Paltalk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Paltalk
Developer: AVM Software
Latest release: 9.0 Build 171 / October 26, 2006
OS: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP
Use:
License: Proprietary
Website: www.paltalk.com

Paltalk is a Web-based text, chat service for voice and video chatting. The Paltalk Messenger program is available in a free, banner-supported format as well as an ad-free version that requires users to subscribe.

The service provides access to several thousand video-enabled chat rooms in which users can interact one-on-one or with large groups of people simultaneously. Additionally, Paltalk doubles as a conventional instant messaging service, allowing users to interact via Yahoo!, ICQ, and AIM/AOL messengers with a single buddy list.

Paltalk users can find and meet each other via Paltalk People, a social networking site. The site allows users to create and post their own personalized profile displaying photos and listing hobbies, interests etc. Users can then browse or search the database for keywords and view any profile that matches their query.

Categorized chat rooms are also offered, with the most popular being finance, religion, distance learning, politics, culture and music chat rooms where people play and/or sing songs. The chat rooms have a queue system which allows users to "raise their hand" and wait in line for their turn. Users have the ability to create and moderate their own chat rooms, however Paltalk employs more than 250 trained administrators to ensure that discussions are appropriate and do not violate Paltalk terms of service.

Paltalk is used on the Opie and Anthony Radio show. The pair have a camera set up in the studio and often talk about it on the show. The company has also received publicity for hosting live chats with numerous celebrities and influential personalities including Reverend Jesse Jackson, Dan Burstein, and family therapist Kim West a.k.a. “the Sleep Lady”.

Paltalk is a privately held New York based company founded in 1998. Paltalk claims 4 million users worldwide, making it the largest voice and video chat community on the World Wide Web. Paltalk also owns and operates HearMe, a video and voice-enabled web conferencing service that allows users to conduct group meetings.

Paltalk has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The Dallas Morning News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Post and CNET among others.

Contents

[edit] Controversy

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since December 2006.
The neutrality of this article or section may be compromised by weasel words.
You can help Wikipedia by improving weasel-worded statements.

The PalTalk Administration consists of tiers each having his/her own level of powers within the program.

All PalTalk volunteers/employees have red nicknames. They are listed below according to rank, from lowest to highest.

XXXXX(palhost)- not an official employee, but a volunteer generally chosen to address users on the microphone and distribute them among higher ranks for official support.

XXXXX(palhelp)- again, another volunteer user.

XXXXX(palsupport)- a volunteer as well, though with slightly more prestige than the afore mentioned due to the fact that the word 'support' alone indicates some type of authentic affiliation with PalTalk corp. and secondly because they do possess the ability to lie in stealth mode within both public and private rooms. Qualified to assist users or rather, to summarize the problem and then refer that user to a higher up for assistance. Rather like a PalTalk concierge.

XXXXX(paltech)- considered a step up from being merely a palsupport agent among their ilk. These volunteers have been promoted due to their technical prowess and knowledge/experience of and with the PalTalk program itself.

XXXXX(co-admin)- these are the representatives of full PalTalk admins. Those with the (paltalk) or (PalTalkAdminX) attached to their user ID. They spend most of their time invisible on the program, monitoring rooms and users for misconduct, as well as the Help Lobbies. They have the abilities to enter any room invisibly, as well as monitor a PM conversation between users as well as that of palhosts, palhelps, palsupports, and paltechs. They may also monitor a particular user's comings and goings. They may ban a user without giving a warning and/or prior notice. They may stop accounts (disable the nickname) regardless of it being a black nickname (free) or a paid account (green or blue) as they see fit. They may close down a room as they see fit, going by the TOS. When first hired, they are presented with a PalTalk Administration Handbook in the form of a PDF which is outlines the list of commands which may be executed. They are officially employed by PalTalk corp. At the rate of $500USD monthly. There are only a small number of them.

(paltalk)- full administrators each of whom possess the ability to restrict (ban), disconnect socket (cause a user to go offline in effect without the benefit of a warning or message) stop (remove) an account, ECT. These are the top level administrators. They answer to no other admin. They answer only to PalTalk corp. investment partners when deemed necessary. They are for the most part stealth admins, working quietly in the background among each other to keep things running smoothly on the program. They hardly interfere with user disputes, leaving this to their representatives; the co-admins.

Paltalk was once criticized for allegedly installing the My Search tool bar from My Way without the users knowledge[1], however they no longer engage in this practice.

Paltalk is also criticised by its user base for not adopting a "hands off" approach to administrating its rooms. Unlike other chat services like Yahoo Chat, the administrators at Paltalk are very involved with mediating what is allowed to be discussed. For example, a comment advocating military escalation in political discussions can lead to the user being banned. This is outlined in their Terms of Service as follows:

"Without limiting the foregoing, examples of unacceptable conduct include: (a) threatening, harassing, or intimidating another user, (b) transmitting any unlawful, threatening, abusive, profane, offensive, defamatory, or hateful text or voice communication or Images or other material, or any racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable material, or any material that violates or infringes the intellectual property or privacy or publicity or other rights of any other party; (c) using any obscene or offensive alias; impersonating another user, including, without limitation, a Paltalk employee, administrator or representative; (d) disparaging the Paltalk service, Paltalk or its representatives, administrators or employees or solicitation; (e) posting or transmitting any advertising, promotional materials or other forms of solicitation to other users; (f) permitting language, text or images that are inappropriate to the room you host or abusing your right to take action against participants in your room or (g) disrupting the normal operation of any chat room or otherwise acting in a manner that negatively impacts other users or is inconsistent with the rating of a room or attempting, soliciting or abetting another to do of any of the above."

While item (b) is fairly common in most TOSs, what is unusual is the strict enforcement of the policy with regards to not only objectionable material but also material that can is determined to be offensive, in the judgment of Paltalk. The uniqueness of item (d) is indeterminable, but no analogue in any other popular chat service visibly exists. These factors have combined to lead to allegations of censorship.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


This network-related software article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/a/l/Paltalk.html"