Online Class

Imagine yourself in a room full of people.  Everyone is talking all at once, doing their best to hear what others say and respond to it, but nobody is taking any social cues as to when they should talk, or what question they should be answering exactly.  It is nobodies "turn" to talk, it's every one's turn.  This is an online chat room.

Some might argue this provides a much freer atmosphere, that it allows anyone and every to voice their opinions and be heard.  That often times in a real world setting one can more easily dominate a conversation and never let others get a word in edge-wise.  My response?  Chaos is not a free atmosphere.

An Internet chat room does not provide for a linear conversation.  Everyone is responding to something else, and things are happening so fast you may never even see a string of potentially important or conversation changing statements.  There is no logic.  You may ask a question that has already been answered, or offer a piece of evidence that has already been discussed or refuted.  You cannot have a real and meaningful discussion when it is the equivalent of everyone yelling over the top of each other, missing every other word being said.

What it comes down to is that there is no replacement for face to face conversation.  The social cues, manner of speech, timing, and anything else that goes into a conversation are just as important as the words that are spoken.  To me, there is no substitute for this.

Was this a fun an interesting experiment?  Yes, it definitely was.  Is it something I foresee ever wanting to do again?  No.  At the end of the day I don't feel like any real progress was made.  For the people who argue that it is a way to make sure they are heard; is it really being heard if you're not sure anyone even reads it?

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On a somewhat related note, chat rooms and things like Skype can be very entertaining to use in your free time.  Skype is great for connecting in a semi-face-to-face manner, but if you are in the business of taking risks, I would suggest trying out Omegle or (if you are very brave) Chat Roulette.

Both of these connect you to real people, the first being chat based entirely (I believe) and the latter involving video as well as text chat.  Things can get rather racy on these sights, so use with caution, however you can meet some pretty awesome people on these sights on occasion.  

Here is one of my favorite videos for a Chat Roulette experience.

Warning: Slightly explicit