Friday, March 13, 1998 at 06:22:14

I would like to respond to comments made regarding the use of pauses during internet "chat".  As a writer rather than a speaker, I find the internet chat process to be a natural extension of the mind.  I do use pause-words such as "um", and "er", but I do so with conscious intent to convey to my unseen friend that I am hesitating, perhaps reflecting quietly.  Internet chat takes place IN TIME -- a period of time, for that matter, which is percieved as a SHARED experience. Letter-writing is very different.  At this moment, I cannot remember whether or not I have ever "um"ed or "hmmmm"ed in letters, though I suspect that I have.  I KNOW I employ such pauses in internet chat, however, because it is so like realtime conversation to me.

- J

Thanks for your comments.  I've been getting a lot of feedback from experienced chatters like yourself.  I have rarely joined internet chat sessions so I had never really thought about pauses in chat until I started getting all this feedback.

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