However in his essay 'Text Talk' (1997), John Suler, a clinical psychologist of cyberspace, makes the case that text chat has some characteristics that will ensure its ongoing popularity, such as its anonymity and minimalism, which allow for creative solutions like emoticons and for a communication that feels like it connects speakers very directly.

This development may replace text chat, and chat rooms may become areas in which participants watch something captured on a single webcam, or where two people in a private chat watch each other via webcam. Advances in technology are making voice and video chat increasingly available and affordable. Often partners masturbate while exchanging text messages. During cyber-sex, two or sometimes more people exchange messages describing sexual acts and their own feelings, which are aimed at evoking both self-arousal and that of other parties. Sex online is known as cybersex or cybering. A significant number of chat rooms cater to people who specifically want sexual encounters.Īccording to Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, who does interdisciplinary work on emotion, people coming to chat rooms for sex are looking for the following: to experiment with online sex within an existing relationship to develop an online relationship that could transfer into an offline relationship at some point or to have short online affairs. People may start chatting in a general chat room and after introduction and flirtation split off to a private room in which the participants are limited. There are chat rooms to cover practically any topic, from gardening to politics, as well as for particular demographics, such as children or teens. Some chat rooms require registration, others are open. However Web-based chat rooms are also increasingly available, so that users do not need a special program to enter them. Individuals can chat using special programs (e.g., Internet Relay Chat) or servers may offer chat rooms (e.g., America Online ).

Chat rooms have been a popular form of online communication since the early days of the Internet. Chat rooms provide a form of online communication where people interact on a one-to-one or many-to-many basis in real time (synchronously).

Chat room programs