| Product: |
uk.chat.yahoo.com |
| Date: |
30/07/02 (634 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Lots of users, Good variety of chat topics
Disadvantages: Crashes lots on my computer, Lots of annoying spam messages
YAHOO CHAT
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Yahoo Chat is probably oneof the most poular chat communities on the internet. The site is located at:
http:\\chat.yahoo.com
Registration
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When you first access the service you will need to register. There is nothing to download and so registration is quick and painless. First you need to choose a user ID by which you will be known from now on. You will have to be inventive in choosing this as, with the millions of users out there, the more common ones will have already been taken. If you have really set your heart on a particular ID then maybe try adding your year of birth or UK afterwards to make it unique. Yahoo will suggest a couple of alternatives for you anyway.
Setting up a profile
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After you have registered, you then have the option to set up a profile. Your profile will contain all of the information that you would like other users to be able to see. This can include a photograph and personal information such as real name, age, occupation, location etc. You can add as little or as much as you like. There is even the option to set up a photo album if you so wish. Remember, whatever you put into your profile will be on view to anybody and so don't put your phone number unless you want phone calls from strangers at all hours of the morning!
Choosing a chat room
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I am not sure how to get back to the chat page from here and so I usually use the back function to reload the start page.
When you have signed in you will now need to choose where you would like to start. This depends on various things such as age, interests, who you would like to chat to, and what you would like to chat about. There are various categories to choose from such as movies, music, romance, and a teen section for the younger users. Selecting a category allows you to choose from a number of sub-categories. I suggest tha
t you play around until you find a category that you would like to chat about and click and wait for the server to load.
Start chatting
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When the chat server has loaded you will be asked to click continue before the chat page appears. You will be faced with a screen with a blank section in the middle where the main chat goes on. There is a bar below this in which you can type your introductory line. Something simple like "Hi room" will get the attention of those who are keen to chat. Look out for anyone replying to you and chat away. be prepared to be ignored quite a lot (especially if you are male) as regulars to the room are quite often already involved in personal banter. As well as typing text there is also the option to enter smileys. You can do this either by typing the text version into the bar (e.g. ;) or :p) or by clicking on the icon, which will allow you to choose from a variety of different smileys.
To the right there is a list of chatters in this room. Right clicking on a particular chatters name allows you to do various things such a view profile, ignore user etc.
Instant messaging
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If you would prefer a more personal chat with someone then there is the option to IM or PM (instant message or personal message) them. I would advise that you ask permission first as it does get very irratating if you have millions of boxes keep popping up when you are in the middle of chatting with somebody else.
You will probably get lots of spam IM's yourself, particularly in the romance rooms. Yahoo now has a very good auto-ignore function though which ignores people who use obscene language or people who flit from one room to another. You can amend these settings by clicking the options box at the top of the screen.
Web cams and voice chat
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If you have the hardware then there is the option to use micorphones and webcams
. The icon by the name on the right hand side let you know which people have these facilities. I have never used voice chat as I find what most people have to say rather irritating and so I will not go into that here.
If you have a webcam connected then if should automatically upload when you enter the chat room (if you would prefer it not to, then you can change this in options). I have had a bit of trouble with mine uploading recently although I think that it is just my computer. You can only view a webcam by invite which is a good way of monitoring who can and can't see you. Remember that people can save the pictures that come from you webcam and so, unless you want to be scattered all over the internet, be careful what you do!
Safe chatting
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I think that it is apt, in the current society, to mention a bit about safety. I have listed a few points below which I think may help:
1) Remember that people aren't always who they seem. It is incredibly easy to set up a false ID. Don't take everything at face value.
2) Girls in particular will get lots of offers for meetings or phone sex. If you are easily offended then change your settings in the options so that obscene IM's are ignored automatically.
3) Finally, and most importantly. Be extremely careful about arranging to meet people. If you really must do this then take a friend. he/she can leave once they know you are safe. Use common sense.
Problems with Yahoo Chat
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For me, the new improved Yahoo Chat (Chat 2.0) is the new reboot my computer five times and give up Boo Hoo Not-Chat.
Since the update I have experienced lots of problems such as not being able to change rooms, constant screen freezes, delayed responses to 'instant' messages.
You can still use the old version (Java), although now my computer doesn't like that either.
Summary
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Yahoo Chat is by far the best chat community that I have seen. They have a massive amount of users and a large variety of rooms. One of the better improvements is a good screening function which helps to get rid of spam or rude instant messages.
If you like chat rooms and have a reasonably fast computer then I would certainly recommend Yahoo Chat as one of the better ones.
LOL. BRB
Summary:
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Last comment:
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miriamb - 04/08/02 Ok I didn't see this before the update... but this is a stunningly comprehensive op. Nice one! :) |
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