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Chatting 101…

Back in the late 80’s, my first “internet”-like experience was going online using Compuserve’s CB Simulator. There was no internet, so it was basically a network much like AOL, where they controlled the content and hosted one of the more popular features, their version of text chatting. There were “rooms” or CB channels you could join and then type out message to people all over the country. Back in those days, I’d be up for hours and hours text chatting with people all over the world, and, of course, developed online friends who I’d meet up with and text chat with. No webcams, no smilies, no crazy fonts or colors. Just black, 10 point Courier. And of course, we all had “handles”. Since I’d text chat late at night, sometimes until sunrise, I went by the handle, Sandman. It worked and soon that’s what I was known as.

The Compuserve program also allowed trading photos, but with a 3k modem, it’d often take all night until the morning for the image to actually arrive. Not to mention having to figure out how to scan the photo and get it into the computer in the first place. It was fun and those were the 80’s.

Fast forward two decades and we’ve got something called “Stickcam“. It’s the same idea as the 80’s CB Simulator, just on steroids. First, it’s webcam based, and it’s basically a way to chat with multiple people on webcam at the same time. If you don’t have a webcam, like me, you can still join the chat sessions using the text based tool and then sit back and watch the discussions, while typing away your part.

Intrigued, and wanting to having something to write about in this blog, I created an account and did a little undercover work to find out what the hell people actually are doing, what kinds of people are joining and how it all works. Throughout my weeklong test, I didn’t use a webcam or put any photos up on the site, but merely joined rooms and either sat back and listened or joined in on the conversations in order to find out more about the program. I was kicked out of a few rooms by people who preferred that only webcam users be a part of their conversation, which might actually be a smart idea. The first line of defense is SEEING the people who are a part of your conversation.

There are three types of people that seems to use the program—adults with talk show aspirations, bored teens and soon to be child molesters. Let me explain this a little bit. Because the software allows you to run a live, streaming webcast, in “LIVE mode” anyone can join in and be a part of your conversational group. The age limit is 14 and up, but of course, kids know they can lie and since not all users need to have a webcam, it makes a good place for child molesters to hang out anonymously pretending to be a 14 year old. In fact, throughout my weeklong test, no one asked me my age and since I tried to blend it with the wording I’d use, they pretty much thought I was a teen like them.

Of the people using “LIVE mode”, there were some people that used the service to run “talk shows”. One example is a guy that runs a show about atheism. I think he might be the same guy that was on “Wife Swap” some time back. He’s pretty much on all the time talking about his atheistic views and carrying on discussions with others that join into his conversations.

The bulk of the members are teens/young adults, 14 years old and up. There are also some people over 30, but the numbers start to dwindle the older we get. I guess summer vacations from junior and high school, as well as, breaks from college keep more kids online looking for something to do. I joined a few discussions and found that the bulk of the conversation had to do with “I’m bored, talk to me”. The bulk of the people that use this also have MySpace pages and it’s typically one of the first questions you’ll be asked, “What’s your MySpace?”.

There was a 14 year old girl on summer vacation from junior high school, for example, that would spend hours online chatting with whomever came in. She freely told people her age, her real name and the state she lived in. By visiting her MySpace you could probably also find out her hometown and other information. The people that joined the conversations, were basically young guys who’d leave comments like “show me your boobs” and “you’re sexy”. Yeah, in case you’re wondering what your 14 year old is doing online.

Then there was an 18 year old guy who’d spend hours upon hours online chatting with whomever joined his “room”. A surprisingly nice guy, wearing a dew rag and a baseball hat most of the time, he’d just sit online playing a mix of rap and pop while waiting for people to come in and talk to him. The conversations ranged from where people lived to the kinds of music they liked. He was also a magician and would sometimes entertain the crowd with magic tricks. When I found him the first night, he said he’d already been online for 48 hours straight and was finally planning on sleeping this particular night.

There was also a guy in his mid-20’s, home for some reason, perhaps on college break. More general conversation about cars, places to eat, things to do. He’d also talk about his girlfriend and other things. What caught me off-guard in this room, was this one viewer who seemed like an online friend of some sort, but also seemed like a total child molester through his conversation. He looked like he could be in his 40’s, wore a baseball cap and would leave strange remarks, that just gave me an uneasy feeling—like he was working towards something. I don’t know, just weird. He used a lot of slang, trying to be hip like the kids, used a lot of online vernacular (ie: LOL, TTYL, etc.) and just seemed out of place.

Clicking around other rooms I found the following:

A couple of sisters that basically sat and fought about who’s turn it was for the computer. I’m talking about rolling around on the floor, pushing and shoving and running all over the house chasing each other to keep each other off the computer. Of course, as a viewer, you’d just see them run past the computer occassionally, or hear the noises in the background.

A “naked” guy, who’d sit there and put on wigs and chat with viewers. I didn’t really stick around to find out if he was really naked, since the cam was mostly focused on his upper half.

Aside from the freaks and weirdos, there are some interesting things about this program/website and some valid uses. You can create private rooms where you can hold online meetings with coworkers or friends. If you have extended family in another country, you can also chat with them in real time. I think the people that go “LIVE” are looking for attention. They are bored and are looking for people to fill their day up, through chat. Back in the 80’s I was there, so I totally understand being bored and looking for online friends to keep me busy. But there are also plenty of people in private rooms, that are using the program to connect, reconnect or keep in touch with their loved ones—a virtual family reunion.

I think if you are careful and check in on your kids from time to time—or stick the computer in the family room where you can see the screen—stuff like this can be a fun way for them to chat with people from all over the country. However, if you start to see changes or your kids start to spend too much time online, then there could be a problem. I have to say that it was refreshing to see parents show up a couple of times, during these chat sessions. For example, the 18 year old magician’s father showed up and sat down and watched what was going on at one point. And in one house, you could see the parents walking back and forth, since the computer was obviously in the kitchen or family room.

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