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I remember AOL chatrooms & dial-up internet, it was slow as F*** but i loved talking to people haha! Anyway, I think besides all the spam bots and trolls and other BS like that, I feel it ended mainly because of too many people asking a/s/l lol and then all these crazy predator people going after people who were dumb enough to answer, I think online identity theft or something like that plays a part too. To give you the short version: safety reasons, especially for minors...........although, technology is an ever changing thing, it is a double edged sword..and with the end of chatrooms where predators can stalk people using the internet to connect with people across the globe (because they lack a social life where they live IRL), these social media sites are just a new form for that to happen, depending on how smart you are about using it. I feel I may have contradicted or repeated myself within this paragraph, but i'm hoping people get the gist of what I was trying to explain.
OP, aren't you posting right now on one of the venues that replaced chatrooms? I don't understand your question. Online forums replaced chatrooms. And FB has a chatroom equivalent, as well.
Same reasons 8tracks disappeared. AOL chat rooms died along with 56k dial-up modems.
Times have changed for the better. No more getting on the computer and hearing that annoying dial up - just swipe right ----->and your getting laid.
Can't really say your explanation makes any sense. I don't ever remember getting slow responses from people in an AOL chat room simply because we were all using dial-up modems. That type of textual communication required a very minimal bandwidth to work.
I remember AOL chatrooms & dial-up internet, it was slow as F*** but i loved talking to people haha! Anyway, I think besides all the spam bots and trolls and other BS like that, I feel it ended mainly because of too many people asking a/s/l lol and then all these crazy predator people going after people who were dumb enough to answer, I think online identity theft or something like that plays a part too. To give you the short version: safety reasons, especially for minors...........although, technology is an ever changing thing, it is a double edged sword..and with the end of chatrooms where predators can stalk people using the internet to connect with people across the globe (because they lack a social life where they live IRL), these social media sites are just a new form for that to happen, depending on how smart you are about using it. I feel I may have contradicted or repeated myself within this paragraph, but i'm hoping people get the gist of what I was trying to explain.
AOL chat rooms did certainly gain a quick reputation for pedos and stalkers to hang out and choose victims, but like you said that stuff just morphed into social media stalking and pedo creeping!
Some of the reasons people are listing in this thread have some validity but I'm still not seeing the "smoking gun" reason that chat rooms died. The search goes on!
Can't really say your explanation makes any sense. I don't ever remember getting slow responses from people in an AOL chat room simply because we were all using dial-up modems. That type of textual communication required a very minimal bandwidth to work.
OP, aren't you posting right now on one of the venues that replaced chatrooms? I don't understand your question. Online forums replaced chatrooms. And FB has a chatroom equivalent, as well.
I can tell you never used AOL chat rooms because FB chat rooms and online forums do not provide the same experience. The idea of an online discussion board has been around since the early 80's when it was called Usenet -- which I think still exists but is hardly used by anyone. However, online discussion forums are more of a "post-and-wait-for-response" format. In other words, it doesnt replicate a real-time conversation you have face to face with another human. I can post something in here and then have to wait hours for a response. AOL chat rooms were real time -- you ask a question and seconds later you get a response, and then you respond to that person within seconds.
That's really the essence of my question --- what happened to real time chat rooms?
I know Facebook has one but you can only talk to one person at a time, right? AOL chat rooms would allow 35+ people to interact in real time at once. Very addicting stuff.
That's really the essence of my question --- what happened to real time chat rooms?
I know Facebook has one but you can only talk to one person at a time, right? AOL chat rooms would allow 35+ people to interact in real time at once. Very addicting stuff.
I'm not sure about FB as I don't use it I'm afraid.
I think the answer is clear as to why they have mostly gone but I'm sure there must be something like the chat room you liked?
Can I ask why AOL was hugely popular with you?... Did it have a special feature or just the people? Etc edit I've just noticed the 35+ people
CD has chat threads in the respective forums ( has a sticky on it )
Can I ask why AOL was hugely popular with you?... Did it have a special feature or just the people? Etc edit I've just noticed the 35+ people
I think the 2 main reasons why AOL chat rooms had enormous appeal to me in the late 90's were because:
1) It was the "only game in town" for online chatting --- there was another chat app called ICQ but it was very clunky by comparison
2) It allowed the age, sex, location search for people online close to your ZIP code
Those 2 features were VERY powerful in chatting up total strangers and hoping to meet women offline for sexual encounters.
Truth be told, I probably would've found the chat rooms boring without the ZIP code screening tool. While I do remember chatting up ladies many states away from me, the majority of the time I was striking up conversations with women who lived within 45 minutes of me. I fancied myself as an online casanova, because many times late at night after a couple hrs. of flirty conversation, I would get that much-awaited IM from a girl --- "Do you wanna come over to my place tonight?"
Truth be told, I probably would've found the chat rooms boring without the ZIP code screening tool. While I do remember chatting up ladies many states away from me, the majority of the time I was striking up conversations with women who lived within 45 minutes of me. I fancied myself as an online casanova, because many times late at night after a couple hrs. of flirty conversation, I would get that much-awaited IM from a girl --- "Do you wanna come over to my place tonight?"
Wow, I can see why you miss it. Sight unseen, two strangers would agree to meet and bang? That would revolutionize the lives of the guys here who feel doomed to celibacy and singledom.
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