Chat advantages and chat rooms or do you want a reason to talk to someone you don’t know ? In one illustrative intervention study (Hampton & Wellman, 2003), a suburb of Toronto had been turned into a “wired suburb” when residents were offered a package of online services, including high-speed internet access, videophone, online health advice, and local online discussion forums. After this intervention, follow-up data suggested that the internet actually stimulates more offline contact (resonating with the debate reviewed above) and promotes collective action to solve community problems offline (see also Blanchard & Horan, 1998).
Most of us feel anxious whenever we think about approaching and talking to strangers. We start doubting ourselves and think of all the things that could go wrong. However, there is something I find surprising about anxiety. The more you do things that make you nervous, the less nervous you feel, and the more confident you become. By making it a habit to talk to two or three strangers every day, you gradually start becoming more comfortable with initiating conversations with strangers, and your self-confidence goes up. Whenever you find yourself in social situations, you stop feeling awkward or shy because you are already used to interacting with strangers. This also gives you the confidence to introduce yourself to people you want to meet for some reason (such as a potential employer or a potential date).
Similarly, when the “Homenet” study in Pittsburgh found that internet newcomers were somewhat more stressed, it was front-page news. The media paid much less attention to the follow-up report that found much of the stress does not continue as people become used to the internet. The assumption underlying fear about what the internet is doing to relationships is that the internet seduces people into spending time online at the expense of time spent with friends and family. As a result, Americans may be sitting at their computer screens at home and not going out to talk to our neighbors across the street or visiting relatives. There are worries that relationships that exist in text – or even screen-to-screen on flickering webcams – are less satisfying than those in which people can really see, hear, smell, and touch each other. See even more details on alternative chat.
When you make the effort of actually seeing the other person and when you show them through your expressions that you are listening and you care about what they are saying, you will show the other that you value them. You will make them feel that what they are saying is important and heard and make sure that they are listening to you too. For example, if you travel to meet with a client, you are showing them that they are worth the time, effort, and money. You will guarantee that they will hear your message and that you will have their complete attention.
But even as social media connects teens to friends’ feelings and experiences, the sharing that occurs on these platforms can have negative consequences. Sharing can veer into oversharing. Teens can learn about events and activities to which they weren’t invited, and the highly curated lives of teens’ social media connections can lead them to make negative comparisons with their own lives: 88% of teen social media users believe people share too much information about themselves on social media. See a few extra details at random stranger chat.
