Want Attention In Chat Rooms? Change Your Name To Jennychick1997

from the asl? dept

Tue, May 9th 2006 1:18pm — Joseph Weisenthal

Here's a great example of why more research needs to be made public. A study out of the University of Maryland suggests that female screen names in chat rooms receive 25 times as many private threatening or sexually-explicit messages as men. This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has spent time in a chat room. Even in a room dedicated to a benign subject such as chess, the conversation can turn sexual when a female enters the room, or when female GM Alexandra Kosteniuk is mentioned. The scene inside chat rooms is like a bar, though anonymity helps lower inhibitions in ways that alcohol can only dream of. Still, just as you can hide your identity when privately addressing someone else, so too can they. The next person you hit on may be a professor from the University of Maryland Engineering Department.

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47 Comments

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Justin Siegel, 9 May 2006 @ 1:45pm

Feel free to test the theory
Feel free to test the theory on MocoSpace.com if you like and tell me the results. I'm not sure the results will bear out especially on a mobile community like ours.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2006 @ 1:52pm

have to change my alias...
Damn... have to stop using jennychick1997 now...
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Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2006 @ 1:53pm

Heh
The next person you hit on may also be an undercover cop. Are there really any single women cruising for men online, or are they ALL law enforcement?
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jennychick1997, 9 May 2006 @ 1:55pm

Like No way!!!
OMG! COOKIES!!!

Shoot, gotta find a new name.

I know, maybe jennychick1998... yeah....
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Kamran, 9 May 2006 @ 2:07pm

Yep...
My friend and I went onto an ICQ chatroom, teens, and our nick was CaliGurl18fca. Oh boy.

If you want company, that's alllll you gotta do. Perverts galore. "hi." "cyber?" "sexxx?"
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hotchickgurlICQ95448621, 9 May 2006 @ 2:23pm

Please
Anyone wanna cyber?
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MM, 9 May 2006 @ 2:26pm

Old News
Heheh, didn't this covered by the old axiom "on the internet, no one knows you are a dog"?
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JerseyRich, 9 May 2006 @ 2:29pm

Years ago (mid 90s) when we had AOL, my wife's screenname was Female23. She innocently chose it because she was - you guessed it - female and 23.

Well, once I logged in with her SN and got in a chat room. DAMM! I literally could not keep up with the PMs that were coming through.

What a trip.
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Posterlogo, 9 May 2006 @ 2:32pm

So how'd you hear about it?
I like how you start off by referencing your own organization on a totally unrelated story about making research articles public (which they are...or maybe you expect all publications of anything to be free). Curious how you heard about this research into chatroom names if the research is so hidden. Curious indeed.
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Intergalactic Hussy, 9 May 2006 @ 2:34pm

Crazy People
People are crazy. I spoke to a chick a few times on IM. I thought she was cool... turns out way too materialistic (ugh label whore) and extremely psycho! I was like five years (I'm 25 now) younger and thought it would be a good idea to just stop talking to her. It's not like I really knew her anyway.

Bad move. Crazy bitch set-up several emails just to screw with me years later... And even a year or so after I thought that was over, she finds me on myspace (I knew it!) and is trying to spread awful rumors that don't even make sense. I'm mainly bothered by the fact that she's bothering my friends with fake profiles. And I thought myspace annoyed me a year ago...

(All I wanted was to just meet up with old friends. F@#!ing crazy people, they're all over. Always be careful. Because at the least, its annoying as hell.)
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Well Hello female 23, 9 May 2006 @ 2:34pm

LOL @ female23 and the rest of the messages.
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computer geek, 9 May 2006 @ 2:36pm

careful what you ask for...
Hey, guys, this can backfire, too! One of my friends (a guy) thought that he was slick by posing as a 19 yr old lesbian on Microsoft Chat (several years ago) thinking he would get to talk to other hot lesbians... He got a lot of PMs, all sexual in nature. At first, he thought he found a gold mine. The joke was on him, though, as EVERY OTHER PERSON claiming to be a lesbian was actually another guy! 8 Years later and he is STILL trying to live that down!

Someone already mentioned about undercover cops posing as teenage girls online. I, for one, am really happy that police are putting in such a great effort to stop online predators. Thanks to shows, such as Dateline, I think many other would-be predators are realizing that online stalking is not a good idea. With today's technology, it is very easy to track online users, even if the so-called anonymous person is using some sort of ip-blocking software.
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josh, 9 May 2006 @ 3:12pm

People still use chat rooms?
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Rofl, 9 May 2006 @ 3:15pm

In general
Well i dont know what research articles you are looking at cause i have completely stopped doing chat rooms all together. The reason being is because it seems that every time I get into a chat room i get analyzed by some weird psychiatrist or some other random person.
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Dr. Wierdric Von Psychiatrison, 9 May 2006 @ 3:41pm

Re: In general
I think you have issues with letting go, and probably abandoment issues after the circus no longer allowed you to travel with them. Perhaps you should see a Psycologist for some new meds.
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ConceptJunkie (profile), 9 May 2006 @ 3:42pm

Re: In general
Rofl:

That's not a chat room. You're running the old ELIZA program.
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m0rd3r, 9 May 2006 @ 3:46pm

Re: Please
"Anyone wanna cyber?"

I put on my robe and wizard hat...
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captain obvious, 9 May 2006 @ 4:28pm

Stupid researchers
yet another example of "researchers" wasting their time... putting into paper diagrmas what is plain to see with the butt-naked eye...

more obvious than masticating food is the fact that men are a bundle of built up horniness and nerves... what will researchers discover next?

TOP STORY: Researchers discover that chewing food makes it easier to swallow
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Kevin Mesiab, 9 May 2006 @ 4:48pm

uh...
...this is news?
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Christina, 9 May 2006 @ 5:02pm

Yes
We have come so far that all the things-we-didn't-know stories have been covered, and they've resorted to telling us things-we-already-know. Back to basics, as they say.
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LA POLICIA, 9 May 2006 @ 5:29pm

WE HAVE YOU NOW!!!!
PUT DOWN THE COMPUTER AND COME OUT WITH YOU GLANDS UP!!!1!
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jennychick1997, 9 May 2006 @ 5:32pm

i am a chick dammit
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JennyTransGenVegetarianCarnivoreMale32, 9 May 2006 @ 6:20pm

Re: Re: In general
ELIZA! Ha! Haven't thought of that in years... why don't you play a little 'Zork' and puzzle over the "artificially intelligent" 'life' program?!

Ah, the good old days...
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MS, 9 May 2006 @ 9:15pm

Hot Nerdy Chicks
This woman is beautiful, smart, she can play chess... Why wouldn't men want to talk about her... :-) Quit man bashing... if it wasn't for men trying to be with women none of us would be here right now...

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Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2006 @ 11:55pm

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Anonymous Coward, 10 May 2006 @ 12:00am

alert('boo, Techdirt vulnerable to XSS!');

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jennychick1998, 10 May 2006 @ 7:15am

Re: Like No way!!!
HEY! You better not try to steal my screenname you ho! I have been using it since... well, for a long time now. I tried to get jennychick1997 but you must have already had it. I NEVER get threatening or sexual messages.
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Michael, 10 May 2006 @ 7:17am

Pffft.... that's a Photoshop, for sure ;)
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noseeme, 26 May 2006 @ 5:45pm

Re: careful what you ask for...
What is it with guys hot for lesbians? Hello! They are lesbians -you know into FEmales. You can never get rid of human preditors until lawmakers realize they are not "sick". They are compulsive criminals and have to be locked away forever.
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noseeme, 26 May 2006 @ 5:52pm

Re: Stupid researchers
Hey! Reseachers have to sit through years of boring classes until they grow up to be researchers. The dumbies are the ijits who give them the money to do the stupid research. You can't get a grant to study chronic rapists but there's a ton of money to study the mating rituals of the three toed bullfrog.
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noseeme, 26 May 2006 @ 5:56pm

Re:
Honey you're not a coward. Just smart. Too many crazy people out there these days. Keep your head down and your ass covered.
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unknown, 5 Jun 2006 @ 11:07am

Re: Crazy People
ok pt it this way you shouldnt have went on the chat rooms anyway your 25 u can do without them
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one tough cookie, 5 Jun 2006 @ 11:11am

Re: Re: Crazy People
dou know what a mean though where is the point on goin on a chat room when all you want is for someone to act, now i qote "crazy" al over you get a bloodly well grip and get a life for gods sake 25!!!!! acting like a fukin teenager
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truth teller, 5 Jun 2006 @ 11:19am

Re:
why lie you aint no chick probably some fat ginger haired scotish bitch
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din, 7 Jun 2006 @ 7:45pm

good line
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yup...., 9 Jul 2006 @ 11:11pm

Re: Hot Nerdy Chicks
b/c ur stupid shes fugly and chess is for stupid lil nerdy ppl....

thats fuckin y...
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Jazzie, 10 Jul 2006 @ 4:23am

attention!!
if u want attention in chatrooms u hav 2 pick a cool name like a attention grabbing 1!!!! get out there
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joshuascott, 21 Jul 2006 @ 7:46am

Re: Heh buddy list
HI OK YES
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gary, 22 Aug 2007 @ 6:00pm

chat
how do i chage my chat room name?
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gary, 22 Aug 2007 @ 6:00pm

chat
how do i chage my chat room name?
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gary, 22 Aug 2007 @ 6:01pm

chat
how do i chage my chat room name?
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camille, 17 Sep 2007 @ 1:22am

Re: Like No way!!!
can i add you as my friend
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Roman, 23 Jan 2008 @ 7:16pm

Wow guys there is sun outside ? :[
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giuditta, 6 Nov 2008 @ 5:25am

scalo 76
sendo me vevono lasciare stare fracesco delle vibrazioni sulla sua vita privatta
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2009 @ 4:05pm

any single guys?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2009 @ 4:43pm

whats cyber mOrd3?
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casey, 17 May 2010 @ 8:11am

Re: Heh
That is really true
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