What Is A Chatroom?

Date First Published: 11th March 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Network Services

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 3/10

Learn more about what a chatroom is in this article.

A chatroom is a place online where users communicate by typed messages. Chatrooms are usually live, which means that as soon as a user clicks the 'post' button, the message will instantly appear and other users will see it and it does not require the page to be reloaded. Chatrooms can be private or public. Private chatrooms usually consist of authorised users that can only join if they are granted permission. On the other hand, it is possible for anyone to join a public chatroom with no restrictions.

Note:

Chatrooms may include additional features, such as emojis, file uploads, and voice. Users normally enter a username and may upload a profile picture when joining a chatroom. A chatroom normally consists of a list of users who are currently in the chatroom, which is usually presented in the left or right corner, a page with messages inside message boxes, which contain the username as well as date and time the message was sent, and additional buttons for leaving and customising the settings.

Users normally enter a username and may upload a profile picture when joining a chatroom. A chatroom normally consists of a list of users who are currently in the chatroom, which is usually presented in the left or right corner, a page with messages inside message boxes, which contain the username as well as date and time the message was sent, and additional buttons for leaving and customising the settings.

Examples Of Chatrooms

The number of chatrooms on the internet has increased over a period of time. Discord is a common platform that allows people to communicate by typed messages and VoIP. All users have their own communities, known as 'servers', where any user with the link can join after choosing their username. Fandom, a popular service that contains wikis, allowing users to collaborate on articles together originally had a chat feature, which allowed registered users to communicate by typed messages, although it was removed with the release of the new update and most wikis on Fandom now use Discord.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of A Chatroom

• It is a quick method of online communication - Chatrooms are ideal for long discussions, since they are live and the sent messages will appear instantly as long as the other user has an internet connection. They are an alternative to email.
• No additional software is required to be installed - Most chatrooms, such as Discord are online and do not require users to install any additional software.
• People all over the world can join - It is possible for anyone around the world to communicate by typed messages, regardless of their distance. It is unnecessary for people to travel a very far distance in order for them to have a talk with someone else.

• It can greatly increase the chance of internet trolls and cyberbullying - Especially with public chatrooms that are accessible to anyone, they greatly increase the chance of internet trolls that post disruptive, embarrassing, controversial, or upsetting content designed to get a reaction out of people. Chatrooms are a very common place for people to get cyberbullied, which is when trolling becomes continuous. However, a lot of chatrooms have rules that users must obey and users may be banned or 'kicked' if they are in violation of the rules. 'Kicking' a user out of a chatroom means to force them to leave, but not fully ban them.
• It can be used to spread viruses and malware - Since chatrooms allow users to type almost anything into a text box and display what they type to other users in the chatroom, it is possible for users to share links to viruses and malware.
• You can never be sure of who you are talking to - When sending messages to anonymous people that you have never met in person, you can never be sure of who they are or if they're dangerous. Someone that you know in an online chatroom may not be who they say they are.

Tips For Communicating In A Chatroom

These tips should help you stay safe when communicating in a chatroom.

1. Never reveal your personal information - For your safety, you should never reveal any personal information about yourself in a chatroom, such as your address, bank details, or telephone number, especially in a public one with anonymous people as this personal information can be seen by everyone else in the chatroom and it could cause identity theft.
2. Avoid typing in ALL CAPS as it looks like you are shouting.
3. Avoid trolling or posting inappropriate, disturbing, embarrassing, or controversial content - Performing these actions can get you banned in all sorts of chatrooms.
4. Obey the rules of the chatroom.
5. Talk as if you were talking to someone in real life. For example, is something that you would post in a chatroom something that you would say to someone else in real life? If not, consider refraining from posting it.

History

Chatrooms have been around since early online chat services were invented in 1973. Talkomatic was the first chatroom that was created by Doug Brown and David Woolley. It only allowed up to five people to participate at a time. However, it was a working chatroom as messages displayed on all screens of users and each character appeared on the screen as it was typed. In 2014, a web version of Talkomatic was released.

Roy Trubshaw, a University of Essex student, created a computer program in 1978 that allowed users to play a fantasy-based game from home.  MUD, or Multi-User Dungeon, was the name of the game (a reference to the game Dungeons and Dragons). Originally, the MUD programme was solely used by Trubshaw's buddies, but additional versions of MUD programs began to spread, expanding throughout the internet, which was still in its existence at the time period.

In 1988, IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was founded by Jarkko Oikarinen. Even though it was intended to be used as a digital bulletin board, the majority of users preferred the chat feature. By 1991, developers began development on Java. Java was installed on half a billion computers by 2003. Java chatrooms were also popular because they could be immediately embedded into a webpage using Java. For the first time, internet users had the ability to use chatrooms directly from their browser. Java chat is still used on websites all over the world by both people and businesses.