Guide to Yahoo Chat Rooms

By: Shawn Donovan

Want to visit Yahoo! chat rooms? The search engine Yahoo! offers free chat room services for anyone who signs up, which means you can get in virtual conversations with others from places all over the globe. First, you need to find chat rooms that interest you, and then you need to navigate them safely.

Sign up for Yahoo! e-mail services. Yahoo! e-mail is a free and easy service that Yahoo! offers right on the main page.

Download Yahoo! Messenger. Once you have a username and account, you'll have to download the Yahoo! Messenger application. If there's no link for it on the Yahoo! main page, look on the left-hand column for a link entitled "More Yahoo! Services." Click this link, and find the link on the next page entitled "Messenger." Clicking on this link will bring you to a page where you can download the application. Once it is downloaded, you'll find the icon on your desktop. Double-click it to begin installation.

Try out the chat rooms. Once installation is complete, you'll be free to navigate chat rooms, make friends and keep a list of users you become friendly with. Chat rooms have labels on them to indicate what kind of discussion is taking place. You may discover a general chat room, a music chat room or a romance chat room and so on. Find chat rooms that interest you, and enter.

Follow standard chat room etiquette. Try to keep the conversation on topic; it's considered rude to be in a movie chat room and then bring up what foods you like. Do not verbally abuse people you disagree with. If someone is saying rude or offensive things to you, either ignore them, block them or go into a different chat room. Avoid using all capital letters when typing, as this is considered shouting in the Internet chat world. Also keep your sentences short and to the point. Many people will be involved in the discussion, and typing in paragraphs clogs up the screen.

Practice chat room safety. Never give anyone too much personal information, such as where you work or live. If you become friendly with someone from a chat room and decide to meet them in person, always choose a public place, such as a park, and tell a friend or family member exactly where and when you are meeting this person. Most important, if you have children who are using Internet chat rooms, always monitor their conversations to make sure they're not interacting with nefarious characters.

Keep these tips in mind, and you're sure to have a safe, good time.

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