Chatting online is talking to someone - or many someones - using the Internet to send typed messages back and forth. You type your message and send it, other people read it and type their messages and send them. You read the messages, type your reply and send it back etc. Each person's messages are identified by the screen name of the person who typed it.
A screen name is the name you are known by to this chat group. You may use the same screen name each time, or choose a different one for each chat session. For security reasons, do not use your real name. The people you are chatting to may use different names as well. You may talk to Rose one session, Wonder Woman the next session and Shyness the next, and be chatting to the same person in all three sessions. On the other hand, you may talk to Master Fox in five chat sessions and be talking to a different person each time.
You can chat in two ways: using a channel, or using a direct connection.
A channel is where a lot of people are talking together. It is another name for a chat room. Each channel has a name that should indicate what the people in the room are talking about. A direct connection is a private conversation between you and another person using the Internet.
You join chat groups in different ways, depending on what sort of ISP you have.
If you have a PPP account with your ISP, you use the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) to talk.
If you use a large company (such as CompuServe) you chat with other users of that company.
When you first join a chat group, you will see the screen names of people who are already chatting and a window that is keeping track of their messages. Everyone in the group will be notified when you join it, so if it is friendly someone should send you a welcome message.
Writing Your Messages
When you are chatting, you use smileys to express your feelings. Common smileys are listed in the section on E-Mail.
Chatters also use simple abbreviations. Some are easy to understand (for example, u for you). Others are acronyms. A list of some of these appears in the section on E-Mail.
Things to remember when you join a chat group:
- The conversation has already been going for a while. Read a full page of exchanges (messages) before you type any so you understand what people are talking about. Reading messages without replying is called lurking. When you do say something, you are de-lurking
- Start by reading the messages from one person, then another person etc until you get used to following all the different threads of the conversation.
- Scroll up to read older messages if you have to, and scroll down to see new messages.
- Do not hurt anyone's feelings. These are people you are talking to.
- Be cautious. You have no idea who these people are (and if you ask them, they may lie to you).
- Keep your messages short, to the point, and clean.
- If you like, use the chat system to create a profile about yourself that other chatters can read (as you can read theirs). Do not include any personal information.
- If you want to talk to someone in private send them a message saying hello, who you are and what you want.
- If you join an offensive group by mistake, leave. Fast.
- If you have someone in your chat group being offensive either ignore them, go to another chat room or set your screen so you don't get their messages.
Things to remember to chat safely:
- Many people lie. About anything. This includes personal information.
- Do not reveal information that enables someone to find you - name, address, phone number, place of work, suburb, mailing address etc.
- Never give your password to anyone. No exceptions.
- Be very cautious if someone without a profile wants to chat with you.
- If you ever choose to meet a chat friend in person, be very cautious and plan your meeting with safety in mind