Over my time in Google Wave, I have noticed that waves can be divided into several groups, depending on the intention of the people that have created and joined them. This is my attempt for a (somewhat limited) look at the different types of waves that I have observed so far.
Chat
These are the waves in which wave is used as a chat platform. They could be either public or closed, and tend to grow quickly when public, although they just stop after a while. They tend to function more like a forum thread than an IM chat, although they are really a combination of both.
Document Creation
These waves are normally done in order to create a document of some sort, be it a book, article, specification or something else. Normally the starting blip is the document itself, while the discussion takes place below it, or possibly using inline blips in the document itself. Sometimes the discussion is split off into a separate wave. This type of wave starts showing where Google Wave becomes a very powerful tool for collaboration, although the best way of working with them has yet to be developed, and will most likely vary from organisation to organisation.
Introduction Wave
I have seen a number of those since I got onto wave, normally started by people as they join wave, and they are still trying to figure things out… Its normally a case of ”I am on wave!… Now what?” that so many seem to experience when first joining. Normally it ends up an exchange of hints and tips for beginners, before it gets brought down by the combined weight of extensions and bots as people use them to test out what they can do with wave. They are an important first step for any waver.
Meta-waves
These are the waves about wave and waving in general… The introduction waves sometimes fit into this category, but more often they are discussions of various bots and apps, wave best practices, and the Way forward for Google Wave. A ton of those discussions are public, and considering the stage of development that Wave is in, it is hardly surprising that at times it seems that the only thing that people use Google Wave for is discussing Wave itself.
Gaming Waves
These are the waves devoted to games of various types, mostly role-playing games of some sort, although Sudoku seems to be surprisingly popular as well. In this way, wave users can play together, and chat about the game in real time as they want to.
Project Discussion
I think this is the area where waves shine, as people can use it to discuss various projects, possibly drafting relevant documents in the process. Most of these waves would be public, so it is impossible to say how many of them there are at this moment in time.
Mutual Interest Waves
There are a ton of waves that seem to act more like forums, where people gather to discuss common interest, this could be anything, I have seen gaming, anime and religion waves, and I am sure that there are many other examples. As far as I know, most of those waves are public, and if there are any private ones, nobody has invited me to one yet.
Live Event Waves
This is something that wave has learned from twitter. Basically, by creating a wave for an event (conference, sporting event… anything), people can comment on what is happening, while those that cannot attend the event directly can comment, and ask questions. I have seen the suggestion for doing this with videos (so that the video can be discussed), but I have yet to see any such waves in practice.
Personal Waves
These are waves that people make for themselves… Perhaps as a way to take notes, or maybe just to get their thoughts organised before opening the wave to the public. I would include waves made for the initial testing of bots here as well.
Dead Waves
These are the abandoned public waves… Sometimes they are just fogotten, and sometimes they have been consumed by bots, and now await the foolish waver that will mistake them for something active… There are way too many of them at the moment, with no way to get rid of them, yet.
Well there you go, my list of the types of waves I have encountered so far. Anything you would like to add? And more importantly is this division of wave types useful in the least?
