Backchannels are still a very new form of communication.  To date, they have been reserved for classrooms and technology based conferences.  It remains to be seen if backchannels can truly revolutionize the traditional approaches taken by professors and presenters. 

Jacobs and McFarlane suggest there is a risk that backchannels will do more to divide attention and dilute the message than improve the overall experience.  I would add there is a risk that a poorly managed backchannel could do more harm than good if abused or mismanaged.  For these reasons, non experts may be less likely to jump on board and incorporate backchannels into their presentations.  If that is the case, only certain professors (those adept with technology) and certain conferences (technology focussed) will incorporate backchannels into their presentations and as a result, backchannels will remain a niche communication concept.

To evolve from a niche market and into mainstream, the backchannel process needs to become easier to implement by the layperson.  If you consider Backchannel technology to be in its infancy (an introductory stage of the product life cycle), only specific marketing tactics will help this new communication tool evolve into growth and maturity stages.

Fortunately, there are some signs that customers, companies and the online community are investing in the necessary marketing tactics such as education, packaging and awareness.  If these trends continue, Backchannels will quickly become mainstream for classrooms and conferences.

First, the increasing popularity of Smartphone technology means that soon enough everyone (customers & companies) will be equipped with handheld devices.

Second, the rapid acceptance of Twitter shows that there is an interest for short burst communication focussed on particular subjects.  It’s still unknown if Twitter will become to vehicle of choice for Backchannel communication, however, it is useful to know there is interest in short, precise messaging akin to broadcasting.

Finally, there are increasing online resources that attempt to simplify the backchannel process for both the facilitators and the users.  Here are some of the most useful ones I found.

Jeff Hurt does well to provide a comprehensive list of criteria to consider when choosing a backchannel for your conference.

Richard Byrne provides his insight on non-twitter backchannel solutions useful for classrooms and smaller venue style presentations.

YouTube has several videos showing the process of setting up a conference backchannel using Twitter. 

Overall, probably the best resource that I found online that goes above and beyond to explain the process is by Prof. Hacker.  In this useful resource, Prof. Hacker explains the process from the most basic components (i.e. Twitter 101) to the more advanced activities (Awareness, Analysis & Reporting).  Probably the coolest thing I learned from Prof. Hacker’s Blog was the function of visibletweets.com (a tweet promotion application) Prof. Hacker recommends playing this outside a conference to give outsiders a taste of what’s going on inside.

In summary, there are numerous tools being developed and soon enough the process will be accessible to everyone.  That is the key to Backchannels becoming a mainstream communication medium.  Once non-early adopters of technology begin introducing the communication method into their presentations it will have officially arrived.

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Citation: Jacobs N, Mcfarlane A. (2005), Conferences as learning communities: some early lessons in using `back-channel’ technologies at an academic conference – distributed intelligence or divided attention?,New York: Hyperion, 2006.