Previously we began a discussion of different modalities of Internet communication. Email and bulletin boards were explored. Both are asynchronous, allowing you to carefully compose your message and send it when it says exactly what you want it to. You and the receiver do not both need to be online at the same time. Email and bulletin boards lack the immediacy and intensity of real-time modalities. In this feature we will explore chat and Internet telephone applications - real-time communication tools.

The first large scale public chat application was probably CompuServe's "CB Simulator." CompuServe was one of the original online services at a time when such services were called "videotext" services. Citizen band radio was popular, and CompuServe tried to build on that popularity with it's chat rooms. Since it charged by the hour, it made a lot of money off this form of communication.

As the Internet developed, a chat protocol called Internet Relay Chat (irc) allowed people on different computers to converse in real time. Graphical interfaces like the web did not exist. Your screen was filled with the conversation taking place; and there was generally a line at the bottom for you to type your own contribution. Most chat software still operates this way, including the chat room at this site.

Some chat and conferencing software has added additional ways to interact. PowWow was a brand of free chat software software which allowed text, voice, and whiteboard interactions. (It is no longer available.) Other software has added some components of this functionality. Parachat software allows webmasters to easily add a chat room to their website. The chat room at this site was a Parachat room for a time. It is not particularly active.

Chat rooms have been used for online therapeutic interactions, both 1 to 1 and in groups. Jeanne Rust uses chat rooms as a portion of her online treatment for eating disorders. They offer the immediacy of real time interaction. Misspellings usually abound, and there can be a sense of time pressure. A blank screen and a blinking cursor can leave one with the thought "What do I say now?". The immediacy can be important when a participant is emotional at the time. There is more of a sense that "someone is here for me now". The potential for miscommunication due to the absence of nonverbal cues is probably greater here than in email. Short interactions which occur with a sense of time pressure are easy to misinterpret.

Environments such as The Palace take chat one step farther. Each person in the "room" is represented graphically by an "avatar." This can be a standard cartoon character, a photograph of yourself, or a graphic which you designed. Experimental group therapy sessions have been conducted online with therapists interacting with other within these spaces. The participants report that the visual dimension adds some reality to the interactions. Participants can move their avatar throughout the room, sitting in a corner or snuggling up to another group member.

The Internet can also be used as a telephone - and even a video phone. This software has improved in recent years, but sound and video quality is still a problem. A fast computer helps, but a fast Internet connection is probably the most important necessity. These interactions also suffer from the absence of a software and hardware standard. The person you are calling needs to have the same software, and in some cases, the same hardware that you do. Some chat software, such as PowWow, allows voice interactions as part of a chat. Online counseling and therapy can benefit from the ability to hear the tone of voice at the other end of the Net. Improved audio quality will help even more.