The Internet has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for communication. That's basically the Internet's specialty anyway, getting people talking and sharing information anywhere, and everywhere, around the globe within seconds. Using the internet as a communication tool is a very exciting way to talk to someone (that you know in real life or not), and it is so easy to use I am surprised that everyone hasn't abandoned his or her own lives to be "plugged" into the internet all day and night.
When the telephone was invented and came into use people were scared of it. They didn't understand how it worked (how their voice could go through wires) and they thought that it might harm them in some way. Times changed, and now almost everyone in America uses a phone (or cell phone) at least once a day. I think that the Internet (especially communication on the internet) will catch on just as well as or better than the phone did. It has already taken great strides, and I think that its popularity is growing faster than anyone in the tech industry could have hoped (or even guessed).
The most widely known and used form of Internet communication is E-Mail. You write a letter on the computer, and send it to another email address. The recipient can be anywhere in the world. Within seconds (or minutes) it arrives at the recipient's inbox (or virtual mailbox). There are many different types of free email services including Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, and Neo mail, but the list goes on and on. It is so easy to get a free email account, and having one is so useful for instant communication I think that everyone with access to a computer should get one (if they don't already have several, like I do).
Message boards can be a very productive form of communication on the Internet. Message boards are often focused around a common topic (such as computer printers, or a specific game). If you have a question about anything at all it has already been asked (and answered) on a message board somewhere, if by some odd chance it hasn't, then you can be the first to ask. I have found that most people go to message boards looking for information, but some people decide to stay just to help other people with the problems they now know how to solve. Helping isn't showing off unless you put the answer in a degrading form. Answering questions online is supporting whatever community the question was asked on. I encourage anyone who uses message boards to answer some questions once in a while, instead of always asking for help.
Chat is a lighting fast and often fleetingly unimportant way of communication on the Internet. A chat room often consists of a group of people with a common interest, much like a message board, but unlike a message board in that questions can be asked and answered instantaneously. The speed of talk in a chat room appears (to the user) to only be limited by how fast everyone in the room can type (and also how good the people in control of the room " if any" are at keeping the room understandable). Too often it seems that a room's main topic of interest is thrown aside and replaced with gibberish and useless chatter, but sometimes that is the main appeal of the room (just like a cocktail party).
People also use web cams to share video over the Internet. Web cams are used to transmit live streams of video over the Internet to another computer (or even a couple of computers at once). The quality and refresh rate of the video is usually only held back by the speed of someone's connection to the Internet. Since I my 56k modem is fairly slow, when I look at someone's web cam I don't really see motion. Instead, I see low quality images in somewhat quick succession, sometimes the same picture will be on the screen for a minute or so, but not when it is working optimally. Web cams are great since you can use them to see people while you talk to them on the Internet. If someone is feeling particular outgoing web cams can be used to transmit a live stream of whatever you want over the Internet. I think that web cams can be a great form of communication if they are used effectively. Talking to someone using the Internet gets based more in reality when you can actually see the person you are talking to. I think that web cams can be a little creepy if you don't know who is watching you (that's why I generally leave my web cam unplugged). On a show I watch called The Screen Savers people call in all the time using web cams. I think it is fun to be able to see the callers asking questions rather than just hearing them over the phone and through the TV.
Another neat way to communicate on the Internet is through the use of Internet messaging. With services like Msn Messenger, Aol Instant Messaging, and Yahoo Messenger somebody can set up their own buddy list of people they know (or care to talk to). Whenever someone on your buddy list comes online, or whenever you come online and happen to be on someone's list, everyone is notified of the others presence online, and all it takes is a couple of clicks to start talking to your buddy. I really like this way of talking because it is allot more fun to talk to your friends or someone you have taken the time to add to your list, than an anonymous chatter you might never talk to again. One thing I particularly like about instant messaging is file sharing. File sharing enables people to send games, pictures, music, or any type of file on their computer to each other. Despite the risks like receiving (or even sending) viruses or other harmful files, it is a very fun thing to do if you trust the person on the other end, and if you have a nice virus checker.
Voice communication is another form of communication on the Internet. I have tried it a few times, but found that it is still a bit lacking, or at least it is with my slow connection. Online voice communication is not as easy to use as the phone, and the quality isn't really much better with a 56k modem than with a phone. I'm sure faster connections work much better and I bet voice communication on the Internet will be much more popular once it becomes easier to use and once connection rates are commonly higher than they are today. I went to a voice chat room, but I didn't really like it because it took some of the anonymity away from the information sharing process. Another reason I don't really like voice communication on the Internet is because I am so used to talking using the keyboard that I felt it was kind of hard to bridge the gap from using my eyes to using my ears to interpret information on the internet.
Popular message boards and chat rooms develop specific flavors (or feelings of the place). They turn into a type of community. The feeling of a online community is often established by whatever rules or guidelines that are set down, and how well they are enforced. An internet community has different types of users ranging from the Newbie (a new user generally without a clue about anything " or that is the general belief of regulars"), the Regular (someone who often visits the community), the Oldbie (someone who has seen the room or board go through all kinds of changes, and is often quite respected by both Newbies and regulars alike), and all kinds of different users in-between. There are also extreme types of users like flamers, and flooders who take delight in causing trouble and making confusing uproar in the community. Flooders and Flamers are the main types of people kept inline by people called Ops (or Moderators). Ops are the main leaders and controllers in an online community, and they have the power to kick someone out a community, or ban someone for different lengths of time, even forever if necessary, from a certain chat room or message board. Ops keep the peace, or at least try to as best they can (unless they have been chosen very poorly). Many regulars will turn into ops if they want to, and if they have been around long enough to show that they wouldn't cause needless trouble if they suddenly gained allot of power. Ops are generally not looked up to, nor looked down upon, but most net savvy people agree that they are an integral part of a successful online community.
When people talk with a keyboard they develop ways of getting around explaining or typing things as clearly as possible. By typing "lol" a chatter can get across the message of " laughing out loud" with out having to type nearly as many letters to get their point across. Many of these types of Internet shorthand exist, the most common ones are; Rofl (rolling on floor laughing), Lmao (laughing my *** off), Ttyl (talk to you later), Omg (oh my God), and even combinations like Roflmao (rolling on floor laughing my *** off). Emotions are also expressed with keyboard symbols in online environments. Emoticons like ":-)" and ":-(" (look at them sideways) express either happiness or sadness without having to go to the trouble of saying " I think that is happy" or "I think that is sad". Many types of shorthand and Emoticons exist in online communities, and I'm sure that many are made (and forgotten) each day as well. Other fun but useless words will also emerge in an online community. Words like "w00t" and "f00h00n" mean just about what they sound like (absolutely nothing). I think it is fascinating to learn and use different types of Emoticons, Internet shorthand, and useless (but fun to say) Internet words.
My first experience with an Internet community was called Game-Faqs. Game-Faqs is a site with a huge collection of walkthroughs, guides, reviews, and message boards centered on gaming. Game-Faqs also had a chat room, which I got into for awhile, until I was banned from it. Shortly after that it got hacked (or so I heard) and was taken off of the site. I got deeply into a game called Perfect Dark for N64. Then I started getting into a message board about the game. I thought it was fun to find out cool tips and secrets for the game. After a while I started sharing what I knew with all the clueless Newbies who daily entered the board. After awhile I merged into the fairly tight society of the Perfect Dark social board. I still sometimes visit that place, and perfect dark is still my favorite Nintendo 64 game, whether this is due to the message boards influence or the actual games appeal I still don't know.
Since Game-Faqs I have been getting into chatting and messaging (although I will still sometimes use a message board). Talking over the Internet can be very addictive, and if you don't control yourself you might find that you are spending hours more online than you intended to. My favorite kind of a chat room uses IRC, (I use mIRC to access the rooms). MIRC is a little technical, and is not nearly as flashy, or as pretty as other ways of communication, but I really like how it rarely crashes, and how plainly the text is laid out.
The Internet's forms of communications are changing, evolving, and adapting as fast as the Internet itself, and this whole technological world we are in right now. I can't wait to see what kinds of new advances will happen in Internet communication within the next year, or the next few years, But while I wait you can be sure that I'm going back to my chat rooms and my messaging services to watch it happen.