DAMMAM, 23 April — Webcams and short messaging system (SMS) have given a new dimension to Internet chatting. This new technology has also given a big boost to Internet cafes where hundreds of expatriate workers not only see their friends but also chat with their families.

Chatting has always been a major attraction of the Internet. A study conducted in the United States showed that nearly 65 percent of Internet users from 18 to 60 were chat addicts and that most of them went online just to visit chatrooms.

It has been a general belief that chatrooms are essentially a world of deception where people lived their fantasies. Sociologists and psychologists have even written papers on the impact of chatrooms on people’s behavior. A clerk in a company became the general manager in a chatroom and a person of 60 became 21. A short fat woman presented herself as tall and slim and a shy man became loud and assertive in the chatroom.

Web cameras to a large extent have helped in preventing deception. The fat woman can no longer claim to be slim nor can the 60 year-old claim to be 21. Visit Yahoo chatrooms nowadays and the first question will surely be “Can you voice chat?” and the next, “Do you have a webcam?” These questions filter out a large number of chatters who go there for deceiving others. Although not many sites now have this service, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger have gained immense popularity because of it.

Internet experts, however, agree that even webcam can be misused and cause confusion. It is therefore imperative that a system be developed in which misuse of this technology can be prevented. Some kind of international regulations should be enacted to protect the rights of users. Certainly at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of users to save themselves from any corrupt and perverted mentality. It is absolutely necessary to have some kind of checks and balances and for sure, parents must be very careful about the use of webcam by their children.