Pointlife
Chatting reflects emotions of student users
The Pointer
mbaum925@uwsp.edu
When a ding emanates from your computer, do you come calling? Many Pointers do.
Katie Heinz, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point only chats when on Facebook, the trendy social networking Web site. Ashley Mohr and Maggie Rolandi, other freshmen at UW-SP, both use Facebook, but also MSN and Mac Webchat, respectively.
Many that surf the Internet find themselves wrapped up in things as tame as fantasy sports to more risque material such as pornography, although at UW-SP social networking sites still help draw interest to chatting.
“I normally stay on longer to chat because Facebook has already caught my attention,” said Rolandi.
One human struggle that produces online chatting is the possible tension created from face-to-face communication.
“You don’t have a real person in front of you [when chatting], so it is less awkward,” said Mohr.
Heinz herself also finds it easier to chat with a friend or acquaintance online than in person. Rolandi finds that it is a faster method of communication.
While chatting online, the “walls” of anxiety and trepidation melt away.
“It is easier to talk face-to-face, because some people don’t care,“ said Mohr.
In the same manner, sometimes anger will take the place of anxiety when communicating online.
“It’s easier to be mean; you can log off if you are mad at someone,” said Rolandi.
Heinz believes, along with Rolandi and Mohr, that chatting is done more than to just kill time, but it is used as a means of staying in touch.
Although chatting is still a part of life, students find that they find time to text as well. Aly Bettinger, a UW-SP freshman, and a user of Facebook chat as well, is not obsessed with it, but also finds it easy with the widespread use of cell phones, to text. Mohr noted that with a cell phone, texting is a rather smooth process.
Some internet and computer screen names are linked to their login passwords. America Online and Mac Webchat are two computer operating mechanisms which incorporate this feature. Rolandi’s Mac utilizes this function.
Conceptually, chatting happens in a virtual computer world, and can be discontinued at any time. Heinz shared the belief that it would not be hard to cut off chatting as it is not an overly consuming part of her life.
Chatting can happen anywhere at anytime; only you can decide your way of doing it.
