CHAT TIPS

CHAT INTRO
Chats are real time events where people type messages to each other via a chat interface tool or "client." Usually "chatting" occurs when the typed comments appear on-screen for others to see.

Chat is to the computer......what the telephone is to your home. It is a means of communicating "live" or in real time with one other or many people from all around the world on hundreds of topics. Many chats are moderated and topic and time-specific: users log on knowing they will talk about business technology at a certain day and time, for instance. There are a great many open chats as well, conversations that are unmoderated free-for-alls for gossiping, or meeting up with like minded new friends.

Chats can be great opportunities to network with peers and experts whom you might never get a chance to talk to otherwise. But chats can also be disappointing time wasters. At certain times of the day you may run into many unmoderated chats where the dialogue lapses into awkward adolescent runting. For business news and intelligence, you're more likely to benefit from regularly scheduled, moderated chats.

ENTERING A CHAT SITE
You may be asked to fill in your personal information. REAL NAME does not necessarily mean you must identify yourself, but you do have to make some sort of entry in this space. First name only is usually ok. Some folks put their real names in the "full name" area, some folks put their screen name they use in chat there. Either way is fine.

NICKNAME
This is how you will be identified online and the name that people will know you by. Here's your chance to be creative. You may wish to pick something that reflects who you are (a "Baker" might use "DoughBoy") or perhaps a fantasy name which reflects your attitude or a role you wish to play.

ALTERNATE NAME
This is generally a BACKUP nickname.......one that will be used if for some reason your first choice is unavailable. This can be anything you wish it to be and how creative you get is up to you.

E-MAIL ADDRESS
This is generally required brewer entering a chat room, and must be a working e-mail address. Phoney addresses can cause program conflicts and prevent you from getting online. Fill in your email address or, if you wish not to share that, get an anonymous e-mail account. Folks do that all the time. For example, you can use a nickname at HOTMAIL.COM whih is run by Microsoft. You can use it anytime you are unsure if you want to give out your real or primary e-mail address. If you turn on Hotmail's convenient junk mail filter, anything not specifically addressed to you goes automatically into a "junk" folder, and is deleted after 30 days.

LIST OF CHATS
Most chat locations offer a list of different rooms, a chat room menu. Sometimes you enter a room by double-clicking it. Or perhaps there is an "empty" box inside that box for you to type the name of the room. Click inside that empty box so you get a "cursor" inside it. Then type the room name. Then click GO. This will put you directly into that chat room where you will hopefully see dialogs already in progress, going up your screen. There is an "empty space" near the bottom where you can type comments. Type your comments there, then press "ENTER" to make it appear in the dialog. Here are 100 top chat sites and here is a list of "the best" free online chat rooms.

PRIVATE ROOM
Generally a place where two people can chat without others seeing the content of the conversation. Some chats allow more than two in private, but participants must be invited or given the name of the room.

HELP
Most of the networks have a "help" channel and a "newbie" channel, and some have live monitors to assist you.

DEVELOPING YOUR ON-LINE IDENTITY
While off-line, make yourself a file that outlines your interests and says what you want to communicate to others, so you can be intelligent on line, and even have the spelling correct. Learn to use NOTEPAD to cut and paste comments and addresses (this works best with Netscape 4.7). You will find yourself typing the same questions and answers repeatedly, so making and saving a text file or PROFILE ahead of time is an expedient way to give out your e-mail addresses or homepage addresses, comments, and the like.  Not only does this improve spelling, grammar but also the quality of your conversations, which will be less likely to slide into the lowest common denominator.

PROFILE
If someone asks for your "stats," they usually want to know your age,  height, weight, interests, and the like. Rather than typing this from memory, you can create a file (or profile) that you can offer people who want to learn more about you. This is a file to have handy like a resume, but usually more of a personal nature. You can compose your own and save to your own hard drive to cut and past into a chat window. Or simply fill in the blanks at various sites and offer the address of your profile (URL) online. On-line profiles can often be searched like the fields and records of a database so you could locate someone of a certain age or range of interests. For example some sites act as a kind of human matching machine that matches up the profiles of members.

BE CAREFUL!
"Discretion is the better part of valor," is an adage that applies here. There are all types of people in chat rooms, and many if not most are anonymous. Beware of scams. You may want to just observe a while before commenting. Beware of anyone pressuring you to give more information than you feel comfortable giving and do not give your home address or phone number. Get and use an anonymous e-mail address. Don't  make plans to meet a stranger without a lot of thought and questions, then always insist on a well lit, public place near a phone.

HELPFUL CHAT LINKS

The Rip Off Report
If you have had a bad experience and want justice, or want to check on the experience of others, The Rip Off Report allows you a central place to enter complaints about companies and individuals who are ripping people off. Our reports cover every category imaginable! Submit your story on our Web site for free, for millions to see.

Internet Hoaxes, frauds, and viruses- Anti-Virus, Hoax, Myth, Fraud, Chain Letter and Anti-Spam Sites.
 

INSTANT MESSAGING:
Instant Messagers - About.com category
Yahoo-Chat/Instant_Messaging
 
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