SPIDERWEBS:
I Am, Therefore I Chat
BY SHEILA FRANKLIN
"YEP, we are all here for the "educational pursuits" that chat brings.... RIGHT????... *LOL*.... Hell, I am here for the idle babble.... and adult company.....*wink*"
Siderwebs: Chapter Synopsis
I. I Am, Therefore I Chat
This opening chapter explains how and why author Sheila Franklin became a "chataholic". She introduces the reader to her world and some of the people encountered there. It is an overall look at her membership in a community that she has come to know as her "second home". As with the rest of the book, it is done from Franklin's point of view, using examples of chatters she knows personally as well utilizing the unique "lingo" of chat when quoting those interviewed.
II. Anatomy of a Chatroom
This chapter deals with a detailed description of chatting: how it is done, who does it, where it can be found, etc. It illustrates just how one goes about joining a chatroom and introduces readers to Franklin's own favorite chatsite. It also aids the reader in becoming acquainted with the subtle nuances that are involved in chat, i.e. language and verbal etiquette.
III. The Addiction
Chatting is an addiction like any other. Once a person becomes "hooked",
she/he will often spend as many as 14 hours a day with chatfriends. Using her own
experiences as well as those of personal acquaintance, Franklin recounts just how strong that addiction can be. She candidly describes her own history of how and why she became a chataholic and depicts others that share in this compulsion.
IV. The Wedding - The Manipulation of Chat
In this chapter Franklin relates a tale of how she and another chatfriend actually
got cybermarried in a chatroom. She illustrates with incidents leading up to it (i.e. the cyber-engagement). She also describes in detail the event itself and its bittersweet conclusion. Throughout the narrative she relates both her feelings and those of her "roomies" about the occurrence.
V. Multitasking as an Art Form
This chapter describes the way in which chatters commonly combine their
chattime with their real lives, whether that be at place of employment or home. Franklin
uses examples such as chatting while taking a lunch break or performing household chores. She includes personal experience and quotes of chatters as they recount such unique events as "witnessing" the death of Princess Diana at the moment it occurred.
V. Chatters I have Known and Loved
Franklin recounts the "reality" of chatting, i.e. how those that do it discover their
friends to be as close to r/t (real time) as is possible without the use of all five senses.
She does this by using examples of those she has personally become acquainted with in addition to first hand interviews and comments by other chatters who have fallen in and/or out of love on the net.
VII. The Obsession
In an almost fairy tale-like setting, Franklin relates "becoming" half of a romance novel. She describes how she met, fell in love with, and had a lengthy cyber-relationship with a man she shared nothing with beyond the printed word.
VIII. Before There was Chat, There was E-Mail
In this day and age, almost everybody with a computer has at least one E-mail address. This chapter encompasses how and why it is used in a general sense as well as recounting some of the more interesting and creative e-mail that Franklin has received during her time on the net.
IX. The Cyberlife of a Wordsmith
Included here are examples of poetry, prose, and cyber-art that Franklin has
collected from various chat sites she has visited over the last three years. These are
original creations most of which might have been lost had she not preserved them in her book.
X. Transition - When Cyber Becomes Real
At some point in a chatter's life, she/he begins to think about the next step,
meeting those only known "cyberly". Franklin recounts the exchange of pictures, phone
calls, and real meetings with other chatters in her own life as well as others.
XI. The Reunion
During the writing of this book Franklin took part in a chatroom "reunion", a gathering of "roomies" in actual fact. She candidly describes the event in great detail so that readers will know what actually goes on during events such as this one.
XII. Cyberchat in the Extreme
It is in this chapter that Franklin discusses the more exceptional forms of adult chatting and chatrooms. These include the realms of cybersex, homosexuality, and sadism/masochism. She utilizes descriptions as well as personal interviews to back up her statements. She also includes how phonesex often becomes a followup to chatting.
XIII. The War- The Manipulation of Chat
The author describes how chatrooms parallel real life civilizations as "cyberwars" occur in them. She expounds on the verbal abuse that often happens during such events and how its effect often carries over to the real life of the victims.
XIV. The Separation
Eventually the chatter realizes that he/she must lessen the amount of time chatting or leave the net completely. Franklin openly discusses her personal experience of doing just that and also includes examples of others doing likewise.
Appendices
Chatroom List
This listing includes approximately 30 of the largest, most popular, and in some cases the most unique chatrooms that Franklin researched. Included are the net addresses to reach those sites as well as a brief description of each. Because Franklin personally visited them, she effectively rates them in terms of difficulty of chat, options, and style.
Glossary
Franklin defines terms that are used in chatting as well as some that are used in
the writing of her book. Over 50 words and phrases are used in this chapter as well as common "emoticons", the shorthand used by chatters to denote action or attitude.
