Chatrooms are a good place to meet new people. You may even find the love of your life in a chatroom. The good thing about visiting these rooms is that you can meet great people within the privacy of your home. Chat with new friends while sitting on your living room couch.

Because your chatroom presence is anonymous, you don’t have to worry about messing up. Also, if you don’t like talking to a particular person any longer, you can just end the conversation and leave the chatroom. You also have the option to choose an anonymous name instead of your real name.

However, anonymity doesn’t give you the right to insult other people within chatrooms. Use it as way to practice your social skills and make new friends.

But remember, new friends were once strangers and you should always be wary of strangers until you get to know them better. Thus, the following are a few tips on how to safely use chatrooms to your advantage:

Protect Your Identity

The best way to control your personal information is to never use your personal or work related email address. Open an email account that is just used for chatroom correspondence. It’s easy to sign up for accounts on Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. Also, if the chatroom provides a profile link, make sure that you only post generic information such as your gender or age.

Do Not Provide Private Info

Do not reveal personal information during a casual chatroom conversation. This includes information such as your place of employment, hometown or home address. Basically, use common sense when frequenting chatrooms. Contrary to belief, it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to identify you if they kept track of everything said during a chatroom discussion. Do not get too detailed during these discussions.

Follow Your Intuition

Use common sense when visiting chatrooms. If someone seems weird or even too good to be true, then follow your intuition and walk away from this person. If someone’s personality is a little strange, leave the conversation. Also, consider changing your profile name if necessary.

Be Honest

If you want someone to be honest with you, you must do the same. This doesn’t mean telling them everything about yourself, but do not pretend to be something that you are not. Unfortunately, this will only attract people that are attracted to the person that you’ve made up. Besides, it’s easier to be yourself than trying to remember all of the lies that you’ve told.

Control Your Expectations

Keep in mind that you don’t really know the people who visit chatrooms. You don’t know what they look like, and you don’t know the truth about them. Everything that they tell you could be a lie. If you do meet in person, don’t expect too much when you finally meet. Your mental picture might not match the real thing. If you know how to control your expectations, you’ll learn to like the chatroom experience.

Don’t Fake Your Photos

Do not send old pictures of how you looked back in high school. Make sure that your profile displays a current photograph. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you use photos that don’t reflect your current attributes. The other person has a different mental picture of you in his head. What happens if you’ve put on a few pounds and doesn’t like what he sees? Why cause anguish when you don’t have to? Don’t fake your photos if you want someone to like you for you.

Enjoy Common Activities

If you like someone that you’ve met in a chatroom, transition into doing online things together. Possibly play online games or visit the same forums. Most importantly, determine what type of relationship the two of you want. Will it remain online or possible become an offline relationship within the near future? However, make sure that you feel comfortable with this person before arranging an offline meeting.

Meeting One Another

If you want to continue your relationship offline, meet in a public place to ensure your safety. Choose a busy atmosphere during brunch or even dinner. Make sure that you have a backup plan if you don’t like the other person. Ask your friend to call during the date to see if you are okay. Establish some type of code you can use to quickly terminate the date if necessary. It is wise to tell a friend when you’re going on a blind date. Protect yourself at all times.

Online dating and chatroom conversations are very popular. It is a great way to meet someone and chat with them before committing to a physical date. Be safe and use common sense when dating online and offline. Although you may be tempted to let your guard down after a few sessions, resist the temptation. Remain safe, alert and informed while enjoying the company of new friends.