The internet has been compared to the wild wild west. Much activity, many seekers, little law, order, or organization. It recently came to my attention that AOL chatrooms, once the very engine of online social life, have all but vanished. The question is: why? I always thought they were fun.
When I signed on to AOL, in 2000, chatrooms were all the rage. They wre innumerable, with room topics from A to Z. The first one I ever entered was called "physical fitness chat", and it was full of people, few of whom were discussing physical fitness. For the most part they seemed to be hitting on each other.
Other topical chatrooms revealed the same basic circumstances; folks discussing anything and everything other than the topic at hand. The place was full of energetic, attention seeking singles, looking.
I don't really know why, but I decided early on that I wasn't going to participate in chasing women, or even makig friends, on AOL. Perhaps it was shyness, or fear of relationships. I decided that I would be an observer, and only an observer, taking notes, collecting material for an article, or even a book.
I made no attempt to keep my intentions secret. I figured it would make no difference to anyone , would have no discernable impact on anyone's behavior, that a self proclaimed "journalist" was among them.
Nevertheless, despite my intentions, I was drawn into the chatroom discussion, and my grand adventure had begun...to be continued...
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