backchannel

1. noun A clandestine avenue for conveying information or engaging in conversation, often in politics. Is it true that that group of senators worked with the hostile nation through an unofficial backchannel? Of course you haven't found any evidence of the wire transfer—these guys are smart enough to use a backchannel so that the hush money can't be traced. We have to keep these messages confined to a backchannel so that the media doesn't find out. This kind of information could destroy us all!

2. noun An environment for online discussion that occurs simultaneous to some external event, such as a conference, TV show, lecture, etc. Is Twitter the most popular backchannel for real-time complaints about TV shows? I worry that my students are using the new chat feature as a backchannel—and distracting themselves from the material I'm presenting. Have they set up a backchannel for the conference? I would like to be able to discuss the material with other participants.

3. adjective Of or relating to clandestine avenues for conveying information. Analysts believe a deal is being forged through backchannel negotiations between political party members. If they really didn't want the informant to come forward, a backchannel payment would have taken care of that. I had no idea that our elected officials were engaging in backchannel deals like this!

4. adjective Describing or relating to verbal and non-verbal cues given by a listener to the speaker to emphasize that they are listening. So simply nodding and saying "Uh huh" are considered backchannel responses? I was dozing off the whole time, so I just nodded along with other people's backchannel cues during the lecture. Sure, he kept making backchannel sounds like "hmm" and "uh huh," but I'm not convinced he was really listening to me.

set up a backchannel

1. To establish a clandestine avenue for conveying information or engaging in conversation, often in politics. Is it true that that group of senators set up a backchannel in order to negotiate with the hostile nation?

2. To establish an avenue for online discussion that occurs simultaneous to the live broadcasting of something, such as a conference or a TV show. Have they set up a backchannel for the conference? I would like to be able to discuss the material with other participants.

use a backchannel

1. To use a clandestine avenue for conveying information or engaging in conversation, often in politics. Is it true that the group of senators used a backchannel in order to negotiate with the hostile nation?

2. To use an online avenue to discuss something, such as a conference, TV show, or class, as it happens. I would like to be able to use a backchannel during the conference, so that I can discuss the material with other participants.