1. There is no doubt that Alexis falls in love online. But what does that mean? What does love mean for Alexis and what is it about the online chat room environment that might facilitate this love relationship?
I think that an online chat room helps to create a space where individuals can interact and be free from physical limitations. By physical limitations, I mean that when two people meet, the first thing you notice is one's physical appearance. This means everything from race, age, gender, hair color, eye color, height all the way to how one dresses. Each of these characteristics brings with it a certain number of assumptions. If someone is African American, then we assume certain things (not all necessarily negative). If someone has blonde hair compared to brown hair, we assume a certain number of things. If someone is wearing black eye-liner, nail polish and lipstick, we assume a certain number of things and these assumptions affect the conversation, i.e. you don't say certain things or you mention other things or you just ignore them altogether. However, in a chatroom, all you have is someone's screen name, what they say and what they choose to tell you. Therefore, instead of an interaction being influenced (unduly) by any number of physical characterists, all you have to go is what they are saying. For many people, this means that they can be less inhibited in their interactions, as Alexis points out in the article. Also, if you connect with someone, it is not because of what they look like or wear, but instead, because of their personlity. Instead of getting too caught up in one's physical appearance (am I wearing the right shoes? does this dress make me look fat?), what you say matters and I believe that this type of connection is much deeper than one based purely on physical characteristics.
Bill, that's what I found in my research. In absence of the kinds of nonverbal cues that let us know what the other person may be feeling about us or about the interaction that is occurring, and particularly because there is little basis for categorizing or stereotyping, people create an image of the other based entirely on what is available in the text. As John pointed out, this leads to "disinhibition" and great self-disclosure than might ordinarily be the case.
ReplyDeleteI think that its that exact reason that so many are drawn to chat rooms. In today's society so much importance is placed on physical appearance that some tend to disregard those who don't meet up to those high standards. Because of the annonymity that chat rooms foster, it allows people of all different sizes, races and backgrounds to come together and share their thoughts preventing streotyping and judging based on that person's outward appearance. I believe that is why so many look for a connection in chat rooms.
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