It was in the early nineties that the concept of chat rooms really started to take off. Along with the novelty of chatting with someone from half the world, the fear suddenly erupted that those people would try to take advantage of the people who enjoyed this new means of communication. Such fears were well founded as scammers, pedophiles, and hackers soon found their way onto this vast network. I am not trying to scare you, I am simply educating you on the facts.
You may believe that teens and young adults are the only ones who can enjoy this method of communication. After all, this technology was made for the younger generation, wasn’t it? Well maybe it was, but every effort has been made to make it enjoyable for people over 50. Specific chat rooms have been reserved for the elderly so that they too can enjoy chatting with other people from all over the world.
The biggest problem is that older people tend to be a bit more free with their personal information. No one can blame them, they grew up in a time when identity theft was much more complicated. Now that it’s gotten a lot easier, how can older people protect themselves from such unscrupulous people?
There are some important safety guidelines to keep in mind if you are an older adult using a chat room. First of all, you must hide your personal information from public view. This information could be your real name, your date of birth, where you live, anything of that nature. Then you have private messages to worry about. Even if the private chat is with someone you know, you really need to keep that information private!
Why exactly? Well, chatting in a chat room is very different from chatting on an instant messenger. It can be quite easy for someone to impersonate someone you know and get information out of you. For this reason, you will need to be very careful about what information you provide and why. Now if you want you can always try a few different rooms. There are some very safe chat locations for seniors to visit. Most of these are completely free and offer a great experience.