When the background ajax request finds that there are new unread posts, beside updating the counter in the page, it could also reflect this in the page's title. This way, the user can see that there are new posts even if he/she is not looking at the page, like with Twitter.
It would be best if this feature was turned on or off in the user's preferences (some people might want not to have this distraction), and/or globally in the ACP.
When the background ajax request finds that there are new unread posts, beside updating the counter in the page, it could also reflect this in the page's title. This way, the user can see that there are new posts even if he/she is not looking at the page, like with Twitter.
It would be best if this feature was turned on or off in the user's preferences (some people might want not to have this distraction), and/or globally in the ACP.