Hi guys my name is Lauren Burrick and I am a junior in the school of Industrial and Labor Relations. When I’m not watching Friends or Greys Anatomy re-runs, you can find me at the gym, talking about camp, or exploring the wonderful city of Ithaca. I really love Wegmans and the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, as eating is another one of my favorite activities. While Lost Dog, Boatyard, and Jon Thomas are on the top of my Ithaca dining list, Collegetown Bagels and its Dewitt Melt will always rest at the very top. I am also an avid reader, knitter, and arts & crafts guru, as I tend to turn everything and anything in to an arts & crafts project. This past summer I worked at a law firm in New York City and got to learn some pretty interesting things. While I truly did love my summer there, I’m not exactly sure what I want to do when I enter “reality.”
After returning from my cousins wedding a few weeks ago, a wedding where my cousin, the groom, and his beautiful bride met in an internet Mets Baseball chat room, I must say that the internet phenomenon that most puzzles me is this demonstrated concept of forming relationships in chat rooms on the internet. While I am my no means opposed to it, I simply do not understand how people can form such a deep connection that sometimes grows in to a lifetime friendship, relationship, and in my cousin’s case, marriage by meeting someone through this type of online forum. It amazes me that people can pick each other out, either from a short biography, description of themselves, or a small conversation, and develop such an incredible connection, one that is as strong, if not stronger as those developed by people who first met face to face.
This phenomenon of forming relationships in chat rooms on the Internet is part of the synchronous chats space. Like my cousin as his now bride, both entered in to this type of space, a Mets Baseball chat room, to engage in real-time conversations with people of similar interests.
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2 comments:
Hi Lauren! Intimate relationships formed online intrigue me as well. I always wonder how two people find their perfect match online. I have a few friends who have tried online dating websites but most ended up with going out on a date with someone who was their total opposite.
Chat rooms can be stressful due to their synchronous nature, and that their only communication vehicle is text. Certain important cues are missing, such as vocal tone and facial expressions, which can completely distort what someone is trying to say. I always have trouble on AIM when I act sarcastic because the person I am talking to has no idea, they just take me seriously.
I believe that chat rooms are helpful for some people because the users only have to worry about what they are typing. However, I feel like they can be a disadvantage to people who have a hard time showing others their true self only using words.
Hey Lauren. Online relationships really are pretty interesting. I think if you're actually trying to meet someone it's probably pretty hard to find a good match. Also, the anonymity that the internet provides can be very deceiving. There are always guys pretending to be girls, girls pretending to by guys, and a lot of people change there age. It’s almost counterintuitive that some people connect more online because there are a lot of cues missing online. However, the synchronous nature of chat rooms probably makes it easier for two people to form a bond since all the messages are instant.
I've actually had a personal experience where I met a friend online but we had a stronger friendship online than we did in person. We talked freely and easily online, but when we were face to face, we had a hard time making conversation. It really is a strange thing.
I think you did a great job proposing a very interesting topic to look into. I think it’d also be interesting to try to see what types of people (introvert/extrovert) tend to meet people online and determine “success” rates.
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