Social Aspect of Bingo
For better or worse, times have changed – and the way we all socialize these days is just one aspect of those changes – although a major one for a lot of people
We have researched, studied and read quite a lot lately about the subject of socialization and how, in some cases (in the view of some), it has become more impersonal – i.e. done at a distance. Sometimes sheer necessity dictates changes for many – it could be economic necessity, it could be personal circumstances (including health) but whatever the reason we need to adapt along with those changes that we cannot control – sort of going with the flow to a certain extent .
One of those changes has certainly come to the doors of bingo – i.e. the doors of land-based bingo playing that is – many of the doors of the halls of old have recently closed and no doubt more will follow suit.
While ‘doors closing’ is a normal part of life – it’s the ‘doors that open’ that are becoming increasingly important. One very important socialization door for bingo players has arisen by way of online bingo chat rooms. There is very little doubt that the online version of bingo is growing in popularity every day and that a major part of that is the contacts that online bingo affords people, via their chat rooms. Chat rooms allow people to do those things they used to only be able to do ‘live’, i.e. in land based bingo halls. People ‘get-together’ (albeit virtually), they socialize, they develop and maintain friendships.
Chat rooms afford people a great opportunity to unwind at the end of their days, to let off steam and have a bit of simple harmless fun. There will always be those players who mourn the passing of the socialization aspect of land based bingo clubs and some of those will be the same people who deride the services offered by chat rooms on online bingo sites.
People who deride the social side of online bingo are missing a particularly valuable point, which is that sometimes its much easier to initiate social discourse if other people don’t know who you are, cant see you (and therefore possibly judge you). Once people have built a persona in Chat its all upwards from there and large numbers of chat room members are starting to build genuine life-long friendships via online bingo chat rooms – or at the very least enjoying a warmth and camaraderie they otherwise would not have had the chance to enjoy.
But even the concept of online bingo chat rooms is changing, sites are growing other ‘socialisation’ arms and legs, via the development of forums and such. Some of these are almost independent from the site itself with members not necessarily needing to play bingo on occasion to make contact. One example of this would be Wink Bingo’s ‘Wink Me’. People are allowed to build groups within groups in a number of forums.
Far seeing online bingo businesses are seeing the sense of not only implementing and running chat rooms and forums but encouraging groups within those to flourish and why not it cant help but improve their bottom line.
