Chatting Online

The Internet lets you communicate with people in a more immediate way than sending electronic mail and waiting hours or days for a reply. You can type something, press Enter, and get a reply within seconds a process called chatting. Chatting is generally done in groups that typically include people that you don’t know. This article dishes the dirt on chatting.

Chatting Online

Online chat lets you communicate with people live, just as you would on the telephone except that you type what you want to say and read the other person’s reply on your computer screen. Here are some things that you need to know about chat:  -  In chat, a window shows the ongoing conversation. You type in a separate box what you want to send to the individual or group. When you press Enter or click the Send button, your message appears in the conversation window, along with any responses.  -  Chat differs from e-mail in that you don’t have to address each message and wait for a reply. Though sometimes a small lag occurs in chatting, communication is nearly instantaneous even across the globe.

 -  You’re usually limited to a sentence or two in each exchange. Instant messages, described in the next article, allow longer expressions.  

-  You can select a group or an individual to chat with, or someone can ask to initiate a private chat with you. Many chat venues exist on the Net, including IRC (Internet Relay Chat), AOL chat rooms (for AOL users only), Web-based chat, and instant messaging systems like ICQ and AIM (AOL Instant Messenger).

 -  Because tens of thousands of people are chatting at any instant of the day or night, the discussions are divided into groups. Different terms exist for chat groups. AOL and ICQ call them rooms. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) calls them channels.  

-  The chat facilities of the value-added service providers are accessible to only that service’s members.  -  People in chat groups can be unruly and even vicious. The online service providers’ chat groups usually are tamer because the service provides some supervision.  

-  You may select a special name called a screen name, handle, or nickname to use when you’re chatting. This name can and often does differ from your login name or e-mail address. Although your special chat name gives you some privacy online, someone could possibly find out your real identity, particularly if your online service or ISP cooperates. Don’t go wild out there.

Following group conversations

Get used to following a group conversation if you want to make any sense of chats. Here’s a sample of what you may see (screen names and identifying content have been changed): BrtG221: hey Zeb! Zebra795: Hello ABE904: Where is everyone from...I am from Virginia Zebra795: Hi Brt! HAPY F: how should I know Zebra795: Hi ABE HAPY F: < Virginia ABE904: Hi Zebra!!! BrtG221: so StC... what Zebra795: < was from Virginia! ABE904: Hi HAPY ! Didn’t see ya BrtG221: is going on in FL? HAPY F: HI ABE Zebra795: Hap’s been on all night! Storm17: Brt...what?...i miss our heart to hearts HAPY F: on and off ABE904: Zeb, and wish you were back here! DDouble6190: im 26 but i like older women Zebra795: I was over July Fourth!! Janet5301: Sorry...DD...call me in 10 yrs... BrtG221: really DD?... where do you live? BrtG221: lol.. so talk to me Storm.. ABE904: Gee, you didn’t call, didn’t write... Here are a few tips for getting started:  -  When you enter a chat group, a conversation is usually already in progress. You can’t see what went on before you entered.  -  Wait a minute or two for a page full of exchanges to appear on-screen so that you can understand some of their context before you start reading, and then determine with whom you want to converse and who you want to ignore.  -  Start by following the comments from a single screen name. Then follow the people whom that person mentions or who reply to that person. Ignore everything else because the other messages are probably replies to messages that went by before you came in.  -  A few regulars often dominate the conversation.  -  The real action often takes place in private, one-on-one side discussions, which you can’t see.

Safe chatting guidelines

Here are some guidelines for conducting safe and healthy chats:  -  Many people in chat groups are totally dishonest about who they are. They lie about their occupation, age, locality, and, yes, even gender. Some think that they’re being cute, and others are exploring their own fantasies; a few are really sick.  -  Be careful about giving out information that enables someone to find you personally, including phone numbers, mailing address, and the schools that your kids attend.  -  Pick a screen name or handle that’s different from your login name; otherwise, you will receive a great deal of unwanted junk e-mail.  -  Never give out your password to anyone, even if she says that she works for your service provider, the phone company, the FBI, the CIA, or Dummies Press. Never!  -  If your chat service offers profiles and a person without a profile wants to chat with you, be extra cautious.  -  If your children use chat, realize that others may try to meet them. Before your kids log on, spend some quality time talking to them about the guidelines.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is the Internet’s own chat service. IRC is available from most Internet Service Providers. You can even participate in IRC through most online services, although IRC is completely separate from the service’s own chat services. You need an IRC client program (or just IRC program), which is simply another Internet program, like your Web browser or e-mail software. Freeware and shareware IRC programs are available for you to download from the Net. Most Unix systems come with an IRC program. Two of the best shareware IRC programs are mIRC (for Windows) and Ircle (for Macintosh). You can download updated versions of these programs and get detailed information about installing them from www.irchelp.org. They’re also available from TUCOWS (www.tucows.com). Windows XP comes with Windows Messenger. You can download it from www.microsoft.com/downloads. You use IRC in two main ways:

-  Channel: This is like an ongoing conference call with a bunch of people. After you join a channel, you can read what people are saying on-screen and then add your own comments just by typing them and pressing Enter.

-  Direct connection: This is like a private conversation.

Starting IRC

To start IRC, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the Internet and run your IRC program. If you’re on a value-added service, such as AOL, follow its instructions for connecting to the Internet.

2. Connect to an IRC server. See the following section, “Picking a server,” to find out how to connect.

3. Join a channel. You’re ready to chat! See “IRC channels,” later in this article, for more about channels.

Picking a server

To use IRC, you connect your IRC program to an IRC server, an Internet host computer that serves as a switchboard for IRC conversations. Although dozens of IRC servers are available, many are full most of the time and may refuse your connection. You may have to try several servers, or the same one dozens of times, before you can connect. When you’re choosing a server, pick one that’s geographically close to you to minimize response lag. To connect to an IRC server, in mIRC, choose File -> Options or press Alt+O to display the mIRC Options window; then click the IRC Servers arrow for the drop-down list. Double-click a server on the list to attempt to connect to it. If you choose All as your IRC Servers, one will be selected randomly.

Issuing IRC commands

You control what is happening during your chat session by typing IRC commands. All IRC commands start with the slash character ( / ). You can type IRC commands in uppercase or lowercase or a mixture IRC doesn’t care. The most important command for you to know gets you out of IRC: /QUIT If you use mIRC or Ircle, you can achieve most of the same effects that are controlled by IRC commands by choosing options from the menu bar or clicking icons on the toolbar. These IRC commands work too, however, and some IRC programs don’t have menu bar or toolbar equivalents.

IRC channels

The most popular way to use IRC is through channels. Most channels have names that start with the # character. Channel names aren’t case sensitive. Numbered channels also exist. (When you type a channel number, don’t use the # character.) Thousands of IRC channels are available. You can find an annotated list of some of the best by visiting www.funet.fi/~irc/channels.html. Each channel listed there has its own linked home page that tells much more about what that channel offers.

Types of channels

Three types of channels are available in IRC:

-  Public: Everyone can see them, and everyone can join.

-  Private: Everyone can see them, but you can join only by invitation.

-  Secret: They do not show up in the /LIST command, and you can join them only by invitation. If you’re on a private or secret channel, you can invite someone else to join by typing /INVITE nickname If you get an invitation from someone on a private or secret channel and want to join, just type /JOIN -INVITE Some people like to write computer programs that sit on IRC channels and make comments from time to time. These programs are called bots, short for robots. Some people think that bots are cute; if you don’t, just ignore them.

Starting your own channel

Each channel has its own channel operator, or chanop, who can control, to some extent, what happens on that channel. You can start your own channel and become its chanop by typing /JOIN #unusedchannelname As with nicknames, whoever asks for a channel name first gets it. You can keep the name for as long as you’re logged on as the chanop. You can let other people be chanops for your channel; just make sure that they’re people you can trust. A channel exists as long as anyone is in it; when the last person leaves, the channel winks out of existence.

Filing a complaint

Compared to AOL and CompuServe, IRC is a lawless frontier. Few rules, if any, exist. If things get really bad, you can try to find out the offender’s e-mail address by using the /whois command /whois badmother@iecc. com, for example. You can then send an e-mail complaint to the postmaster at the same host name postmaster@iecc.com, in this case. Don’t expect much help, however.

Getting more info

You can discover much more about IRC from these sources:

-  The official IRC home page: irchelp.org (where IRC was invented)

-  The New IRC user’s page: www.newircusers.com

-  The Usenet newsgroup: alt.irc