The Chat Room Phenomenon

1
The Chat Room Phenomenon

• Unit 1 ICT and SocietyPersonal Communication

2
Definition

• A chat room is a virtual place where people can
  gather to discuss various topics and talk freely.

3
Virtual Communities

• Chat rooms often have specific rooms set aside
  for particular discussion topics.
• This has enabled virtual communities to develop
  with global participants with shared interests
  and values.

4
You are not alone

• The virtual community has also acted as a support
  mechanism for people who have had similar
  experiences, e.g. victims of crime, disability,
  etc.
• The chat room can be part of the counselling
  process providing the knowledge that you are
  not alone in the world.

5
Evolution of Chat Rooms

• Previously chat rooms had been mainly text-based
  with comments being posted to the window on the
  screen (the room).

Chat Room Example. Source http//www.immunesuppor
t.com
6
Evolution of Chat Rooms

• In the past few years, computer graphics have
  changed the way we chat.
• People are now able to immerse themselves in a
  virtual environment and chat with people they
  meet along the way.
• Computer games have come with multiplayer chat
  features for several years providing the
  ability for gamers to share their triumph and
  commiserations. This is another example of ICT
  bringing people together and building virtual
  communities.

7
Example Habbo Hotel

• Habbo Hotel is a virtual hotel where people can
  check-in and enter a 3D isometric hotel
  complex.
• They can personalise their online persona what
  they look like, they clothes, name, etc.

Character selection in the Habbo Hotel.Source
www.virtualworlds.com
8
Example Habbo Hotel

• The text-based rooms have been replaced with
  locations where the user can walk around and
  interact with other characters.

The Pool room in the Habbo Hotel. Source
www.virtualworlds.com
9
Example Habbo Hotel

• As well as providing an outlet for making
  friends, chatting and gossiping, Habbo Hotel UK
  is also host to the Talk to Frank Infobus. This
  provides teenagers with a communication channel
  to a reliable source of information and advice
  about drugs.

The Frank Infobus. Source www.habbohotel.co.uk
10
Chat Room Dangers

• Chat rooms have been used by paedophiles to
  groom children.
• The ability to create an online persona makes it
  difficult to know if the person you are chatting
  to is really who you think they are.
• Chat rooms have employed moderators to monitor
  chat traffic to pick up any suspicious activity.

11
Chat Room Dangers

• Chat rooms have also been used by terrorist
  organisation cells to organise attacks.
• Chat rooms can be a double-edged sword they
  bring like-minded people together to create a
  virtual community, but sometimes the communities
  that are formed are not acceptable to the general
  public, e.g. paedophile rings, terrorist groups.

12
Freedom of speech?

• Due to their seemingly anonymous nature, chat
  rooms have been used by fledgling political
  groups to communicate their ideology and
  opinions.
• An example of this is in China where chat rooms
  have been used to provide objective, independent
  journalism.
• A writer in China was jailed for using a chat
  room in such a way. Is this right to suppress
  freedom of speech? When does freedom of speech
  become incitement to violence?

BBC News. Source www.bbc.co.uk/news