The Abandoned Arts

        The Internet has given way to many new technologies. The Internet has allowed for us to access an unimaginable amount of information, and it has allowed for us to communicate with others from all over the world. However in this article, I am going to focus on one specific form of online communication: Chats.

        There is an unimaginable amount of people who participate in online chats, but just to give you an idea of how many people use chat services, there are currently 715,492 women subscribed to a single chat service, and nearly twice as many men subscribed to the same service. Two thirds of this population of online chatters is in North America. Within a one month period of time, heavy chatters will send roughly one hundred e-mails to each other, and meet twice daily in a chat room. Many people admit to being addicted to chats, and that they became deprived of sleep because of late night chats.

        Though chatting online with people helps to create connections and relationships with people from all over the world, these relations tend to be superficial. There are enormous amounts people who admit that chats are not real life. Because so many people do not perceive chats to be real life it allows for them to deceive people, and there is no way to find out the truth.

        Because there is no way to know the truth about people you talk to on chat services, you are forced to trust the things they say about themselves because you have no way to know what is, and what isn't. Because you are forced to trust what people say about themselves immediately, a strong bond is created during a premature stage in the relationship. This strong bond allows for people to feel close to those that they chat with which allows them to share private information with people who they have never met before.
The superficial bonds created with people through chat services are also responsible for the destruction of a small percent of marriages and relationships. There are many accounts of people who fell in love with a stranger after just talking with them for a brief period of time. And as a result of this newfound love online, they left their current partners to pursue a new partner.

        Because of the bonds created during online chats, misconceptions about others online are inevitable. This can be dangerous for people who wish to meet other chatters in person. As cold as it may sound, belief causes ignorance, and when people have a strong belief that a person they have never met before is a certain way, they will be ignorant to their concerns, they just seemed so nice when I talked to them online. These misconceptions have, in some cases, led to rapes, and abusive relationships.

        I do not deny that chats can be a good source for communication; however, they are seriously misused by a vast majority of people. This abuse leads to much hurt and anguish for those who participate in chats. Chats should be used as a means to communicate information, not a place to find relationships, or love.