Chat Rooms Often Haven For Harpies, Hillbillies and Hopeless
Posted: Tuesday, October 19, 2010
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it. "" ~ Edward R. Murrow
On any given day scores of people all over the planet eagerly flock to their favorite YAHOO Messenger chatroom to reconnect with their online friends, acquaintances and perhaps newly established future business colleagues.
The opportunity is also there for them to comfortably and conveniently remain in the familial information loop by merely downloading a specific program, logging into the chat site, finding a chatroom they feel comfortable in and then making contact with the people in the particular room.
Communication and contact is the ultimate goal of many chat programs and the public eagerly downloads the free software that will enable them to freely communicate with the world at large.
Seniors have recently discovered that this electronic means of contact is affordable, instantaneous and user friendly. They can now keep in touch with distant friends, family and associates no matter how far apart they may be.
Unfortunately today these rooms have been overrun by swarms of electronic harpies, mean-spirited hillbillies and hordes of the eternally hopeless. These folks tend to skew the topic of any converation towards their own limited goals . Their vocabularies are limited and their personal anger and angst is the dominant theme of many rooms.
These dominant personality types often comprise the rank and file of Yahoo chatters who spent a good portion of their mid to late 40's in the chat environment and now believe they have graduated to a higher plane of existence. Hardly the case.
The first personality type is the harpie. This is typically an older female in her late 40's or mid 50's who has been embittered by life and wants the whole chatting world to know she is as tough as nails and as flexible as a granite pillar. She radiates hatred for the human race from the word go and is ready to squash anyone who even wishes her a good day.
The male protype of this harpie, often akin to a backwoods personality type, is in the same age range as the harpie and usually tells off color jokes, cusses a lot in the room and is usually attentively sitting at his keyboard wearing his pajamas and in bad need of a shave. He tends to sip coffee by the gallon. He considers himself to be a know-it-all and the epitome of maleness.
He too is very pessimistic and probably uses the chat room as his personal anger management session. He uses witless humor to chide and harass other guests in the chat room. The male of the species usually brings a few friends with him into the room for backup and support. In this Mutt and Jeff environment nothing is discussed and everything criticized and belittled.
The third personality type of chat room identity is the eternally negative and insecure chat room hanger on who realizes that the chat room offers him/her nothing of any real intrinsic value but yet continues to remain there because they have nothing else to do and are hoping that life will eventually throw them a wee bit of good forutne one day.
I spoke with a number of chat room participants who had posted public comments about the harsh treatment they and other newbies to the rooms received from these chat room aficionados. They could not understand how they could have incurred such anger from people they had just met.
They need to realize that chat room banter is at most therapeutic gas letting and ego strutting. It is also probably a security blanket for the many folks who need to vent their spleen on life and others in an environment that is as anonymous as that offered in chat rooms.
I suspect that all similar type chat programs have their share of problems. Add the ever present chat room bot to the equation and you can realize that nothing of any consequence could be rightly settled in such a chaotic environment.
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