A Professional Meeting at
Behavior Online
(http://www.behavior.net)




Chat and the Psychology of Cyberspace

Sunday, January 24th, 9:00-10:30pm (eastern)
chat login: http://www.behavior.net/chat
Moderator: John Suler, Ph.D.


This will be a round table discussion. All attenders are invited to participate. We will begin with an open-ended discussion, but because chat meetings sometimes can become a bit too free-form (even chaotic) the moderator may switch to a "raising hand" format to help organize the meeting. If we switch to this format, indicate you wish to speak by sending the message "HAND." The moderator then will call on you to speak.

We strongly recommend that you visit Behavior Online ahead of time and test out the chat software "FreeChat" (http://www.behavior.net/chat). Once you're in FreeChat, read the help page. It's easy to understand. We suggest you set "refresh" to 5 (this will refresh the window of messages every 5 seconds or so.... technically, this is NOT "lag"). Keep in mind that if you whisper to someone, FreeChat places a series of dots next to your name. You will not see the dots, but other users will.

If you're interested in some background reading about the group dynamics of a chat meeting, here's an article you might find useful: http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/texttalk.html


An outline for our discussion:

1. HOW DOES THIS WORK? (first half hour)

-- What are the features of this chat environment?
-- How do these features compare to other chat environments?
-- What are the communication and group dynamics of this environment?

2. WHAT IS CHAT GOOD FOR? (second half hour)

-- What are the pros and cons of chat communities, chat support groups, chat counseling and psychotherapy, and chat meetings (like this meeting)?
-- How do chat environments compare to other modes of communication, including e-mail, newsgroups (forums), multimedia chat, video conferencing, and in-person interactions.

3. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CYBERSPACE (third half hour)

-- other issues related to individual and group behavior online
-- WRAP UP: feedback about this meeting; suggestions for future BOL chat meetings


Participants at the meeting include:

Martha Ainsworth, Director of Metanoia, Internet communication consultant to mental health organizations, author of "The ABCs of Internet Therapy" (http://www.metanoia.org/imhs).

Debb "TR3 Blondie" Arck, ex-employee (Tech Support Specialist) of The Palace, Inc., wizard at Electric Communities "Palace" sites.

Tom Crain, Marriage & Family Therapist practicing in CA; expertise working with divorcing families and stepfamilies; clinical work with people who have 'internet' related problems; online administrator/superuser of a chess server called chess.net; represented the US at the 14th World Micro-Comp. Chess Ch., in Jakarta; author of "Schlechter's Chess Games," published by Caissa Editions.

Michael Fenichel, Ph.D., Psych Services, NYC. Clinical psychologist, author, and online publisher of "Current Topics in Psychology" (http://www.tiac.net/users/drmike/Current.shtml)

John Grohol, online psychologist; Webmaster/Director of Mental Health Net (http://www.cmhc.com/); author of "The Insider's Guide to Mental Health Resources Online.

Jeffrey T. Guterman, Ph.D., licensed mental health counselor with Magellan Health Services in Plantation; instructor at the New York Institute of Technology, Florida Center in Boca Raton; associate editor of the theory section for the JMHC; Director of counselingzone.com (http://www.counselingzone.com) an online network for mental health professionals and students. Dr. Guterman has worked in a variety of settings, including psychiatric hospitals, private practice, community mental health centers, managed care, and as an instructor in graduate counseling programs. He has written numerous articles in the field of counseling and he has presented workshops at state, national, and international conferences; email: jeff@counselingzone.com

Stacy Horn, founder of the online community Echo in NYC; author of "Cyberville: Clicks, Culture and the Creation of an Online Town" (http://www.echonyc.com/~horn); and instructor for the course "Virtual Culture" at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU.

Robert Hsiung, MD, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Chicago, is an Internet psychiatrist who has done a lot of work on the Web and also with videoconferencing.

Storm King, MS. Doctoral Candidate, clinical psychology. Maintains a web site listing resources for the study of the psychology of virtual communities at http://www.concentric.net/~Astorm/ and has authored articles on online self-help and online therapy

Tracy Marks, M.A., licensed psychotherapist in the Boston area, an Internet trainer, and author of six books translated into 14 languages, currently starting a book on online communication; web sites include Windweaver http://www.windweaver.com and Webwinds http://www.webwinds.com, and very active in Ancient Sites online community; a brief article about handling conflicts in online communication is at: http://www.windweaver.com/email.htm

Rick "River" Larson, digital biographer, wizard at Electric Communities "Palace" sites.

Gilbert Levin, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine and of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; founder/director of the Cape Cod Institute: http://www.cape.org and editor and publisher of Behavior OnLine: http://www.behavior.net

Liz Margoshes, clinical psychologist practicing in New York City; host of the Psychology Conference on Echo (http://echonyc.com); former editor of the column "Dr. Lovelady" for the webzine WORD (http://www.word.com)

Cyndi Pock ("FO"), former AOL chat host; e-mail lists administrator; wizard at Electric Communities "Palace" sites; founder of the online magazine "The Scarlet Letters"; http://www.spelvin.com

Mike Sellers, Chief Creative Officer of the Big Network, an online entertainment and community site (http://www.bignetwork.com); and designer of Meridian 59, the first 3D massively multiplayer role playing game

Janet Sternberg, PhD candidate, Media Ecology Program, NYU. Doctoral research: misbehavior in online communities. Chat experience: IRC server operator "lola" on sodre.fl.us.dal.net of DALnet (http://www.dal.net); founding member and operator of DALnet's #Brasil channel (http://www.sodre.net/dalnet); moderator/host of live chat sessions with major jazz artists from the Blue Note club in New York City (http://www.bluenote.net/live).

John Suler, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Rider University; clinical psychologist, cyberpsychology researcher and author of "The Psychology of Cyberspace" (http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/psycyber.html)

Mark Vardel, M.S., Licensed Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapy and Chemical Dependency; in private practice; conducting research on communication in online chat.

Willadene 'Billie' WalkerSchmucker ARNP, CS, MSN, MAEd, EdDc; in private practice in Florida and completing her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology on the topic of psychotherapy and the internet.

Dora Weaver, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Southeast Missouri State University; clinical work with adults, teens, and families; interested in online therapy and assessment; operates a webboard which permits instructor and students to communicate online.


(if you would like to be added to this list, contact John Suler)