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     Technology/Socializing, (sdf.org), 11/03/2018
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It's time to take out my perennial rant about online chat 
and dust off the cobwebs. Why it's time I could not say, but 
it is time.

Actually, I can say why it's time: because there's a new 
shell chat program on circumlunar.space that I've been 
enjoying recently, and it has made me question why I feel 
the way I do about online chat. My brain isn't quite as 
random as I thought a moment ago.

My start with any sort of online chat was during the BBS 
era, starting with Prodigy. I never had AOL as an ISP, but I 
was there for the IRC heyday, and I did participate in xmpp 
and the other IM protocols (it seems there were a few, but I 
can't recall their names.) The client-to-client IM, or even 
small group chats, never bothered me in their format. That 
is to say, I never felt uncomfortable with their use.

IRC, on the other hand, was always an affront. I never 
really knew why I felt this way until recently. The issue 
for me is this: it's a real-time protocol with potentially 
large groups of people involved. The conversations can be 
long, convoluted, and difficult to break into. People 
trample one another in an attempt to be a part of the riot. 
My issue, I think, is that there are just too many people 
there.

You see, I'm a fairly antisocial guy. I like to think of 
myself as a closet introvert- well, it's not that I like it, 
but rather that I feel I was forced into the roll of a 
pretend extrovert and I like to feel that I'm good at it. 
It's a comfort to me to tell myself that I'm fooling folks 
in this way. The truth is, when it comes to IRC, I just 
feel overwhelmed. I always have.

Now, consider a few other players in online chat: commode on 
SDF, party on Grex, and now schat on circumlunar.space. 
These are real-time chat programs, with a potentially 
unlimited number of participants at any given moment. But, 
there are some huge differences:

1. The number of people that you're likely to encounter 
   live and online is consistently ~0-20.

2. There is no need for a client that remains connected so 
   you don't miss the conversation; the ability to scroll 
   back is built-in to all three programs.

3. The conversations are such that you can pop in, read and 
   comment, and pop out without interacting in realtime.

The long and short of it is this: I can participate in an 
online chat with com, party, or schat, without actually 
having to be social in a particular moment. I can contribute 
energy without any particular demand, at a level that I can 
manage, and it works. The conversation continues, people 
jump in and out, and no one is required to be anywhere at a 
particular time, etc. The lower requirement means I feel 
like I can participate without worrying as much, if that 
makes sense.

</rant> as people used to (and sometimes still do) say.

If you have a chance, drop in at com, grex.org's party, or 
circumlunar.space's schat, and be sure to record a few lines 
*even if no one is currently present*. This is the critical 
part: in all three, people can read what you said after 
you've left, and respond to you when they're able. It's a 
nice, happy medium, I think.