I agree with many who have already posted including Sabby's post. I think what could be happening is, you're new here and not used to the interactions in chat. I remember another thread you started about a negative chat experience, so this might be contributing to your interpretations last night.

I'm not an expert in chat because personally I'm afraid of chat lol - it's too unpredictable for me and I'm kind of shy. I want to talk a little about the perception of the word 'whisper' itself. I tend to look at different angles to problems. If a person is already sensitive, then the word 'whisper' brings up negative connotations, even if a persons not in chat. Think back to elementary school, when we saw friends whispering to each other and then looking at us - we automatically think they're talking about us.

Like others have said, there might be a legitimate reason for this feature, as opposed to it being used for snarky reasons. I'm wondering if the word itself could be changed to a more positive sounding word, rather than the feature being removed...which won't happen anyway. Maybe we could come up with a better term than sounds more user friendly. So I think the key point here is, the 'perception' that occurred when you realized the whisper feature was being used - you took it personal, which is fine...they're your feelings, but there's a great chance the members weren't being inconsiderate to you after all. It's also possible chat's not for you, because it's not for me -I prefer the forums and PM's