MSN chatroom closure no big deal

BY HARIATI AZIZAN

HANGING OUT: (from left) Aishah Shaaban, Fauziana Ismail and Hafizah Mail prefer getting together to chatting online.

TO meet or not to meet? That is the dilemma faced by many teens when their dream guy or girl on the Net pops the question.  

Horror stories of perverts and paedophiles online are widespread, yet many teens insist on playing with fire.  

When MSN Malaysia announced that the MSN chatroom service in the country will be shut down as of Oct 14, many parents heaved a sigh of relief; after all it means one less dark alley to worry about. 

Not surprisingly, many local teenage Internet surfers were shocked and upset, saying that MSN’s aim of protecting young users from spam and dodgy characters will not be achieved by their drastic action.  

Others fear that youngsters will simply turn to unregulated sites, making it easier for crooks to prey on them.  

This week, TeenSpeak finds out how teens feel about the ups and downs of chatting, particularly with the closure of the MSN chatroom service. 

I don’t understand the fuss, I prefer ICQ. You get on for 15 minutes and you will get a long list of private and personalised messages from various people. I think more adults use MSN; teens prefer ICQ. – Alynna Azmeer, 15 

I don’t use the Internet much. Now with exams, my mother won’t even let me near the computer. – S. Arvind, 15  

I use MSN to keep in touch with friends studying overseas. I like it because it has many features – audio component, webcam, photo. And you can store all your messages offline, or, if you want to continue, you can switch to e-mail instantly. Anyway I think people have other means of causing harm, so closing down MSN will not help much. – Shukri Jamal, 19 

The closure will not affect me much as my friends and I hardly use MSN. The reason we don’t use MSN is because it’s not really meant for chatting. ICQ is simpler. It has the list of names and addresses; you only have to type the messages. Normally we chat among friends or selected people, anyway — like people we know. To people outside, we usually don’t reveal very personal things and we seldom meet strangers on the Net. Sometimes I do chat with people I have never met, those who share the same interests as me. Still, it never lasts. — Ong Yap Soon, 17 

I prefer MSN because you can chat with outsiders. On ICQ you only connect with people who are on your messaging list. The way to protect ourselves on the Net is not to give our e-mail address to everyone and not to share personal information. — Shamir Rajadoray, 17 

I very seldom play with MSN or ICQ, I’d rather talk face-to-face or on the phone. When you chat, it’s just words, and you can’t really communicate what you want to say. I’d rather play basketball. — John Lee, 17 

Chatting is a waste of time. If you chat, the time that you spend chatting can be used for better things like reading and hanging out with friends. There are some benefits, but if you really analyse its worth, you realise that it is really pointless. You’re better off doing something else. — Aishah Shaaban, 18 

Too many people are chatting; it is not interesting anymore. I’d rather meet real people. On the Net, it is dangerous; they can lie and cheat. If you don’t know the person, how do you know whether he or she is good? Rape cases are on the rise, so we should not meet people we don’t know ’cos anything can happen. — Fauziana Ismail, 18 

Most of my friends chat, about 70%, and many use ICQ. I don’t go on the Net much. Anyway, I don’t believe in meeting people on the Net. In the picture they send, they might be good looking, but in real life they can be really ugly. — Hafizah Mail, 18  

Many young people go on the Net because they have nothing to do. After school, they go home do their homework and then switch on the computer and surf the Net.I prefer ICQ because most of my friends do not have MSN. Chatting online is okay, as long as you don’t meet up with strangers. My friends and I chat about clothes and boys, and I chat with friends around Malaysia.I go on the Net twice a week, depending on how much work I have to do and how bored I am. I think those who get raped are usually school kids, perhaps because they are naive. — Renee Wang, 18 

I don’t use MSN. I don’t have the software installed. ICQ is easier to use to chat with friends. I seldom chat with strangers, only those I know. I feel that it is easier to chat with someone I know. — Chloe Ong, 19 

Will closing down MSN help protect us? Teens, too, have to protect themselves. Beware of strangers on the Net. Be careful of who you chat with, and don’t always join chat groups before you know the other people in it. If you want to meet up, don’t meet the stranger alone, go with your group of friends. – Karen Wong, 19 

My house just got connected, so I have not been chatting much and I don’t know if I will miss MSN. I like to read my sister’s chats. What if some pervert does that to me? No one will do that to me. – A. Viknesh, 13 

My brother likes to chat, not me. But I know that there are bad people on the Net. It happens sometimes. It happened to my brother — someone didn’t like him and spread rumours about him and threatened him. — T. Kumar, 13  

I use MSN a lot, so I will miss it. Most of my friends are using ICQ. It can be dangerous because you meet many people in chatrooms. But actually, even if you meet someone in an online place like that, the first thing that would happen is for him or her to say: “Why don’t we go somewhere quiet to talk?” That will be e-mail or instant messaging. — Tan Mui Yoon, 16