Thursday, April 9, 2009

Benefits On the Web

Adam Roll
Dr. Jason Farman
DTC:375
4/9/2009
Words: 789

Benefits On the Web

Every day people engage in a form of communication with one and another whether it’s a simple telephone call or a one on one conversation between two people. It wasn’t too long after the invention of the Internet that a new form of communication became possible. This new form of communication was online chat rooms. It was a form of communication that was unlike any other prior to its time. With this new medium you can “engage in a live, real-time conversation, conversations with people around the block or around the world at the same time. Chat rooms can give people a wonderful opportunity to make new friends anywhere in the world, and keep in touch with old ones.”(Disabled World, Para 2) In addition to global access, it was a medium where you can chat anonymously. Chat rooms therefore became a form of textual and interactive form of communication that encourages social activity.

Chat rooms are inviting due to the simplistic nature of them. Unlike any other forms of communication, in a chat room, a user can chat anomalously. You do not have to be who you say you are or disclose any unwanted personal information, which you do not want to give out. For instance, Marisol Del-Teso-Craviotto states, “Text-based Computer-Mediated Communica-tion (CMC), such as some varieties of chats, instant messengers, or electronic mail, seems at first sight a body-free environment. The absence of visual and aural cues downplays participants’ bio-logical bodies, and thus greatly reduces the amount of personal information available in interac-tions. Social traits such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or features such as height, tone of voice, or hair color are invisible unless a participant makes a point of displaying them. ”(251) Further more, chat rooms enable people who are bounded by problems keeping them from the social world to become social without having to leave their home.

Chat rooms are a good tool for social interaction, especially for those who are anti-social or who have problems communicating with others. There are no boundaries a Chat room cannot cross, which allows for a well rounded medium for communicating as well as learning purposes. The unique nature of the medium not only allows for speedy messages to be passed back and forth but allows communication across the world and even in foreign countries. For instance, Peris Et Al, states, “Cyberspace has become a new meeting point in which time/space boundaries are blurred, and interaction prevails over linearity in communication processes.” (Para 1) This all can be done instantly with the click of a mouse.

Chat Rooms for many individuals are a way to explore sexuality and other complicated embarrassing issues without scrutiny. It is hard to talk about sex and other related issues during adolescence for both young men and women. According to Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Patricia M. Greenfield and Brendesha Tynes, “a major developmental issue during adolescence is the con-struction of a psychosocial identity, which may be best viewed as a quest for self-understanding. The changes that occur during adolescence challenge the adolescent to find “his or her unique and consistent self-definition” (qtd J Kroger, section 1.2 para 4) Chat rooms are unique in the way that individuals can communicate to the world.

Communicating in a chat room is very similar to other forms of communication such as in person or over the phone. All three of these mediums communicate at a fast pace and serve the same purpose. They are socially interactive. For example, Mark Henderson states, “ Young people who spend hours in front of a screen may appear antisocial to their families, they are gen-erally using it to socialize with school friends and people who share their interests.” (Para 5) The only main difference between these three forms of communication is the medium used for com-munication. As far as Chat rooms go, at the click of a mouse, the recipient can receive and re-spond back to a message, just as they would in a formal conversation in person or over the phone. In addition to the speed of these mediums, they all engage in social interaction.

There are many different purposes for engaging in an online chat room. Some of theses purposes may be for education and learning purposes, where others may be for seeking advice for personal issues in a realm where identity is not an issue. Regardless of the purposes, online chat rooms are a new form of social interaction that is used by millions of users on a daily basis. Depending on the users intentions there are many benefits to online Chat Rooms. The Internet for one is a tool that is used to access the world, and its possibilities are endless.































Works Cited


Marisol Del-Teso-Craviotto, “Gender and Sexual identity authentication in language use: The case of chat rooms.” Discourse Studies, 251, Sage, 2008, http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2504/cgi/reprint/10/2/251

“Communication”, 2009-02-02, Disabled World, Para 2 http://www.disabled-world.com/communication/chat-history.php)


Mark Henderson, The Times, “Scientists: Internet, Chat Rooms Good for Teenagers”Para 5, 2006, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185823,00.html

(Kroger, 1995 J. Kroger, The differentiation of "firm" and "developmental" foreclosure identity statuses: A longitudinal study, Journal of Adolescent Research 10 (1995), pp. 317–337. Full Text via CrossRefKroger, 1995).

Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Patricia M. Greenfield and Brendesha Tynes, ScienceDirect, Elsevier Inc. 2004
http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2071/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W52-4F02RX2-4&_user=7810834&_coverDate=11/01/2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000011439&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7810834&md5=4ff735568b8f6fe2b19e8182a2a07951%20%5C%5C%20bbib62


Peris Et Al - Scribd, “Online Chat Rooms Virtual Spaces of Interaction for Socially Oriented People” CyberPsychology & Behavior Volume 5, 2002, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8475523/Peris-Et-Al-Online-Chat-Rooms-Virtual-Spaces-of-Interaction-for-Socially-Oriented-People

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