I think the Chat Room on this Board is for Greek nationals, not GLO members

Hi everybody,
I was looking forward to having a live chat with some people on this board. Everytime I go onto the Chat Room (it should be advertised towards the top of the page), I see a chat room busy in a language that I don't understand, and I think it must be Greek language with people of Greek heritage.

Is there a possibility to get a chat room going (in English, that is) for fraternity/sorority discussions?

Moderators...please advise! Thank you!

[12dn94dst]

Whew! I thought it was just me! I've been in there a few times when there were organization specific chats going on, but the "greek chat" room is always filled with people speaking Greek.

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Kelli
12-DN-94
SSU c/o 1997

[This message has been edited by 12dn94dst (edited June 02, 2000).]

[theXgirl]

ditto...

[SilverTurtle]

LMAO...

I haven't ever gone into the chat room, but i think it's a really funny situation! I wonder if those people (speaking Greek in the chat room) have any idea what the original purpose was?

[KappaTTU]

I actually talked to someone in there, because when I first logged on, I thought it was pig latin or something (dumb me!) and asked, and the person said that the "greeks" had taken it over for their own purpose. It was kind of annoying when you expect to find sorority related stuff and that's what you get! Oh, well, anyway I don't know if they realize their mistake!

[John]

The chat rooms at greekchat.com are intended for use by members/alumni/prospects of fraternities & sororities. I think all the people of Greek heritage (not counting those who are involved in fraternities / sororities) are using the chat because of a mis-understanding of what the website is about. The confusion is probably coming from the title of the website, the domain name (greekchat.com) and the fact that the word greek is used practically all over the website. greekchat.com is definitely not being promoted/advertised as a greek-language chat.

Actually, for a while I have been thinking about how to make the real purpose of greekchat.com more obvious within the chat (to speakers of the greek language). In the chat I will probably change "Greek Chat Network" to "Fraterntity & Sorority Chat Network" along with updating the appropriate graphics. We are also considering other options to better integrate the chat with the message board system.

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John Hammell
Network Administrator, GreekChat.com

[John]

Originally posted by KappaTTU:
I actually talked to someone in there, because when I first logged on, I thought it was pig latin or something (dumb me!) and asked, and the person said that the "greeks" had taken it over for their own purpose. It was kind of annoying when you expect to find sorority related stuff and that's what you get! Oh, well, anyway I don't know if they realize their mistake!

I'm open to any suggestions on how this should be dealt with. We definitely do not want the value of the chat system to fraternities & sororities to be diminished.

Currently the chat is open to other fraternity/sorority websites so that they can offer chat to their website visitors as well. With the chat being an open network in this way, it is also possible for greek-language/heritage related sites to(mistakenly) add this chat to their websites as well. If too many greek-speaking people use the chat (as it seems to be now) it will overwhelm the chat for it's intended use by fraternities/sororities.

So what should we do? We can temporarily turn off the chat for a few weeks to see if this helps, but it will probably not make a big difference in the long run. We can also run two separate chat systems, both still being intended for use by fraternities/sororities - one chat (the current) will remain an open/networked chat and the other could be directly integrated into this bulletin board system, only available through this site and only to registered users (in order to reserve usernames).

Any other comments or ideas?

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John Hammell
Network Administrator, GreekChat.com

Hi there,
I am the original poster. I am so glad that John Hammell responded.

I think the best thing would be to open up an additional new chat room called "Fraternity & Sorority" Chat Network.

I think the best thing would be to leave "Greek Chat" room as it is, because hopefully the Greek Nationals will STAY PUT there. If you shut that room down all together, they might come back in a few weeks and take over "Fraternity & Sorority" chat.

Thank you for addressing this!

[kmullini]

We still have that problem with the chat room.

[James]

Originally posted by kmullini:
We still have that problem with the chat room.

Yah still seems to exist . . .

[orchid2]

I don't understand, I also thought it was just me at first. Then I figured, haha! I've entered a room where these fraternity and sorority people are actually trying to converse in Greek! But after reading this, I see that I am not the only one...
I was hoping to find some of you regulars in there, but instead I was greeted by names I couldn't even pronounce... I talked to this girl, and when I asked where she was from she said "Greece." Another thing, even if you try to go into GLO specific chatrooms, they are STILL there! So odd.

[PositivelyAKA]

John i think that's a great idea. a new name and another chat room where only registered users can join. i've have several experiences where the greek speakers came into our individual chat rooms and refused to leave even after being told of the real purpose of the rooms, they can all read. and they think its funny, many are just plain rude. also i think you should close down the old greek chat room because most of them will not bother to register and eventually they will not come to the site anymore once they see that it is not so easy to get in, right now its so easy so they keep coming back. thanks.

[kmullini]

Maybe even a password for registered greekchat members that could be used for the chatroom. It could be emailed to us. We could operate just like when we post our passwords in these forums. I agree. They are being very rude.

Kevin Mullinix
Beta Theta Pi


[This message has been edited by kmullini (edited January 05, 2001).]

[Japera1920]

I think we need to utilize the chat room. Yes the message is a great way to communicate but the chat room is also a great way to communicate. I would love to communicate with you guys in real time.

I agree with my sister friend PositivelyAKA. The chat room should be for register members of the greekchat.

[bucutie02]

I think its funny how there are actual greeks in the chat rooms and not you guys. It would be fun to chat with you guys in there one day, what do you think about it?

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"He is not perfect, you are not perfect. The question is whether or not you are perfect for each other"