RIP Chathouse

Today I learned of the "passing" of a website that once meant a lot to me. I was first introduced to web chatting in the fall of 1995, when we finally got computer labs at my college in Oslo. Sometime in the spring of 1996 I wound up at Chathouse - http://www.chathouse.com/ - and it was to be my home away from home for several years. I must have talked to thousands of people, and some of them remain my friends to this day. Many of them I have met in person on my American travels, but also in Canada, England, Scotland and even Sweden I've met chatters.

I have (mostly) fond memories of chatting into the wee hours during my carefree student days, and in spite of the generally horrible spelling and grammar found in such places, I do believe it helped my English considerably. I talked to people in the US and Canada on the phone several times, which helped my spoken English, and my first visit to the US in 1997 was to meet chat friends - indeed I am meeting one of them in California later this year!

The place sadly started to go into a long decline in the late 90s as it became clear that the operators no longer cared. As with any large social group, there were fights and intrigue and people backstabbing each other. I know for a fact some started real life sexual affairs with people they met online and The Chathouse broke up (but also led to) several marriages. Friends and enemies were made, but at some point is seems people had just had enough of the worsening atmosphere. Internal rules were broken, people harassed, head games played and the administrators were absent throughout it all.

I still went back there now and then, although few of the old gang hung around. I made some new friends, had some fun, but it just wasn't like it used to be. The last few years, most of the "floors" and "rooms" have been closed down, and I can't even remember the last time I went in there to chat - it must have been early 2008 if not late 2007. Since then I've checked in maybe once a month or so, but no one I knew was ever around.

Today I was greeted with a message that said the domain name had expired on March 6. I guess this means the owners no longer had any revenue and decided to pull the life support for good.

The Internet has changed our world in so many profound ways, and I know for sure Chathouse changed mine. Chathouse allowed me to practice my English daily with native speakers, it taught me a lot about many people and places, it allowed me to make many good friends and it provided me with innumerable laughs. I can safely say my life would be different, and mostly for the worse without Chathouse.

Goodbye, old friend, from the chatter known as Aton. I shall miss you.