As you know by now I am an entertainment freak. I am so star struck and obsessed with Hollywood that it frightens most people. Each week I read People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Weekly, and Soap Opera M
agazine. When I am not reading, I am on the internet finding out the latest scoops and spoilers on my favorite show. I am a somewhat intelligent person with an education filled background. Why would someone like me become so addicted to such brainless
garbage? Is it because of my dream to one day be one of those stars whom everyone adores? Pure boredom? Although my actions seem rare, I share my common interest (to some extent) with a lot of my friends. We love chatting about our favorite shows and
one-upping each other on facts about celebrities. What about everyone else out there? Do people live vicariously through these actors, wishing their lives were like that on television? Are there people out there more obsessed than I am?
For my project, I wanted to find a virtual community where I can find people with the same crazy love for soap operas as I do. Hopefully find people who are more pathetic than me. I wanted to be able to speak freely without being afraid of people
making fun of me. I found out about this virtual community called,
Webchat, from one of my friends. It is a large chat hall with all
different subject headings. I chose the entertainment subject (shocker)
and picked the discussion room on soap operas.
My goal was to be able to become completely familiar
with the room and get personal with a lot of the chatters. I wanted to
find out "who" went to this chatroom. "Who" meaning, the age, gender,
hometown, occupation, and interests of those people.
I wanted to see which shows are the most popular, and what areas people have the most in common. I wanted to analyze the responses of the chatters, and make judgments about their education. I wanted to get close enough to a person that we became friends
. I wanted this person to watch the same shows I do, and be able to carry on an intelligent conversations. I also wanted to record the differences in the time when I go onto chat; how many people chat in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I wanted to
find out how my relationship with the chatters changed as more and more people entered the room.
It wasnÕt extremely hard for me to get started. I knew well the area I was getting myself involved with. Although I donÕt watch every soap opera, I am pretty well acquainted with all of them. I watch the two most popular daytime soaps and one oth
er that is considered "quality". I watch the shows everyday. Even when I am not home, I tape them. I can honestly say that I donÕt remember the last time I missed a show.
First of all, I signed on with my real name hoping this would make people open up to me more. If they saw a name and not an alias, they would have more of a sense of who they were talking to. The point of specific rooms is to be part of a group wi
th shared interests. Considering that the room is a soap chat room, criteria for membership would have to include some knowledge of soaps. Whether you are a current or previous viewer, you should have at some time or another watched one of these shows.
The people who come to chat here, want to talk about their favorite shows and the latest scoops and spoilers. They want to gossip with others who understand their feverish love for serials. Soap plots are forever changing. They air five days a week, 5
2 weeks a year; enough ammunition to keep people talking for hours. You miss a day, you are still knowledgeable. You miss a month, you are somewhat behind but not left in the dust. If you have never watched, you have nothing to offer the members of thi
s chatroom.
There are no written goals here because itÕs not a room with an official purpose. There are, however, many things that can be offered to interested members. If you are someone like me, and are an avid viewer, itÕs a place where I can find someone
of my own caliber to talk to. I can express my viewpoints about very specific plotlines in various shows. I can make my own predictions and compare them with the thoughts of others. The results from this can help me find out what some of the upcoming s
tories are going to be. I love being ahead of the game, and knowing this information makes me feel powerful (in some weird, deranged way). I can do the same for these dedicated people. Tell them what I know so that they too become one more step ahead.<
BR>
For people who are avid viewers but may miss a show or two, this room provides them with recaps. They can come in and ask questions about what happened on that day. This is a great system because instead of having to watch it, they can get a reall
y quick overview about the characters that they like. They can ask specific questions to the people who have watched, about a certain storyline. The goals for people who watch obscure shows, like ŅThe CityÓ or ŅAnother WorldÓ, include finding people who
share the same unpopular interest. ItÕs reassuring to know that there are people out there just like you, and in this case, they are all in one room.
The soap opera audience, due to historical, social, and many other reasons, that I have no interest in researching is monopolized by females. For all the hours that I spent in this Webchat room, I have only come across one male. All other times, e
veryone was female, which leads to specific kinds of conversation. In most of the conversations, the topic of Ņgorgeous, hot guysÓ arises. The women go crazy over the men in daytime. They are buff, tall, dark, and handsome. Every womanÕs dream. The m
en who play the sensitive type turn our hearts to mush. The men who play the villains cause our heart to skip a beat. Either way, itÕs these idealistic men who consume the thoughts of chatroom women.
Another result of the all-women membership is the honesty. No one is afraid to say too much. In the home, there are men around to criticize the inaneness of soap operas. When you are able to talk to females only, there is no embarrassment. Feeli
ngs are somewhat universal, for you can count on someone understanding your position.
Other demographics include the age group of the members. It was very interesting to find that for the amount of people that I met, there was only two specific age groups. First there was the college student. A lot of students, including myself, s
ign onto the computer in-between classes. There is easy access to Netscape and therefore, chat time is never a problem. The conflict arises when the students have to go to class. They can only sign on for a certain period of time. A lot of times their
chats are really quick because they have to "run to class". The second
age group is women over thirty. They are usually married with children,
and don't work outside the home. Their children are usually young, if not babies, causing the mothers to
always be at home. In this day and age, most homes have computers, these women have access to the computers for long periods of time. Although they can be on for hours at a time, they will sometimes suddenly have to run off if their baby is crying, or the
phone is ringing, or if there is someone at the door.
Finding out where they were from was particularly
interesting. Again there were two divisions; the west and the midwest of
the United States. There was always a large population of students coming from southern California. They went to small priv
ate colleges that I never heard of. When they didn't live in California,
they attended schools in Texas. I only once knew the university of one member, and it was someone who went to Penn State. As for the hometowns of the housewives, many seemed to co
me from the midwest; Ohio and Michigan being the highest. Others came from the New England area.
Everyone seemed shocked that I was from New York.
They automatically figured that I would join a chatroom through some
private company, like America On Line. I didn't ask everyone about their income levels but I made some assumptions. I figured
that the housewives were lower income than the students. It's hard to
draw conclusions about the students in the south west because they go to private colleges but use public computers. The housewives however all resort to Netscape. I would guess that p
eople with more money would choose a fancier program. Also, the fact that
they stay home can say something about their status. There's also the
possibility that they can't afford a baby-sitter. However, I may be totally wrong. I can mean that they are
doing webchat through some private company. Also, their husbands may
earn
enough money that the wife wouldn't have to work. Too many choices to
analyze.
Rich or less privileged, everyone in the chatroom owns
a television. It's the device that connects us in this electronic world. The busiest time for this chatroom is the time block right after the shows are over. We talk to each other in real tim
e discussing what just happened. A major characteristic of the soap opera chatroom is the closeness between the members. The numbers in the room rarely exceed ten. When you log on during prime hours, the housewives will be on but the students will be a
t classes. Students sign on whenever their schedule permits. Anyway,
because of the small amount of people, everyone can talk to each other. You don't ignore anyone, and there is enough attention for whoever needs it. Sometimes you can all partake in
the same conversation, or talk to some people about one show and others about another.
Because of the massive amount of time that I spent there, my conversations got somewhat repetitive. There was never a problem when the regular visitors would be chatting. We would remember each other and build from where we left off. However, whe
n a random person would enter, they would start to ask questions that were
covered already. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but there are always the few who want to know the whole plot of the day that they missed. This gets really annoying when you have
to take the time to type out the whole show. It's even harder when the
person misses more than just one show and wants a monthÕs worth of
information. If anyone is ignored, it is these people who want details constantly, and can't offer anything useful
.
I feel lucky that the soap operas I am addicted to are the most popular on the air. I never have a problem finding the majority of members who are the same viewers too. The best conversations are when we analyze what is going on between the charac
ters. We discuss where we think their relationships are heading, and what
is going to happen next. It's also fun when we tear apart the lame and
unsuccessful storylines. It's easy for us to criticize when we don't have the hard job of writing these sho
ws. Of course we put our two cents in on what we think the ideal situations should be. I sometimes think that all of our heads put together could produce a more successful show.
The show that gets the most attention is "Days of Our
Lives". It is the second highest viewed soap on television but the most
popular in this chatroom. The show has plots that are very risqueˇ,
igniting fruitful discussion. I personally watch this
show, but think that it makes a mockery of soap operas. Characters talk to themselves in crowded areas, there are always cast replacements, and in one storyline, the leading lady was possessed by Satan. So, a lot of the times there are dissenting opini
ons on whether or not this show needs a different direction. Some people still think that it is great while others think itÕs a joke. I find it funny that people can actually take it seriously.
What I discovered is that people who watch these shows
religiously, have a tendency to get emotionally involved. They get upset when their favorite characters do something evil or when a couple is torn apart. It's almost as if we are living vicari
ously through their lives. We use the chatroom to become these people and
create our own situations. It's the perfect world that doesn't exist that
we want to be a part of. The beautiful family, the huge home, the intense sexual relationships are all
something that we members dream of. We forget that there are real people behind their television personas. We truly believe that they are experiencing whatever their characters are experiencing. The only time their true identity comes out is when we fi
nd out gossip on their off screen lives. Otherwise we get wrapped up in the excitement of the plot.
What I really liked is the way we all become the same
kind of person when we are chatting. If I hadn't asked, I would never know where anyone was from or how old they were. A lot of this has to do with our discussions. Even though we analyze stor
ylines, we don't get too deep. I mean, there is only so much you can do
with a character before it gets unrealistic. Since we so simple, there is never a problem with the age differences. We have this common ground and we know how to express our own op
inions. This closes the gap and allows anyone to talk without feeling immature or condescending.
Although we equal each other out, there is always one or two people that know more than the rest of the crowd. They (a lot of the times, me), lead the conversation. The leader will change the subject if it gets beaten to death, and chooses somethi
ng more stimulating. The leader will break stories about the show or about the lives of the stars. Recently, I broke the story on a soap celebrity who had to quit the show because her famous husband (who is on a rival soap) walked in on her and her on-s
creen costar having an affair. The leader has connections that others may not have, This way, people who are usually behind on the gossip, get filled in.
The more I went into the chatroom, the more I learned.
But I didn't just learn about the people who came in and out of my virtual life, I taught them as well. As I became a recurring visitor, I knew who was a regular, and who was new. When there
were only new members in the chatroom, I was a good listener. I had heard everything that they had to say before, but I was there for them to talk to. When I had more experienced people in with me, I found myself engaging less with the new people. I wa
nted to grow as a member, and the newbies were holding me back. I knew
everything that they knew and I was thirsty for originality. I don't think that I was ever exclusive for I tried to divide time for everyone. I find it funny that I am one of those
people that chatters look up to for information. I like living the life of an information goddess.
The greatest aspect of the soap opera chatroom is that
it's in a constant state of flux. Other choices within Webchat are a lot
more stagnant. For instance, a chatroom for the show "Friends" wouldnÕt
change as fast because it's only shown once a w
eek. How long can you discuss one half hour episode? Plus, sometimes
there are repeats. You probably would end up changing the subject and then the room's purpose becomes abstract. Soap operas are an hour long each, are never repeated, and therefore s
omething new happens at least everyday.
Another major point against a chatroom like "Friends"
is that it is a universally watched show. It is considered to be one of the most popular shows in history. In this chatroom, it would be hard to draw any conclusions about the viewer population
considering the mass amounts of people who watch it. Soap operas on the
other hand are seen by a small section of society; very specific and gendered. A widely popular chatroom can't have the closeness that a smaller one does. People are always changi
ng and it's hard to carry on a conversation with more than a couple of
members. The response lines would move at a really fast rate, and a beginner would have a hard time adjusting.
Ideally, the soap opera chatroom should have more people who watch the less popular shows. Other than that, the coziness of the room is unbelievable. I was once on with just one other girl and we spoke for hours. We liked the same exact shows and
had the same favorite actors and actresses. We were having intelligent conversations about our parents disapproval of our passion. I had no idea how old she was until we exchanged email addresses and she told me privately. For all I knew she was my ag
e. Michelle happens to be 16 years old and a senior in high school. She is an honors student from California with a love for physics. Her father is a car racer and her mother is a secretary. Michelle is a competitive dancer with a flair for Shakespear
e. We couldn't be anymore different but we are so much alike when it
comes down to our favorite soap, "One Life to Live". We email each other
every night, and never run out of things to say. Since "One Life to Live"
is not one of the most popular shows
on, not a lot of people talk about it on Webchat. But Michelle is always there for me so I can express my bottled up feelings.
Although the project is over, I will occasionally
continue to check into my chat room. I appreciated the attention I
received and won't forget how easy it was to make friends. There is no need for a face to face meeting of the people I encounter
here because we just needed someone who can share our feelings. It's not
deep friendships we look for. ItÕs such a relief to let it all go without the fear of seeming psychotic. No one there mocks the dedication. Anyone who goes into a soap opera chatr
oom in the first place has to be pretty well addicted.
I hope no one quotes me as being a credible source. These are just my assumptions! Don't take offensive to anything please!
MORE ABOUT ME
I, Kim Brody, plan on being an actress. Hopefully nothing will come in my way. I have been seriously studying acting for a while. My resume isn't that impressive because I haven't auditioned for anything yet except for stuff within the University o
f Michigan. Fortunately, I have been successful here.
- I was a member of the Improv Group, Without A Net.
- I starred in two student films, The Date, and Griffin and Sabine.
- I am the executive producer and host of my own gossip show on WOLV, The Dish
- I am the dizzy sidekick on the late night show, Spotlight On You, on WOLV.
- Recently signed onto the cast of the soap opera Beyond the Ivy, on WOLV as the mysterious Alex Reed.
Where I've studied
- Lee Strassberg, NYC
- New York Performance Works
- TVI Actors Studio
- University of Michigan
- Donna Carbone's School of Dance
So basically, if you are out there and you are looking for an actress.......FIND ME!!
Contacts: brodster@umich.edu
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