Metaphors of Synchrony: Emergence and Differentiation of Online Chat Devices

Abstract

Through a detailed account of the history of online chat devices, this article shows the emergence, over time, of two distinct interactional formats underlying these social media. They may be captured by two generic metaphors of synchrony: conference (a gathering in a virtual place where unfocused interactions and group sociability occur) and copresence (where practices are centered on the sustainment of contact between individuals who know each other). Internet Relay Chat (IRC) appears as the archetype of the conference format. This notion of chat involves the existence of a relatively persistent shared space-conjured up by various specific metaphors: room, channel, and so on-inside which users get together and through which they are able to find other users, with whom they may weave electronic social ties that may possibly lead to offline relationships. The other format is associated with instant messaging (IM) devices, on the model of "ICQ" software. Although there seems to be a decline in interest for devices based on the former format, those based on the latter benefit from a growing popularity, possibly indicating deeper sociological implications.

Instant messaging social networks

“…In the present study, we focused on IM communication, which has become a preferred method of communication among young people (Latzko-Toth, 2010;Quan-Haase, 2007). A survey of American college students found that 86% used the Internet, and that college students are more frequent users of IM than the overall Internet population: whereas only half of all Internet users have ever sent an instant message, nearly three quarters of students have done so (Jones & Madden, 2002).…”

Being there with others

“…In technological settings, copresence can be felt through peripheral awareness of someone's availability to chat, watching someone's on-screen behaviour (Kraut et al, 2002, Zhao, 2003, or "…paralinguistically…" (Zhao, 2003, p. 452) in text message exchanges where people express emotions or feelings to others. Instant messaging and online chat are also presented as good mediums for establishing copresence because of 'perpetual connectedness' (Latzko-Toth, 2010, Zhao, 2003. Video calls and other visual representations might also foster copresence (Zhao, 2003).…”

Users as Co-Designers of Software-Based Media: The Co-Construction of Internet Relay Chat

“…Irc is an online chat protocol created in Finland in the late 1980s that allowed millions of Internet users to have real-time, polyphonic, written conversations through a decentralized, always-up platform long before the arrival of IcQ, msN messenger, Google Talk, and Twitter (Latzko-Toth, 2010). Irc started as a modest program with limited features, evolving into a large, complex technical infrastructure consisting of myriad independent networks of servers.…”