The evolution of chat forums

captstab777 · #1 09-16-2007, 09:39 PM

I'm new to them and I like them. Is the reason they've gained popularity because of the decline of the chat room? I used to use chat rooms on yahoo like 7 years ago. Now I'm on there at it is all spam bots and webcam bots. It seems like there are no real people on there. Also, forums allow people to converse without necessarily being logged on at the same time, and convos can go for days or weeks.

Was that all part of the evolution of chat forums?

Dominic · #2 09-16-2007, 10:49 PM

I've been wondering this, too. Back in the mid-90s the big thing was AOL chat rooms...everyone conversed live...I'm wondering why that has seemed to fall out of favor while forums like this flourish...

katyseagull · #3 09-16-2007, 11:12 PM

I guess I'm pretty out of it. I didn't even realize that chat rooms had declined. I never participate in them. I really enjoy the forums. It doesn't bother me at all that it's not a live conversation. I actually prefer it.

plzleenowhammy · #4 09-16-2007, 11:33 PM

a/s/l/p?

youtalkfunny · #5 09-17-2007, 02:26 AM

[ QUOTE ]
a/s/l/p?

[/ QUOTE ]

What are you wearing?

Dominic · #6 09-17-2007, 02:26 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
a/s/l/p?

[/ QUOTE ]

What are you wearing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Please confirm you're at least 18. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Stagger_Lee · #7 09-17-2007, 02:53 AM

I'm not sure about this - back in the bbs days there were message boards of sorts as well as real-time chat.

Both still serve their respective purposes today.

Rick Nebiolo · #8 09-17-2007, 05:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I've been wondering this, too. Back in the mid-90s the big thing was AOL chat rooms...everyone conversed live...I'm wondering why that has seemed to fall out of favor while forums like this flourish...

[/ QUOTE ]

Like Katy I've never used online chat and never was interested so I can't imagine a time when "everyone conversed live". But for me writing something late at night and maybe looking forward to a response or two the next day is sort of satisfying. OTOH the thought that what I write gets lost in some sort of electronic ether (assuming this happens in chat) is pretty depressing.

~ Rick

soah · #9 09-17-2007, 06:58 AM

I've never used public chat rooms... been using message boards since first getting internet access in 1999. The software was soooooo primitive back then... UBB didn't even have a way to unlock a thread once it had been locked, for example. No logging in, no PMs... but they were still quite popular.

diebitter · #10 09-17-2007, 07:26 AM

I used a chatroom once. I dunno, I thought it was an x-files chatroom (or some other TV show) I think, and it was dumb. It was full of peurile talk among people who obviously knew each other and weren't interested in anyone else participating. There was also what seemed to be 2 retards flirting with each other. Very unwelcoming. Didn't bother again.