Com 125 Assignment 2- "To Chat or Not to Chat"

Today, the online chat room is a widely popular form of internet communication. In chat rooms people from around the globe can gather to have live, real-time conversations with several other people at the same time. People chat for various reasons including to exchange information, to talk about common interests, and to establish friendships or even romantic relationships. Dave Roos captures the essence of modern-day chat rooms in his article, "How Chat Rooms Work.” He says, "It's like a virtual cocktail party, where strangers gather to flirt, argue about politics and sports, ask for advice, talk about shared hobbies and interests, or simply hang out." Now, you can find a chat room devoted to every topic imaginable. This makes it easy for people to find a chat room geared towards their specific interests and filled with others who are just like them.

The American public was first familiarized with the chat room in the mid-1990s with the increasing popularity of AOL chat rooms. However, most people are unaware that chat rooms actually date back much further than that. The CompuServe CB Simulator is credited as being the first real-time chat room. It was first introduced to the public in 1980, and its users exchanged real-time messages on 40 different channels, leading to the evolution of the concept of rooms.

In the mid-1980s, a company called PlayNet developed the idea of combining real-time chat and online games. Its users could play chess or backgammon against an online opponent and talk to them (mainly trash talk) at the same time. PlayNet licensed its software to a company called Quantum Link, or Q-Link, that began a chat room service called People Connection. Quantum Link then changed its name to America Online (AOL), a name in which we are all familiar with. By the late 1990s, the AOL chat rooms under the name People Connection were the most popular in the world.

Unfortuately, chat rooms have been found over time to not be such perfect creations. Several negative characteristics have been known to be associated with chat rooms. One problem with chat rooms is their anonymity. Because people feel invisible, they will often say whatever they want, no matter how inappropriate. As a result, many chat rooms are plagued with graphic, sexual talk, even ones that have nothing to do with sex or dating. The reality is that most of the people who are being exposed to and even participating in this sexual language are children. In Canada, it has been reported that nine percent of children ages 7-1o use chat rooms daily and 10 percent of them visit them a few times a week. A seven-year-old does not understand what the sexual language really means. This can make it very easy for someone older who does understand to take advantage of the young child.

The media has recently exposed chat rooms as being breeding grounds for pedophiles and sexual predators. There have been several, high-profile news stories concerning adults that pretend to be teenagers and use chat rooms to lure in underage teens and even children. An alarming statistic is that of the 45 millions children ages 10-17 engaging in internet use, 1 in 5 of them have been sexually solicited.

In exposing sexual solicitation online, the use of chat rooms has really propelled the movement towards internet safety. The public now realizes that there are dangers in internet use, and they must take the necessary precautions in order to protect themselves. Today, almost every child knows to never give out any personal information online, and to never arrange to meet someone they have met on the web. For parents who are interested in additional tips that are useful for protecting their children online, a very good website for this is: http://www.sdcda.org/protecting/children_parents.php.

One great development in educating the public on internet safety is through the exposure of real, online sexual predators on the Dateline NBC show, "To Catch a Predator." The show uses a decoy that poses as an underage male or female and lures in sexual predators through the use of chat rooms. The decoy then arranges to meet the solicitor in person, which is where the police are waiting to arrest the predator. What they have found is that the suspects are often not who you would expect. The following clip is of a middle school teacher, who they found to be engaging in chat room use for sexual solicitation of a minor:



“To Catch a Predator” has succeeded in exposing online, sexual criminals and showing that many of them are just your everyday, normal people. I believe that in watching this show, the public has become more cautious of their online use and realized that people online may often not be who they say they are.

Thinking back to when I made my first screen name, Singing7 (I was seven at the time), I realize just how in danger I could have been. At the time, my sister and I would spend hours in chat rooms chatting with people who we believed to be the same age as us. My parents were skeptical of these online chat rooms and being good parents, they refused us to go into them anymore. That was the end of my chat room experience and knowing what I know now, I’m very glad that my parents put their foot down. I believe that all other parents should do the same, and take control of their children’s internet use when they are too young to understand the dangers of the situation. If this were to occur, I think we would see a dramatic drop in the number of cases of online sexual solicitation.

For better or for worse, the chat room has succeeded in changing the reputation of the internet for good. Before the chat room, the internet was viewed as somewhat of a huge playground. It was where people felt free to roam and opportunities were endless. However, chat rooms proved that playgrounds can be dangerous too. They can be places laden with criminals. Therefore, we must all realize that we can have fun, but still always remain aware of the dangers so we can protect ourselves and have a safe internet experience.