Support, compassion, and love, all in a chat room.

Having been charged with exploring an online space novel to our own experiences, I, like many, decided to enter a chat room, an anonymous, synchronous online space. After exploring the different options that existed, I decided to enter a chat room that is present so that people that are going through difficult times in their lives could have a place to discuss their problems. I found this particular chat room on the website www.talkcity.com, and choose it for a few reasons. The chat room was smaller, so it would be easier to interact with other members, and seeing as the group was there to offer support, I hoped that chatters would be more willing to open up and talk with me.

When I entered the chat room, I was immediately greeted by everyone present. I said my greetings and allowed them to continue their conversations, so that I could determine what kind of atmosphere pervaded the chat room, and how the members were interacting. After spending a few minutes as an observer, I decided that the overall ambiance of the room was one of warmth and support, and was even able to formulate impressions of some of the chatters. I immediately liked most members, while there was only one member that I felt was somewhat ruining the mood of the room. That one member, however, left shortly after my appearance.

After spending several minutes as an observer, I decided that it was time to start interacting with other members. I joined the current conversation, and began chatting with the other members. I noticed fairly early into my experience that there were basically two different groups of people present. The people who were there to talk about their problems, and the people who were there to help others. Based on which category I had placed them in, I saw people as either selfish, those that wanted to talk about their problems, or as being more altruistic, those that were there to help others. I started up a conversation with one of the selfless, ottermom, and started discussing a variety of issues.

The relatively short conversation between ottermom and I gave me enough cues to formulate an opinion of her. She is middle aged, a mother, a lesbian, and an extremely warm and caring person, the final conclusion based on her frequent use of the words "hun" and "sweetie". After our conversation, and my subsequent exit of the chat room, I realized that the way in which I formed my impression of ottermom closely correlated with what the hyperpersonal model has to say about online impression formation. Going into the room, I had already established some stereotypes about what kind of chatters I would find inside. I speculated that they would be very emotional people, and that they would also be, for the most part, caring and compassionate. When I found out the ottermom was older than I , I placed her into a more matronly role, as though she was a mother consoling a child. The frequent use of the words "sweetie" and "hun" reinforced my impression of ottermom as a caring mother-like figure. Based on few cues, I created a persona for ottermom that suited my needs, and fulfilled the stereotypes that I expected to find in the chat room that I chose to enter.