Chat

Online chat is the synchronous, interactive, real-time exchange of messages via a mediated source. Traditionally chatting is conducted in “chat rooms” where multiple users engage in text-based conversations about topics of interest (e.g., music, television, sports, dating). With technological advances, video chatting, which allows participants to be seen and heard, has become popular. Some chat rooms provide video chatting capabilities for users who have Web cameras, or users can engage in video chatting with selected others via services, such as Skype, Yahoo Messenger, or Google Talk. Mobile telephones and handheld devices, such as iPads also offer video chatting capabilities.

In one of the first articles to discuss public relations’ use of the Internet, including chat rooms and other platforms, G. A. Marken (1998) recognized the opportunities, dangers, and possibilities of chatting for organizations. Marken advised practitioners to stay informed about new technologies, as well as the need for organizations that use resources, such as chat tools to be vigilant about monitoring comments made by clients. This advice is even more relevant for organizations today as chatting continues to be an increasingly important real time organization-public communication tool. For example, the Public Relations Society of America annually holds weekly chats with members on the state of ethics in public relations during September, which it recognizes as “ethics month”.

There are also negative consequences associated with online chat participation. Because chat participants typically present themselves as socially desirable, misrepresentation is common and can range from exaggerating an aspect of one's physical appearance, such as height, weight, or attractiveness, in text-based chats to pretending to be someone else completely for more nefarious purposes. Further, incidents of harassment, from cyberbullying to terrorism, are on the increase in online forums. Research indicates that individuals who participate in high-interactivity social interactions, such as online chat, have significantly reduced face-to-face interaction with family members and friends, hobby group participation, telephone interactions, and television viewing.

These behaviors can have negative implications for practitioners because the ability to build authentic relationships is impeded. Crises occur when public relations agency and corporate department personnel engage in misrepresentations. For instance, some agencies have their own representatives post favorable comments about a client's product or service; however, because the representatives do not clearly identify themselves as such, the posts appear to be written by unbiased, third-party users. Such falsehoods are not only unethical, but potentially harmful to relationships and reputation.

The technology used to allow chatting has been around for decades. The earliest instance of synchronous communication was the 1960's TENEX system, which linked two terminals that allowed text typed into either terminal to appear on both. In 1968, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), under the U.S. Department of Defense, created ARPANET, a network that became the foundation for the Internet. The introduction in 1974 of transmission control protocols (TCP) and Internet protocols (IP), the rules (protocols) that deliver data between computers, expanded the network to more users.

In 1988, Internet relay chat (IRC) was introduced and allowed multiple participants to chat via connections between servers. Early IRC users faced issues of compatibility, network congestion, slow connectivity, and rudimentary design of the chat features. In 1997, America Online's instant messaging system (AIM) revolutionized chat room usage and allowed access across wide and varying audiences. Although IRC exists on a much more limited scale today, direct website links and greater accessibility to video chatting provide more popular chat options.

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