Who had never tried chatting online, spending hours and hours talking about everything and anything, telling your life story to "strangers" you will maybe never meet face to face?. Who had never felt the excitement, the adrenaline rush, the curiosity to discover someone, all you really know about is just what he or she told you?The spread of internet gave rise to all kind of relationships u can imagine, friendship, flirtation, Love….etc with a small or big difference, I don’t know… these relationships are online!!!!!, I remember the first time I become a part of this online community, that was three years ago when we first got connection at home, I was really happy to discover sites and of course chatting sites, I think that was my first real experience with chatting, I’m not kidding when I say that three years ago, I did not know how the messenger functioned, well, today I’m an expert:).
Honestly I still can’t get how the chat process works, sometimes the conversation ends after five minutes and sometimes the magic happens n u can sit in front of ur screen for hours typing your life story and thought using ur keyboard .
Is all this real?
I don’t know, maybe yes, maybe no, it all depends on with who r u talking and what r u expecting from the chat.The net is a little visual word, people can easily hide their identities , pretend to be what they r not, so it’s very hard to trust people in this world. Vena McGrath used her chat experience and wrote a book about her online life, she is known as an expert in chatting issues, she says in one of her net articles:
“Internet chat is very addictive and I know that only too well. Men become very into it and find it an easy way to say things they would never say to anyone else - us women do too. You may even find that you have told him much more than he has told you - that seemed to be the way with my chat anyhow…………The problem with telling too much to a stranger online is that if they are manipulative or coercive at all they will very quickly see your vulnerable points and will hone in on them”.
Well, yes, and as we all know, when we show our weaknesses to the wrong persons, they can easily manipulate us as Mc Grath says, and even stalk us and harass us .
Ohh, my God, this is too depressive right??? After reading this you may quit the chat world for good:)… well NO....
From my little chat experience, I can agree with Vena McGrath about all what she said above. I have met some manipulative people on the net and that taught me a lot of lessons I will never forget, but believe me the image isn’t that dark, on the net u can meet great people, who can become ur best friends, and I know what does this mean, I had the chance to meet some great, wonderful persons I will never forget, instead of manipulating me, they hav helped me to see what is right and what is wrong, even when they didn't keep in touch sometimes, i always remember and cherish the moments we have shared together, but on the other hand I regret some moments I have wasted with some worthless people in the chat world.
Chatting is intresting, it can teach u a lot of things abt urself and others, it’s really an enriching experience, but while logging on, and starting an online conversation with someone I have never met, I always keep in mind the sentence Vena Mac Grath often repeats Be aware, Be wary and beware.
