Chat, discussion boards, and forums

What makes chat rooms, discussion boards and forums unique is the focus on a topic or geographical area. Groups are created by common interest rather than friendships. Though much attention is paid to sex chatrooms, there are thousands of chat topics to pick from, and you can often create new chat rooms on topics at any time. These can be a great way to share ideas and hobbies or chat with people with similar interests that you would otherwise never meet.

Like any site where users share information, these chats, discussions, and forums can be abused for a full range of crime including data mining for criminal intent, social engineering ploys, scams, and so forth.

Check out a Web site’s Terms of Use, privacy, and monitoring and abuse reporting procedures to understand the safety protections in place before joining a conversation. Some sites are well monitored for signs of abusive content or interactions; others have no monitoring at all.

If you are comfortable with the safety offered, create an account that does not identify you, avoid providing personal information, and have fun.