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Staying safe in chat rooms
By: tracey lance, Thu Jul 15th, 2010
Chat rooms are a great place to meet potential friends, and perhaps a potential partner. What's nice about chatroom dating is you don't have to dress up and pass visual inspection to go there and enjoy some great conversations.
The anonymity of a chatroom means that if you mess up or don't want to continue to get to know the other people/person, you can just leave the chatroom. If you don't want to be known by who you were then you can simply change your nickname.
This is not a license to be obnoxious, but it does give you plenty of room to practice making friends with strangers.
Here are some tips to help you out when using Chat rooms.
STAY SAFE
Protect your identity
If you want total control of the information that is revealed to the world through Chat rooms, don't use your personal or your work-related email. You should sign up for an email account specifically to use for chatting online like Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail. If the chatroom you like to use has a profile link, be sure to keep the information you provide generic, like just your age and gender.
Don't reveal private information
Be careful about the information you give in casual conversation. Don't give any hint of your work place, your home town or other personal info that can be linked to where you come from. It is vital that you use common sense when using a chatroom. If someone spent two weeks in a chatroom and wrote down everything you said, how easy would it be for them to identify you? Be careful never to reveal too many details about yourself.
GETTING TO KNOW PEOPLE
Be honest
If you want people to be open and honest with you, you must also do the same. You don't have to go into personal details but don't pretend to be someone your not, otherwise you will only attract the people that are looking for the type of person you are pretending to be. It's much easier to always be open than to try and cover up (or even remember) all of your lies.
Don't expect to much
Remember that you are using a chatroom, so you have no idea what this people really look like or what their personality is like. Be careful about building mental images of people because if you ever proceed to a meeting (or picture exchange) stage, you will likely feel disappointed because the person doesn't live up to the mental image you created. Keep an open mind and you won't be disappointed.
Meeting
If you get to the point in your online friendship/relationship where you decide you want to meet each other, then arrange to meet in public where you will be comfortable and safe. Meet in a busy place, over coffee or a casual meal. Be prepared in case you don`t like the person and have a back up plan to "escape". Ask a friend to phone you an hour after meeting and you can tell the friend you will phone later if you two are getting on well. If you aren`t getting on well you can make an excuse and leave. Remember to always let someone know where you are at all time. Always be cautious.
Online dating services are the preferred method of meeting people. However, Chat rooms have always been a popular venue for getting to know others and eventually meeting people you've developed friendships with while chatting. If this is your case, then be sure to always use common sense and safety. It's easy to let your guard down after several successful meetings. Don't. Stay alert, safe, and enjoy your opportunity to make new friendships or potential relationships.
