Chatrooms

When I was working for the local college, I was to do a teaching certificate to prove that I was a bonefide teacher. My boss, a scary looking viking called Fred, decided we'd be the first to do a qualification meaning we could teach via the internet, so distance learning had a lot more impact. One thing we had to write about was the function of chatrooms, the people that use them, and if or how they affect society.

The equivalent of a field trip was taken into a popular chatroom, and a few surprises were made. We all have an image of chatrooms being seedy places full of kids and paedophiles, but the reality was a diverse range of people. Now don't get me wrong, it was apparent that 99% of users were there to procreate, but a handful of people were genuinely friendly. I made a lot of friends in there, and still speak to a lot of them to this day. An awful lot of them also became students or customers, so not all bad at all.

So imagine my pleasure this week to get a link to a video portraying if a chatroom was a real place. It highlights a lot of truths, and is a real eye-opener.

http://www.rikaitch.plus.com/realchatroom.wmv

I have to warn you, this is a large file, 16.8Mb to be exact. I made it smaller, but it's a very long video. It's not recommended to watch on dialup or slow (*cough*AOL*cough*) broadband. It might be better to right click it and save it before you view it.

Enjoy.