard drive.  (Only really
applies if you are interested in pursuing the file-sharing use case)

3.  Chat isn't being used: I am not getting conversations in my Chat
windows.  I think this is for a couple of reasons.  First, people are more
comfortable and used to the action of 'commenting' on something (especially
without seeing previous comments) than chatting in browser.  Why would you
type anything into a chat that is an empty room?  Usually that would just
be talking to nobody, with the assumption that no one else will get it. 
"Chat" might not be the right title.  I would change it to "Comments" and
if you really want to emphasize the live-updating ability, i would put a
small line that says "Updated at <timestamp>" or something, to show that
the page is watching for new comments.  Further confusing this is styling
of the chat area.  I have filed previous bugs around this, and I think that
making this area look more like a chat window could improve commenting rate.  

4.  If you really want to latch on to the live-chatting idea, I think it
needs to be clearer when other people are in the room.  Right now, the only
indication are the user icons, which don't mean anything until you figure
it out yourself.  Putting a line of text above the images "x People
Currently on this Page" would make this much clearer.
Original issue reported on code.google.com by cwk...@gmail.com on 6 Apr 2009 at 11:21
Jeff-Lewis / g02me

My use case failures: mp3 (file) sharing #53
