Chat Rooms

Overview

Chat rooms were created through an online chat software, which allowed people on the Internet to enter a room where they could interact with each other. There are thousands of different chat rooms online and depending on the topic of interest, one could locate their accommodating chat room by simply typing in “chat rooms” on any search engine, which will bring up many choices to choose from.  The list of choices is unending and reaches every part of the globe. Along with these publicly accessible chat rooms are also some private chat rooms which require the knowledge of a certain address or password in order for one to enter. Businesses as well as people who like to interact privately mostly use these, including only the people they want.  “Chat” software was developed in order to create a more interactive type of discussion among people.  When conversing via chat rooms, one is more likely to appreciate the interaction rather than simply writing or reading messages.  The users are able to see what everyone in the entire room has to say, and are able to respond to everyone in the room.  In addition to sending text messages, certain modifications have occurred which allow users to exchange photographic images.

II.  Characteristics of Chat Rooms

Chat rooms have a unique characteristic, which is that they allow the users a certain amount of secrecy.  People might often behave or identify themselves in such ways that they would normally not have in real life.  As opposed to face to face, when on is online chatting, others are not aware of the true identity or status of this person.  Furthermore, this is the reason why fiction-based chat rooms have become so popular.  People enjoy going online and experiencing a fantasy life where they are expected to hold a certain role.  There are many different rooms or games of this sort, and they are very widespread throughout online communities around the world.

Studies have found that the people who chat in these game chat rooms take their role-playing very seriously, and get very upset if anyone comes into the room and disturbs their proceedings in any way.  However, even though some people enjoy having a fictitious identity and interacting with a community that engages in role-playing, there are many people who use chat rooms with their real identities, revealing their ideas and feelings and discussing issues or topics for the sake of learning and simply conversing. Internet chat rooms allow you to gain people’s perspectives across the entire world.  Chat rooms are inexpensive, which allows friends and families to conduct long-distance/international conversations without spending much money. 

Reasons People Use Chat Rooms 

Disturbances of Chat Rooms                             

From time to time, intruders will enter chat rooms simply to disrupt the chat.  These people are often people who either disagree with the chat in place, dislike the roles or the chat plot, or simply people who get a kick out of being funny, rude or obnoxious while knowing there will not be any serious consequences for their behavior.  For the most part, this mainly occurs in chat rooms that are not monitored by an operator, so therefore the intruders cannot get kicked out of the room nor can they be stopped from sending private messages.  However, because there was enough of this going on, most chat rooms now have an operator who has the authority and the ability to kick an intruder out and not allow him or her back into the room.

Most Chat rooms have created formal policies in order to maintain an enjoyable atmosphere within their chat room.  These include listing the topic of the room on the front page so it is very obvious and clear to who ever is visiting.    Any newcomer can type in the word “rules” in the dialogue box and receive all the rules and regulations that apply to that certain room.  There is also a room operator who can read everyone’s messages and is there for the purpose of maintaining an enjoyable atmosphere. If it means kicking someone out for being out of line, than that’s what they do.  However, operators usually give a fair warning before expulsion. 

Precautions for Online Chat

Many times while one is interacting via online chat rooms, they will receive private messages, which will sometimes include pictures or some sort of attachments.  However, as you can see above, many people choose not to be truthful whether the purpose is good or bad.  Taking this into account, one must realize that there are people out there with bad intentions.  Consequently, when you are in a chat room, and someone tries to send you a private file, a warning box will appear on your window, asking if you accept or discard the private file transaction.  This occurs simply to make sure that you recognize the file and trust that it is simply a message.  The reason behind this is that many Internet viruses are transmitted in this sly manner, so if you are doubtful of the person sending a private file, you should discard it.  If one discards a file, which contains a virus, it will not be able to hurt their computer in any way.     Other types of private files might also be interrupting but not quite as dangerous. Such files are ones that include obscene photographs or language that could frighten, or offend some one fairly deeply.  Again the only way to totally avoid such communication is by simply being alert and making sure that you know who is sending you a message and if that person is credible enough for you to accept their messages.

Chat Options   

Just like anything else, where one decides to chat is a matter of personal preference, and along with the choice of selecting a room, one also has the choice to either be truthful or lie about one’s sex, looks, status, etc. 

Types of Chat Rooms

·        Business oriented chat rooms dedicated to discuss group tasks or anything regarding the job

·        Political based chats where the discussions range throughout the political spectrum

·        Educational chats dealing with an unending amount of topics

·        Friend based chats

·        Game Chats that are dedicated to “role-playing”

·        Any other type of chat rooms that fit anyone’s interests

Joining a Chat Room

·        Type “Chat Rooms” in various search engines, which will bring various topical categories, filled with different chat rooms.

·        If one has a specific room they would like to join, they must simply type in the name of that particular chat room or search for it using key words.

·        Similar to searching the web for raw information, one could use the same methods to locate a specific chat.

·        Visit various chat room sites until you come across one that interests you

·        Search for certain chat rooms by using the topic of interest as your “key word”

·        Fill out the necessary information that the chat room of choice requires

·        When you have chosen a member name, you are able to get inside the room and begin typing messages and get responses

·        Most rooms have step by step procedures on how to send private messages or join a group discussion

·        Chat rooms will also list all the rules and regulations that one must follow in order to stay a part of the chat

References

Chat

www.chatmag.com/help/chat.html

A Comprehensive List of Agoraphobia Chat Rooms and IRC Introduction www.chatmag.com/topics/health/agoraphobia.html

Interactive

http://www.calarts.edu/~hsackrsn/inter.html

Educational Chat Rooms

www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/edu/chat.htm