Chat Room

The Chat Room is where inhabitants of Ikebukuro discuss rumors and happenings in the city. It frequently appears in the anime whenever any of its members logs in to chat.

Differentiation from Dollars Site
This Chat Room is not to be confused with the Dollars site, which is accessed through the password, 'Baccano' (a reference to another of Ryohgo Narita's works). Unlike the Chat Room, the Dollars site is a forum site where all members of the Dollars can post.

Because the anime shows the Chat Room much more frequently than the Dollars site but the Dollars site is mentioned much more frequently by name, they are often confused for one another. In the anime, the Dollars site is shown on occasion such as when Mikado looks up the opinions of other Dollars members on the Dollars forums. In Season 1, the site forums were where Mikado expressed his opinion that the Dollars can do some good in the world such as when some city graffiti was cleaned up by their group. It was also shown when Mikado read about people wanting to quit the Dollars when their group started getting attacked. Later on, the Dollars site was also used to help Anri escape the Yellow Scarves.

People who aren't on the Chat Room may still have an account on the Dollars site. Kyohei Kadota's Dollars handle, for example, is 'MONTA', though he does not appear in the Chat Room. In addition, those who have an online handle name on the Dollars site may have a different name in the Chat Room. Izaya sent a message to all the Dollars as 'Nakura' during the arc with the Toramaru gang, but he goes by 'Kanra' and poses as a girl in the Chat Room. Aoba's handle in the Chat Room is 'Pure Water 100%', but his handle on the Dollars site is 'Young Leaf Mark'.

Further proof in the distinction between the Dollars site and the Chat Room can be found during the Chat Room conversations when the Dollars are discussed as a separate group. In the first season of the anime, the Dollars are speculated about a lot by the Chat Room members, particularly Kanra and Tarō Tanaka. During Chapter 1, Volume 8 of the Light Novels, the newest Chat Room members also ask each other if they are a part of the Dollars. This suggests that the Chat Room is not directly related to the Dollars in any way, though many of its members do happen to be Dollars due to the fact that they live in Ikebukuro.

About the Chat Room
The Chat Room seems to require a special invite as Izaya shows surprise when his sisters appear on it. It is later revealed that Namie, who also knows of the Chat Room and watches it but doesn't post on it, was the one who gave them the site address.

Kanra (aka Izaya) is the Chat Room moderator as suggested when s/he blocked 'Saika's' IP address after Saika started spamming the room during the Saika Arc. Kanra stated that Saika still kept reappearing to spam the room using various other IP addresses, so blocking them was pointless. Kanra's role as the room moderator was also mentioned in the prologue of the Durarara!! light novels, Volume 8. It seems Kanra's permission is not required for others to join in the chat as long as they have the site address.

Chat logs similarly seem to be view-able by anyone at any time without Kanra's permission. Private mode may also be initiated between any particular users, though it has been shown at least twice that new users have a hard time distinguishing how to respond in private mode instead of public mode while viewing the former. (Durarara!! x2 SPOILER:) It appears that users can take on others' handle names in the Chat Room as well as delete previous Chat Room records. However, one or both of these abilities may be exclusive to Kanra (aka Izaya) as the Chat Room moderator. At one point, Izaya took on Kida's handle, 'Bakyura', to talk to Mikado with the implication that he was Kida. He also deleted the Chat Room records so that Kida wouldn't find out that his handle had been used without his permission and that he had been impersonated.

Frequently Seen Users
Mikado Ryugamine as Tarō Tanaka (田, Ta) in dodger blue

Celty Sturluson as Setton (セ, Se) in gray

Izaya Orihara as Kanra (甘, Kan) in yellow-orange, and Chrome.

Masaomi Kida as Bakyura (バ, Ba) in neon green

Anri Sonohara as Saika (罪, Sai) in red

Saki Mikajima as Saki

Mairu Orihara as Mai (参, Mai) in blue

Kururi Orihara as Kyo (狂, Kuru) in deep sky blue

Aoba Kuronuma as Pure Water 100%

Mizuki Akabayashi as Gaki

Eijirou Sharaku as Sharo

Anime
Episode 01: Tarō Tanaka, Kanra, and Setton talk about The Black Rider, and also the missing people around the city.

Episode 02: They talk about suicide.

Episode 03: They talk about Shizuo Heiwajima.

Episode 04: They talk about more of The Black Rider.

Episode 05: They talk about a guy called the Slasher cutting people in the Ikebukuro and about more people wearing yellow.

Episode 06: They talk about kidnappers.

Episode 07: More about Shizuo.

Episode 08: They talk about dreams.