Chat rooms are online areas where people can communicate with others who share similar interests. They are easily accessible and free, but can be abused. Moderators monitor conversations to prevent abuse, but this has caused privacy concerns. Chat rooms can lead to social interaction problems, but if used responsibly, they can be a useful tool. Forums are an alternative to chat rooms, allowing people to ask questions and seek input.
The internet has been invaluable in allowing people from all over the world to talk to each other and one of the easiest ways to communicate online is through a chat room. Chat rooms are designated areas on the Internet where people with similar interests can communicate with each other by typing on a keyboard. Conversations occur in real time and typed messages are sent to other participants, who can then type a message in response. Most chat rooms are categorized by topic, so users can find conversations that are of interest and that apply specifically to them.
Participation
Chat rooms are easily accessible and most are free. Chat rooms can be searched through an Internet browser; there are literally thousands of chat rooms. Most require users to log in with a username, and there’s often an option to add even more personal information, such as relationship status, age, and gender. The chat room area will typically be divided into different sections based on interests; almost every imaginable topic is covered in some chat rooms, from stamp collecting to kangaroo farming in the Australian outback. Once a user is logged in, conversations can be had by typing messages back and forth between others.
MODERATOR
Within a chat room, there may be a moderator who monitors the content of the conversation to prevent abuse. There has been some controversy surrounding the use of moderators within chat rooms; many people consider a moderator an invasion of their privacy. Moderators have been known to interrupt a conversation if the content is deemed unacceptable or inflammatory.
In one case involving AOL Inc, formerly known as American Online, a moderator shut down a chat room when a heated debate about Irish politics arose between two chat room participants; AOL monitored the conversation closely and eventually decided to close the chat room to give participants time to calm down. The controversy arose after upset AOL customers became concerned about privacy issues. In the past, AOL users had to pay for their Internet service; In the same way that a person wouldn’t expect a phone company to listen to personal calls and drop them if the company doesn’t approve the content, AOL users felt that a privacy rule should also apply to chat room conversations .
Disadvantages
Chat rooms offer a way to learn, talk and socialize, but there is a flip side. The fact that it is easy to be anonymous has led to abuses of the system with virtually no consequences. Children and teenagers love chat rooms and warnings about the dangers of chat rooms are widespread; many cases of child sexual abuse have occurred after the minors decided to meet a person they were chatting with. Parents need to know who their children are having conversations with via Internet chat rooms.
There have also been reports that chat rooms lead to social interaction problems; long hours spent alone using chat rooms are thought to lead to poor social skills. By relying on chat rooms as a primary form of communication with others, social skills can deteriorate. If the chat room is used responsibly, however, it can be a fun and useful tool; it is when the virtual world is used as a substitute for the real world that problems can occur.
Forum
While chat rooms are a popular means of communication, many Internet providers and companies provide “forums” on their websites rather than chat rooms. Forums differ from chat rooms in that they are usually archived temporarily, if not permanently. Also, forums are commonly used to ask questions and ask other people for input more than conversing with others for the sake of conversation.
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