What specifically interests you?
Sports? Music? Different cultures? Movies? Saving the world from pandemic flu?
No matter how vague or weird your interests may be, I guarantee that you would be able to find a chat room full of people that are interested in the exact same thing as you are.
Just as an example, typing the phrase “chat room” in a google search provides you with over 9 million hits.
Chat rooms are synchronous online discussion forums that may be associated with Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Chat rooms often accompany several online activities such as internet gaming and even facebook applications. The inherent nature of chat rooms can influence PIU. First, as mentioned above, people can search for a chat room that specifically fits their interests. Therefore, upon entering a particular chat room, people are often already connected by something they have in common. Hence, the common ground principle plays a particularly important role and increases attraction to the other chat room users. Additionally, one can find an active chat room at any time. They are easily accessible and usually free.
But why do people turn towards chat rooms in the first place? People may want to find out new information about a topic area, talk to experts, or be entertained. People may also use chat rooms out of boredom or loneliness. As shown in the study conducted by Caplan entitled “Preference for Online Interaction,” a person’s level of loneliness and depression positively correlated with their preference for online interaction. This is due to a lower opinion of their “social competence” or how they act in social situations. Chat room users have a much greater control of the impression they can make versus face to face partly because cues, such as nonverbal actions, are eliminated. Therefore, psychosocially effected individuals may feel that they can better present themselves online and the risk of rejection is less.
Caplan’s model also indicates that compulsive use most predicts negative outcomes of internet use that can affect one’s life in the non-virtual world (work, job, school work, social lives). Compulsive use of chat rooms- not being able to control when you engage in the activity- can be time consuming and further exacerbates the problem one might have with real life interactions. A chat room addict may become extremely accustomed to interacting online and feel increasingly uncomfortable in interacting in face to face.
Overall, psychosocial problems greatly contribute to one’s use of the internet in a problematic way when it comes to chat rooms and therefore coincides with Caplan’s model. For people who feel they are not socially competent, fellow online chatters may ultimately become their only friends.
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3 comments:
I feel like chat rooms are kind of a perfect subject for apply Caplan’s theory because it actively requires users to somewhere to discuss a topic with others that have common ground. It is also a likely channel that people with psychosocial problems would choose over FtF. The fact that online chat rooms are also accessible according to a user’s schedule and also a synchronous form of communication plays a part in operant conditioning. However when we look at the Ftf equivalent of chatrooms, special interest clubs, problematic chat room use does not necessarily correspond to spending too much time talking to people who share your interests. In fact, having a close knit group of friends in Ftf is often a favorable trait, whereas online friends are often frowned upon. Though chatrooms are a really good example I feel like they may be falling out of fashion as far as Web trends go. Many of the same qualities apply to rapidly growing spaces like Second Life. I think you did a good job relating Caplan’s theory to your post topic.
Hello Diane, it’s a great post. I do agree with you that chat rooms can lead to Problematic Internet Use (PIU). I personally remember myself spending hours in chat rooms talking to random people. As you mentioned in your post, I think common ground takes a big role here. Since one knows that other people in the same chat room are sharing the same or at least a similar view on certain thing, it becomes easier for the one to attach oneself to the others. I also liked that you mentioned ‘typing the phrase “chat room” in a google search provides you with over 9 million hits.’ Indeed, we have a great exposure to chat rooms which tells it is important to have or to learn an appropriate use of chat rooms.
Diane I think did you did an awesome job here describing and online chat room and how it could be the reason for many users problematic internet use. I also think you did a great job applying capan's model to the chat room enviornment and how it can relate to the enviornment. My only problem with this which I also stated in my own blog post is that capan's model suggest only negative outcomes. Coming from someone that has spend a tremendous amount of time on the computer and the internet I disagree with Capan's moel and believe that if propor action is taken and the subject makes an effort to use the chat room a training tool for social interactions many positive outcomes may result.
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