If you are under 18 years of age, it is strongly advisable that you do not participate in un-moderated chat. Furthermore, most chat rooms have there own rules and regulations about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Nevertheless, ethically binding Chat Etiquette requires you to never:

. Participate in off-topic discussions.
. Use vulgar or obscene language.
. Post or reference sexually explicit images or other offensive content.
. Exploit people.
. Use racially or ethnically offensive language.
. Discuss or incite illegal activity.
. Disrupt the flow of chat in chat rooms with vulgar language, abusiveness, hitting the return key
. repeatedly or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, etc.
. Solicit for the exchange of sexually explicit images, and/or material harmful to people; including but not limited to any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer generated image or picture (actual or simulated).
. Harass, threaten, or embarrass another chat participant.
. Offer for sale products or services.
. Infringe on anyone else's intellectual property rights, including but not limited to any copyright, trademark, rights of publicity, or other proprietary rights.
. Impersonate or represent somebody you are not (even though it is advisable for you not to use your real name, you should not mislead participants by pretending to be somebody you are not.)
. Harvest screen names.
. Post or request personal or confidential information including-without limitation- any of the following: full name, home address, telephone number, picture.etc.

Furthermore, adhering to the following additional - generally accepted code of conduct in chat rooms - is advisable:

. Use of Capital Letters: typing in captials is considered the same thing as yelling. When you type a sentence completely in capitals in a chat room, it is assumed that you are making a point, or yelling that sentence. Most chat rooms frown on the constant use of captials so remember to turn off that CAPS lock key when chatting.
. User Name: When choosing a username for a chat room, it is best to refrain from using your real name. Be creative and think up a name that is unique. Keep the username to a one word name as most chat rooms don't allow more than one name in a username and try not to use any characters besides numbers and letters as in a lot of chat rooms this is all they will accept. Also refrain from using any vulgar language or swear words in a username.
. Passwords: Passwords are what keeps your information secure, in order to do its job it needs to be a secret. To do this a password should not contain any information that can be related to you such as your name, address, postal code, phone number, birth date, etc. It should also not contain any words or names that can be found in any common literature. The best password is a completely random password.

Message boards allow users to communicate with each other in ongoing, in-depth discussions. As opposed to "chat" - where conversations are brief, visible only to current participants, and disappear after a few moments -- message board posts are longer and remain visible (as well as brows-able and searchable), allowing richer exchanges to take place.


What are the Benefits of Message Boards?

Dynamic message board communities are a great place to:

. debate issues,
. find advice, and
. make new friends.