Chatroom Dangers and Hyperpersonality

Chat rooms exist for people of all ages, interests, anonymity preferences, and entertainment styles. However, there is no actual way to tell that someone is who they say they are in chat rooms, which is an issue that many people need to beware of. Chatrooms grant us the opportunity to be “hyperpersonal,” and share more information than we normally would. Here is an example of a chatroom situation gone wrong because of hyperpersonality.

http://www.beinggirl.com/article/chat-room-dangers/

Although the website is designed for girls (usually preteen- teen), and the story reminds me of a modern day “Full House” episode, it introduces the question of how much information is okay to share online, even, and sometimes especially, in an anonymous setting. First of all, the chatroom for this site is not existing anymore, but, (I will proudly admit) I actually used to use this chat room! I thought it was fun to see other people’s opinions, find people I connected with, and sometimes, even compete with other girls for the “top question” with the most comments and “likes.” It is interesting that in the past few years it has changed into only “experts” answering the questions. This means that it is not an open forum, where members ask any question and any other member could offer their answers. Instead, it is set up more as a “Dear Abby” column online, where any member can ask a question, but only experts who work for the website may choose to answer the question. Since this is a site for young, vulnerable girls to share personal information, this Dear Abby setup is probably the safest (Thank God I’m still alive!!) However, for the sake of this blog post, I am going to compare the positive sides of a live chat room to this more sensitized version

The creators of this website probably changed the discussion format because of “hyperpersonal” communication, which occurs more often with lean communication mediums, asynchronosity, and in certain gender difference situations. For one thing, this chat room was anonymous. Each person could only use one of the pre-designed avatars to visually represent themselves, and also used a screenname, never their own name. This allows people to be more open in the information they actually reveal, because they feel protected with their direct identity concealed. The communication is asynchronous, so someone posts a question and people can answer at their leisure, granting them ample time to ponder these answers. Lastly, women bond primarily over talking. Therefore, lots of girls on one site, discussing personal issues pertinent to almost all of their lives, anonymously, is breeding ground for hyperpersonality

There are both positives and negatives to this aspect of the chatroom. It may allow girls who do not have many friends for whichever reason to feel connected to other girls their own age, and even form friendships as they share stories and sympathies repeatedly with the same people. The chat room may also give girls to opportunity to receive multiple opinions, instead of the single, biased opinions from their actual friends. Lastly, the chat room acts as a place where girls can genuinely relate to each other through trust and connection, rid of the judgment that face to face communication can bring. Changing the chatroom to a “Dear Abby” format, eliminated the element of gaining multiple opinions, which also distinguishes the opportunity to connect with many different people.

The negative sides of this chatroom are obvious in the scenario seen in the link. Predators could easily create an account pretending to be a teenage girl, and piece together the personal information that other girls mention. Also, the aspect of having multiple perspectives may create even more confusion for girls asking questions, as they are young, and most of the commenters are equally as confused and frustrated as the question-askers. The Dear Abby format allows for one trustworthy source to answer questions objectively and wisely, which is probably healthier in the long run.

Of course, no matter what format the chat room takes, a person can never be completely sure that the receiver on the other end of their exchange is in fact who they say they are. However, chat rooms still offer many positive opportunities for people to socialize, gain insight, and even have fun! Hyperpersonality is something to look out for though, especially in settings that make people feel like their identity cannot be detected, and with certain groups of people who are more vulnerable.