Chat Rooms Provide A Safe Haven For Online Harpies, Hillbillies and The Hopeless

“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 chat room to reconnect with their online friends, acquaintances and perhaps newly established future business colleagues.

The chat program itself offers the elderly and many isolated shut ins the convenience of using a program that will enable them to enjoy immediate contact with the outside world.

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 chat room 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 bumpkins and hordes of the eternally hopeless. These folks tend to skew the topic of any conversation 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 harpy. 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 prototype of this harpy, often akin to a backwoods personality type, is in the same age range as the harpy and usually tells suggestive 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 often 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 personality 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 fortune 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.

Gerry Charbonneau recently retired from the active work force and now has the time and the much needed energy to write articles for his blog, Nibbled News. Although he was employed in the automotive/industrial sector of the labor market he had been a reporter/photographer for a community newspaper prior to tihs employment. His website offers readers the chance to offer their comments, rediscover and enjoy the world about themselves. By taking a second look at life through his writing the author hopes to inspire his readers to rethink their everyday experiences and inject a bit of humor, wit and fun in their lives. Reader feedback and suggestions for storylines are always welcomed. Drop by. Relax. Read. Enjoy. Visit http://www.nibblednews.typepad.com soon.

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