Experimenting with Bravenet Chat Feature

Way back in 1996, I believe it was, AOL announced it was going to charge a flat monthly fee instead of their per-hour fee and, being the computer nut that I was, I had to sign up and see what it was all about.  What a world it opened up to me!  I’m not afraid to admit that, in the beginning, I was completely hooked!  None of my family, friends, or co-workers knew what the heck AOL was and even had a lot of running jokes about my latest addiction.  It was those chat room that did it to me!  I could talk to people in Texas, New York, Florida, Washington… I felt so well-traveled!  Heck, even global! 

Of course back then, folks were mostly afraid to be vulgar or proposition anyone, for fear of being tracked down by the FBI or made a public spectacle by neighbors who recognized them, and being as backward as I am, it was right up my alley.  Alas, AOL really caught on and took off in a big way.  You couldn’t even chat in a room without someone IM-ing you with offers to show you pictures of some well-endowed person who they swore was really them.  Now before you think I’m a complete prude, I will confess that I looked at quite a few!  Who would have thunk it… FREE PORN and you get to chat with the poser!  WOOOOHOOOO!  I think most everyone gave into temptation at some point or other.  But it quickly grew VERY old.  Suddenly, there were several sorts of personalities that you found in every room:  the two men in a pissing contest, the 14/F trying to play grow-up, the 18/m who felt he was God’s gift to older women, the know it all, the asshole… the list goes on.  You had to weed through a lot of crap and crazy people to carry on any sort of meaningful conversation with the handful of people who were anything close to just “normal.”

Needless to say, I switched back and forth for a while, finally settling on Road Runner, but still miss the old-school chat rooms.  I’ve also let technology pass me by and I’m stuck with Windows ME, which isn’t compatible with anything anymore, so a lot of the new bells and whistles of cyberland are out of reach.  I’ve tried Meebo a few times and my poor old comp just doesn’t like it at all.  Can you say ”FROZE UP” boys and girls?  So that brings me to an old tried and true friend:  Bravenet!  I signed up for a free account and find myself a chat program that actually works on my computer AND works on WordPress blogs!  I haven’t really found anyone to try it out with yet, but just knowing the opportunity to chat in real-time is enough.  So BOO on you AOL/Yahoo/AIM… I can chat for free about any topic I want and not have to weed through your sleezy chat rooms!  Yay for Bravenet!