Chat Rooms Are the New Water Coolers For TV Viewers

While our D.V.R.s are filled to capacity and our streaming passwords passed around like drinks at a well-stocked bat-mitzvah, event TV is still very much alive – and well! Not just the live TV events, but shows that manage to shock (ABC’s "Scandal"), obsess (AMC’s "Mad Men") or just plain confuse (HBO’s "Game of Thrones") the viewer.

Bottom line: No matter our impressive streaming capabilities, it’s just way more fun to be completely caught up on your favorite shows. This especially thanks to the quick draw memes of Twitter or Facebook but, of course, the dread that there’s a good chance you could (God forbid!) accidentally get spoiled.

But aside from stocking up on recaps, where do we vent about what we just saw? Not every show comes with a Talking Dead palate cleanser, a recap show that airs directly after AMC’s "The Walking Dead."

Turns out, so much of the after-show chatter is happening in chat rooms. Company-sanctioned open forums like Slack encourage employees to not only schedule meetings and do various office chores, but they also allow them to freely create specialty channels about a glut of topics – often, ones dedicated to discussing pop culture.

It isn’t just co-workers hanging out in these chat rooms – instant messaging is quickly losing favor to group conversation, as friends hang out in their Slacks for hours on end. In one of my chat rooms, an episode of "True Detective" birthed #thefukanagazone (named for the show’s director, Cary Fukunaga); in another, the absolute absurdity of the newest "Empire" prompted a quick #empire-chat.

We may not be meeting up at the water cooler, but these channels serve similar purpose: to clarify any confusing plot, to commiserate over any poor character decisions, to take virtual bets on what’s to come or even to mourn the passing of a fictional doctor (R.I.P. McDreamy).

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