By Linda C. Allardice
One of the first places I visited when
I signed up for my Internet service way back in 1993
was the public chat rooms. It was so fascinating to
have all these strangers gather together and talk
about everything from politics to just how much they
really hated their bosses. My mouth gaped like a sea
bass when I noticed some folks spilling their guts
onto the computer screen and admitting to stuff that
should be kept secret – such juicy gossip I couldn’t
get at my hairdresser on one of her busiest days.
Chat rooms are still enormously popular,
but the rules of safety remain as steadfast as a palace
guard.
If you’re new to the Web, you’ve got
to be extremely careful in chat rooms. There are some
major don’ts you need to follow to keep your chatting
an enjoyable yet safe experience.
Don’t ever for whatever reason enter
your real name, address, city, phone number, password,
or any other personal information into a chat room
discussion. Oftentimes, a perpetrator who may want
to hack into your computer -- or worse your home --
can come up with clever ways to get inexperienced
Internet users to reveal personal information. They
might get you to talk about landmarks, places of interest
in your community, where you work or go to school
to zero in on your location.
Don’t respond to Instant Messages if
you don’t know the sender. Instant Messages are those
private messages that pop up on your screen apart
from the main chat room. Some are easy to detect as
spammers when they send you an IM saying they are
a model and want you to look at their pictures. That
screams “yes, I am a porno perp” loud and clear. Some
spammers have password sniffers on their end that
can snatch your password if you reply to the message.
One they have your password they can have a field
day with your account. Spammers might send you an
IM that says “Warning: you cannot continue in the
Chat Room without entering your password here.” This
catches many new Internet and some veterans off guard
and they mistakenly comply with the request.
Go to a private chat room if possible.
Some Internet providers allow patrons to create their
own rooms that are somewhat semi-private. It’s a great
place for family, friends or business associates to
hang out without getting clobbered by unwanted intruders
and spammers. Another drawback with public chat rooms
is that everyone Tom, Dick and Harry gets your screen
name and clogs your e-mail box with junk mail. If
you dare enter a public chat room, be prepared to
have an e-mail box full of credit card offers, specials
on Viagra, and sites that promise nude pics of your
favorite celebrities for FREE.
If you don’t want to fight, find another
room Stay in a chat room long enough, and the place
begins to turn into a bar with someone eventually
typing in capital letters (viewed as SHOUTING) claiming
God doesn’t exist. Or someone will spill enough racial
slurs onto the screen that would even make Archie
Bunker cringe. These arguments can get pretty heated
because everyone is anonymous, shooting their mouths
off, and taking some nasty shots at others. Don’t
engage in hate speech or get involved with those trying
to make trouble. Some chat rooms allow you to ignore
certain people, or even allow you to report those
who are disrupting the chat room.
* Don’t let your children enter public
chat rooms without supervision Too many children are
taken advantage of in these chat rooms and terrible
things have happened to them. Sometimes, they believe
they are chatting with someone their own age, when
they are really chatting with an older person who
spends his time on the Internet trying to lure children
into a trap.
Make sure your children never reveal
their names, telephone number, address, school name,
password, state, city, or where their parents work,
in a chat room or IM. No one wants to be taken advantage
of, so it’s especially important that you keep your
guard up when you enter public chat rooms. Enjoy chatting
with folks from around the world, but remember to
keep that line of not-giving-out-personal-information
deeply drawn in the sand, and don’t cross it. . .ever.
About the author:
Business manager of Bay City Marketing. Stay on top
of the latest in employment, marketing and business
trends. Go to http://www.geocities.com/baycitymarketing
