The Bitchin Internet

Ever notice how most people online are in fowl moods?

I occasionally go into chat rooms when I’m bored and have nothing else to do. Usually, I’m just looking to talk with others to kill time. Who knows, maybe if I’m lucky I’ll find someone normal that can become a regular chat buddy. Make that extremely lucky. . .

Most people online seem to be online to get rid of rage. I find this in chat rooms and other online communities – everyone seems angry and just looking to pick a fight, or rant about their sorry excuse of a life.

I don’t know about you, but when things aren’t going my way, I do other things to take my mind off of my troubles. I hit the gym and do an extra-long workout to sweat it out. Maybe I’ll do some housework to take my mind off of my problems. Or even getting together with friends and just hanging out – anything but go online and vent to strangers.

Yes – strangers. Anyone online can say or be anything they want, so unless you’ve actually physically met someone in person, anyone you ‘meet’ online is a stranger.

And talking about my problems to a group of strangers seems unreal to me. How can someone who doesn’t really know me, help me muddle through my messes? Even for that matter – why would someone who doesn’t know me give a rat’s ass about my problems – they have their own to deal with?

Some people online seem severely depressed – and they use the online world in place of what they really need – professional help. Imagine the money professional head doctors could make off most nuts online. If they could open an online practice, they’d be set for life.

The real problem is for non-depressed, relatively happy and ‘normal’ people like me – I don’t go online to pick fights, vent or seek mental help from strangers. I go online to chat – really chat. Not about my problems, or someone else’s – but to talk intelligently about the world around us.

Sad thing is, that kind of chat doesn’t seem to exist anymore online. It used too – once upon a time. Back before the Internet existed, everyone used dial-up modems to connect to Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), back then people really chatted online.

Back in the days of BBSes, there were message boards for everything from general chit-chat, to specific software and hardware technologies, to television shows, movies, and hobbies. Kind of along the same lines of topics chat rooms are divided into today.

Though back then, rarely did people chat live with others online. Nope, this was way before that live-chat technology existed. Back in those days, you read messages posted by others, and responded to those messages. Then others would log in later, read your responses, and respond in kind – and on and on the dialogue went. I think that added something to the whole experience – you got to take your time and actually read well thought out ideas. Then, you had the time to construct your own well thought out ideas and respond.

These days, chat rooms are filled with so many people, the text flies by so fast you often miss anything more than a handful of words – hardly the venue for deep thought.

Maybe that’s why so many angry souls visit the online world – the last thing they want or need is to think?

Too bad – I enjoy a good thunkin online.