Irish Chat
Tips
Most of the tips below apply to the "free for all" "free
chat rooms available on the Internet. They don't apply so
much to Irish Chat as generally speaking the members are a
civilised bunch.
It is still worth your while reading the tips especially
if you are new to chat.
a/s/l (age - sex -
location)
This isn't abuse but is a common opening question that
can be daunting especially to the first time chatter. You
should not feel obliged to answer but you dont want to
offend either. Here are a few possible replies:
- "When I get to know you better I might let you
know."
- "I might tell you later"
- "These things are immaterial to me"
- "I only want to chat about - xyz - a/s/l is
unimportant"
You can look for or make suggestions for others in the
a/s/l section of our Irish Community discussion boards.
Gender
It is a sad fact of life that some men feel they have a
right to taunt women. If you don't want this kind of
attention choose a nickname that doesn't indicate whether
you are male or female.
Name and Address
Never disclose your real name, home address, city or
town, or phone number to people you meet in chat rooms,
except to those you have known a while and feel really
comfortable and safe with.
Women really can't be over protective here. Be especially
hestitant to give out personal information to someone that
won't give you his first, and let you verify it. And
you SHOULD verify it - call him at work and make sure
he really works there!
Lies and more Lies
Sometimes you will get a spoofer filling the room with
lies such as:
- I can see your email address - not true
- I know where you live - well not unless you or a
"friend" has told them.
- Just by being in the room you can get a virus -
nope.
- I am an FBI agent! - really and you suppose he is
going to tell you this - in any case he can't find out
anything about you other than what you tell
- etc
Email
accounts
The email address that you use to login to Irish Chat is
only available to us. Nobody else has access to it and the
only reason we have it is to send you a monthly
newsletter.
Handling Unwanted
Attention
We believe that the most effective way to deal with
someone you don't want to talk to is to ignore them by using
the silence feature but this should be a last resort. Here
is a suggested route to follow if someone is annoying
you:
- Make only occasional polite remarks to the person in
the room, and concentrate on talking to a friend
instead. Say less and less to the person until you
are no longer saying anything.
- Refuse private chat. Politely tell the person
you prefer to talk in the room only. Then ignore
all other attempts to private message you.
- If this hasn't worked tell them, politely, that you
will use the "silence" feature if they persist (the word
"slash" sounds a little agressive).
- If you have failed to put them off now use the
"silence" feature.
Note - you might be put off by all this talk about
being polite but why bring yourself down to the level of the
person who is annoying you?
Silence
Feature
If necessary click on the user tab (top right), then
click on the person's name, then click on the ear with a red
line through it.
Handling Compulsive
Harassers
What if the person that has been giving you problems is
there repeatedly? Here is a suggestion:
- Use the silence feature immediately - DO NOT
RESPOND!
It's very tempting to say something sarcastic, rude,
wounding or even, polite, to the person that is annoying
you, but that can start you on a course of being harassed
for months. Compulsive harassers like the game of
knowing they are annoying you. They are counting on
the shock value of their obscene remarks to upset
you. Also, they want to control you.
They can't if you DON'T RESPOND!.
- Control your anger. Don't give the
harasser the upper hand by letting them "push your
buttons". Leave the room if you have to.
Still Being Harassed?
First of all, DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF! You are
NOT at fault here. Just because you talked to someone, or
like to chat in Irish Chat, does not make you responsible
for someone else's sick mind and need to shock, control,
humiliate, and demean. Victims are NOT to be
blamed! The harasser, abuser, or cyberstalker is
solely responsible for his/her own actions!
As a last resort contact us: chatmaster@irishchat.net
but you will need to provide clear evidence so send us
screen shots (see below)
Screen Shot Keystrokes
It isn't possible to save a conversation from the chat
room but you can make periodic screenshots. This could be
useful for capturing the odd email address or piece of a
conversation.
Mac Screen Shot
Keystrokes
Command (or Apple) + Shift + 3.
saves entire screen on hard drive as Picture 1 (or 2 or 3,
if it's not your first picture).
Command (or Apple) + Shift + 4. Your
pointer will turn into a crosshair, and you can then drag to
select the part of the screen you'd like to capture.
PC Screen Shot
Keystrokes
To capture the whole screen, press Control +
Print Screen (dependent of system you are using).
This will save the screen to the Clipboard, and then you can
paste it into an application.
To capture only the frontmost window, press
Control+Alt+Print Screen (dependent of
system you are using). Again, it goes to the Clipboard.
Source
Some of the information on this page was sourced from
Stop Net Abusers,
Inc and you can visit their web page for more tips on
using chatrooms IRC etc. Thanks to one of our regulars for
bringing this site to our attention.
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