Chat communities allow real time conferencing by people who have something in common. This method of communicating became popular in the 1980s on online services like Compuserve. That service referred to their interactive area as the "CB Simulator" referring to the similarity to citizens band radios which were popular at the time. America Online chatrooms have eclipsed Compuserve's CB simulator in popularity, but the experience is the same.
At about the same time Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was allowing internet users to chat in real time on computers connected to each other over the Internet. These real time conversations still occur on a portion of the Internet which is not particularly user-friendly for newcomers. John Suler, Ph.D. has written on the social psychology of these text communities. His essay provides an excellent analysis of how these communities work.
The "chat clients" mentioned so far rely on users typing text for the interactions to take place.. It goes something like this:
- You type your statement or question at the bottom of the screen.
- Hit <RETURN> and your words will appear with everyone else's words, and everyone can see them.
- In this manner a conversation (or several of them) scrolls down your screen. It can be chaotic if there is no moderator there to keep things organized.
- Typos abound in chat sessions. If you make a big mistake, just re-type what you meant to say.
Suler describes the style of communication in many chatrooms as "staccato speak." He describes the basics in the following way:
Text communication in a chat room or channel often assumes a staccato style. Most of the time people express what they have to say in a brief sentence or two, or in sentence fragments. This style works well when people are joking around and ribbing each other, often in what turns out to be a playful game of "can you top this." In these kinds of exchanges, it usually doesn't matter too much if the other users' messages arrive on your screen out of the order in which the users may have intended them (which happens often in chat rooms), since there is no specific logical sequence that is needed for the ideas. It is more of a group "free for all." ...
...Staccato speak also includes a wide range of acronyms, like BRB (be right back), AFK (away from keyboard), IMHO (in my humble opinion), LTNS (long time no see), and LOL (laughing out loud). Different acronyms evolve in different online cultures, but the LOL is ubiquitous. So important is the need to express pleasure and laughter that a graduated series of such expressions have evolved. "Hehe" or "hehehe" indicates a giggle, or a polite/obligatory chuckle: the user finds something humorous, but not humorous enough to deserve a LOL, ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) or LMAO (laughing my ass off). (John Suler, Psychological Dynamics of Online Synchronous Conversations in Text-Driven Chat Environments)
Other online communities now include more than just text. One common form includes "avatars" which represent you. Avatars are graphics which represent you in the community. Often these are like cartoon characters, but some communities allow you to choose a more lifelike avatar to represent yourself. Your avatar can move around the room and talk to its occupants. There are usually additional rooms to explore. You can try The Palace, one of these communities, for free. Suler has also researched the interactions in communities such as this. His paper on Life at the Palace summarizes examples of his naturalistic research.
Some online counselors use chat rooms extensively to interact with clients. This interaction is much more immediate than email, but also somewhat less convenient. Psychologist John Grohol hosts chat sessions on a regular basis. They are an opportunity for anyone to interact with a psychologist. The sentences are less staccato than in some chat sessions, and the subject is always some aspect of mental health.
The chat room at Mental Health Resources is not very active. Some of the related mental health sites do have more active chat rooms. People tend to congregate with those who have similar disorders.
What are these interactions really like? Try one of Dr. Grohol's chats to find out, or visit a chat room at About.
