Surfing & Cruising

chatting 101 -Advanced

by Bret Kelly

 The Dark Side

One of the more annoying things about chat is Spam; profession—
al scammers who want to a make quick buck. Learn to identify it and
avoid it. A fake user will be visible in a chat room with a link to a pay
site. An easy way to tell if it’s real or Spam is from the status bar. Roll
over the link but don’t click on it. If it has a strange URL with a lot
of numbers and question marks, its a fake. If the page that you’re
taken to has a lot of links that lead to porno sites, it’s a fake.

You can report the Spam to the owners of the chat room or com-
plain to the referral program but it’s time consuming and frustrating.
The best defense it to avoid it but whatever you do, don’t get out your
credit card information.

Hooking Up

Chat is a great way to talk with people but how do you actually go
about meeting them in person? Over a coffee is the best way to con-
nect in real-time. Pick a public place that you’ll both be comfortable
and set up a date. It can be nerve-wracking but the other guy is just
as nervous as you are. The longer an online relationship is drawn out,
the more disappointed you’ll be once you meet. Trust me on this one.

If sex is the real reason you’re online, be very careful. Usually, the
penis does the talking and you know how that can turn out. Don’t set
yourself up for trouble; inform the person that you might not be
interested once you meet face to face. A picture is a good beginning
but physical attraction is more than a digital image. l’ve heard horror
stories from others who hook up, only to find the guy 10 years older
and 30 lbs. heavier than they were led to believe. Lying online is an
easy thing to do but why bother; you’ll only get hurt in the process.

Never give out your address or telephone number online. At the
very least, meet outside an apartment building. If you get a bad vibe
from them, tell them that you’re sorry but they’re not your type. Be
honest but be nice. If someone traveled all the way to see you late at
night, you owe him at least that.

Places to Visit

The busiest free chat rooms are (as usual) at Gay.com. From the
home page click on ‘people’ and then the ‘chat’ link. Toggle the menu
bar to the Men International Floor and press ‘go chat’. Click on the
‘chat house’ button and an applet will pop up. Scroll down to Canada
and look for the Toronto Rooms. Enter your info and double-click on
the room you wish to join. Voila!

A nice compliment to a chat room is lcq.com. This is a free stand—
alone program that enables users to chat one on one. Swap ICQ num-
bers and you can send messages and pictures back and forth.

Icuii.com is a great program if you own a video camera. It does cost
US$29.95 but you can conference with someone in real-time and
chat rooms are G and R Rated.

The End

I hope that this was an informative series and that I ’ll be seeing you
online.’