What is the point of chat rooms?

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I mean, all I've seen in places like MaidMarian(club Marian part) (good site I might add) is for getting laid online where is it doen't count anyways, playing house and Internet dating...other than that, there's just talking...
Honestly, whats the point beyond what i said so far? or am i wrong?

I've never seen the point of chat rooms -- or IM, for that matter. It just never clicked with me. The only one I really appreciate is the "Ask a Librarian" feature on our university library's webpage. That's nice for answering quick questions about the library's equipment and services.

That right there is the point of a chat room hence the term chat no offense but I thought that much was obvious. Did you expect anything else? I mean if you are surprised by something it seems to lack I'd like to know b/c it may be there and you haven't looked at the right chat room... But yeah chat rooms are for people to chat with each other and at best they separate chat rooms so people with like minds can chat with each other more easily.

I never did get the point of a chat room. I went onto the chat room, here three years, ago. Just as I've entered the chat room, one of the members said that they had a problem, so I've surprised the heck out of everybody and told them that I was there. I've stopped the negative talk in it's tracks. That was one of the things that prompted me to take a year's break from this site, in 2008, even though that person said something bad about me, in 2007.

Chat rooms are too spontaneous for me. Message boards like this are great because I can take my time pulling my thoughts together.

I'm not much for group chatter in RL, so virtual chatting seems equally chaotic and nonproductive. IMing, I get - it's pretty much like phone conversation without the awkward pauses and the expectations of supportive or attentive noises ('Uh-huh'...'Yeah, really'...'Awww'...). In fact, I sometimes prefer IMs because they are less personal and intimate than face-to-face or phone conversations.

But thread posting is preferable, for the time allowed to compose thoughts, and use SpellCheck!

I've tried chat rooms once or twice, but I find that they go too quickly for me. Someone will say something interesting, and I start to type a reply. As soon as I'm about to send my 1-2 line reply, I see that the conversation has turned to something else.

My limited experience with chat rooms is that they are too much like a group of people sitting at a table, having multiple conversations, all at the same volume. For me, that's one of the most difficult things about group conversations.

Here's my example chat room conversation:

A: so I gave him the ol' heave ho!

D: Mmm. yum!

B: Just make sure there's no yolk in the whites at all or you'll never get them fluffy enough.

C: Do I need to use a special angel food cake pan?

D: OMG, you didn't!

A: Yeah. Do you think I should tell my sister about what he did?

D: Yes! It's really important that you do that!


It gets confusing, because the stuff is scrolling quickly, and you need to figure out who "D" was answering when she said, "Yes! It's really important...."

It takes me a long time to type. My fingers are quick, but I spend a lot of time thinking of what to say. So, chat rooms don't work for me. I just end up feeling lost and frustrated. I remember being in a chat room with a group of women I "knew" from a parenting forum. They knew I was there, and a few said "hi" and asked if I was going to join, but I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

me too. that and e-mail is about the extent of my internet activity anymore. I like to *think* about things...have real conversations. Chat is a letdown because I always come to the conclusion the person is talking to about 4 other people at the same time.

I often tried to steer the direction of chat rooms on one subject to another. Mostly to get out of subjects I feel uncomfortable with.