Newsgroups

Newsgroups are the place to find like-minded people. There are


tens of thousands of newsgroups on almost every conceivable topic.

If you want to meet people with similar interests, then subscribe to

a newsgroup and scan though the messages. To do this you will

need a newsreader program. Your ISP will be able to tell you about

how to set this up and connect to a news server.

Another way to find people via newsgroups is to search through

the newsgroup archives at http://groups.google.com

Google also allows you to read and post messages without a

newsreader program. You can do an ‘advanced search’ for various

topics, groups and messages. Newsreader programs have more

flexibility however.

Look for messages from your target group, and by checking their

email address you can get an idea of which country they are from.

Send them an email and see what happens. Obviously keep your

email contained to the topic of the newsgroup until you feel

confident enough to ask them out.

This is a long shot, but you never know your luck on the vast

world of the Internet.

Work Email

Never underestimate when and were you can meet people using


the Internet. It doesn’t always have to be via the Internet chat rooms

and personal sites as such. It can just as easily be randomly via your

email at work - emailing customers, clients, work colleagues, etc.

If someone sounds nice then why not try sending a nice ‘thank

you’ email to someone who has helped you out. While you are at it,

try flirting a bit to see if you get a reciprocal response. Obviously it

will be difficult to find out much, if any information about them

initially, but why not take a chance and ask them out for lunch?

If you have their mobile number then how about sending an SMS message? You never know where it might lead.

ICQ

ICQ is a great way to search for people. There are millions of people


using it, and the ‘ICQ Whitepages’ search facility allows you to

search for people based on similar criteria you will find on personals

sites. You can search by geographical location, age, sex,

occupation, and even interests. You can get a list of search results

and it will even tell you who is online at that very instant. You can

then send them an instant-message or chat request.

It’s best to send an instant-message first, as it is considered bad

ICQ etiquette to send uninvited chat requests.

The key to using this method for guys is to be polite and nice.

Women on ICQ can often get bombarded with cyber sex requests,

and guys just asking if they have a picture. If you are polite,
 
introduce yourself and ask nicely if they would like to chat, then


you stand a much better chance of getting a reply. Don’t come on

strong via ICQ, people will often just ignore you.

Some tips:

• Once you have developed a rapport, don’t forget to add them to

your list, and get them to add you. You don’t want to lose them.

Ask nicely before adding them though.

• Don’t sound too desperate, if they have to leave then thank them

for the chat and let them go. They will be on again, hopefully.

• Find out when they are typically on, and let them know when

you are on.

• Add personal information to their ICQ ‘profile’ or document it

elsewhere.

• Ensure that you backup your ICQ list and history information.

One hard drive crash can mean the loss of year’s worth of

contacts!

• Ensure that you save any chats to a text file so you have a record

of everything.

• Messages are automatically saved in an archive, make sure you

check it before you chat to them again to find out where you left

off.

• ICQ has excellent documentation features, get to know them

and make use of them.

Preying on the Unexpectant

There are a great number of people on the Internet who are single


and looking, but either don’t know what Internet dating is, don’t

know how to use it, or are just reluctant to use it. These people are

not off-limits to your searching, there are ways to find them and

persuade them into a date!

This can be a huge untapped resource for serious Internet daters.

These people will be surprised to hear from you, and as such are

often very keen to try something new. A nice side benefit is that

here is no competition - the thorn in the side of every Internet

dater.

How do you find these people and contact them I hear you ask?

There are a few avenues available to you:

Personal Ads and Profiles

Personal ads and ‘dating’ sites are the granddaddy of Internet


dating. If you are serious about meeting someone on the Internet

for whatever reason, then this is the ultimate way to do it. Some

are called ‘personals’ sites, ‘dating’ sites, ‘matchmaking’ sites, etc.,

but they are all basically the same. I will refer to them throughout

this book as simply ‘sites’.

They are generally commercial websites that are specifically

designed for meeting people with similar interests, much like

traditional dating agencies. In fact, a lot of them are traditional

commercial dating agencies that have realised the Internet is the

only way to stay in business. The market for dating agencies has

taken a hammering since the Internet dating boom, and most have

had to expand or move completely to the Internet in order to

compete.

The idea behind these sites is that they have a personal ‘profile’

of information on each person in a database that you can search in

a multitude of different ways. Many ways you can search are by:

Gender, age, location, height, weight, body type, eye colour, hair

colour, occupation, religion, sexual orientation, education, star sign,

music and book interests.

Many sites go a lot further and try and ‘match’ you up with all

sorts of compatibility tests, but they are generally unreliable and

really only useful for their amusement value.

The great thing about these sites is that you can do a search on

any combination of criteria and you will be a presented with a list

of people that match. You can then check out each profile in detail,

get their contact details, and make contact with them if you so desire.

The efficiency of this just has to be seen to be believed. For

example, in Australia with a population of around 20 million

people, one Australian site claims to have 100,000+ members,

almost all of them from Australia and single. This is an incredible

0.5% of the population, searchable in an instant!

Alternative Methods

Alternative methods can include newsgroups, Yahoo! groups,


special interest websites, list servers, personal home pages, the list

is endless.

This is not something even a keen Internet dater would go in

active search of, but if you do happen to be around these places

then it pays to keep an eye out, you never know.

Try:

http://groups.yahoo.com

http://groups.google.com

Internet Organised Social Events

A great way to meet people is through real life social events organised


by personals sites. They can either be ‘official’ events organised by

the company that runs the web site, a commercial ‘events’ company

affiliated with the web site, or by regular members of the personals

site (typically the chat room regulars)

These events can range from the usual party/nightclub type

events, to bush walks, BBQ’s, cruises, movie nights, organised

sports, group holidays, the list goes on.

‘Singles events’ are getting very popular with formal Desperate

& Dateless Balls (D&D), dinner parties, nightclub events, etc., that

can attract thousands of single people.

Although these seem like a great and natural way to get to meet

people, the major disadvantage of this is it really defeats the purpose

and efficiency of the Internet when it comes to looking for a potential

partner. You might as well forget the Internet altogether and go to

your local nightclub.

The nightclub/party events really are basically the same as your

typical nightclub ‘meat market’ scene, so you should know basically

what to expect. In fact, these types of events are by far the most

popular, one mention of the word nightclub or beer usually

generates a few hundred eager participants. The other types of

events such as bush walks and cruises typically attract a smaller

and different type of crowd entirely.

Having said that though, there are several benefits. You can be

assured that most people there will be single and looking for

someone, and they will usually be in the same position as you and won’t know anyone there. So it can give those who are a little on


the shy side a good chance to get out in the real world and mingle.

Obviously going to these events in addition to using the other

Internet methods can only help increase your chances of meeting

who you are looking for.

These events can also be a great way to ask out someone you

have been chatting to or emailing, as they may feel more comfortable

meeting you for the first time at an organised event. This is discussed

later on.

If you are the more social type then why not organise your own

event? It’s not hard and it’s a great way to meet new people. Many

personals sites will accept events from members, and will advertise

them on your behalf. Let your imagination run wild and put on

something creative, who knows it may even turn you into the most

popular person on the personals site.

ICQ snobbery

Believe it or not, there are people on ICQ that look down on people


with bigger ICQ numbers than themselves. Some will even refuse to speak to people with an ICQ number bigger than a certain


number. It’s not unusual either to find people trying to sell their

low ICQ numbers to make money. As a guide, if you have a sub

1,000,000 number you are pretty hot stuff and obviously a seasoned

Internet veteran. It’s rare to meet people like that these days though.

There are whole books devoted to ICQ and its use, but the details

on their web site are enough to get you up and running.

Your ICQ number

When you join ICQ you will be given a unique number (also called a


Universal Internet Number – UIN) that will stay with you forever.

This number is generated sequentially starting from 1 upwards.

At the time of writing, this number is over a staggering 100,000,000

This is the number that you swap with other people. With it

they can find you and add you to their ‘ICQ list’.

What is ICQ?

ICQ is a separate program that runs in the background on your


computer, and allows you to keep in contact instantly with other

people using ICQ. You can send files, messages, chat in real time,

talk, and even send SMS messages to and from mobiles. ICQ will

alert you when people come ‘online’, and you can send messages

and files, etc., even when people are off-line, much like email.

In addition, to this it allows you to search for other ICQ users

with similar interests, etc., which is a great untapped resource for

the smart Internet dater. We will talk about this in a later chapter.

ICQ

A few years back it became very hip to give out your email address

instead of your phone number. These days even the humble email

address has almost given way to the swapping of ICQ numbers.

No Internet dating book would be complete without discussing

ICQ, and with over 100,000,000 users word wide it’s no wonder.

I’ll say up front that if you don’t have ICQ then do yourself and

your chances a real favour and surf on over to www.icq.com and

get it for yourself.

IRC

When the Internet was in it’s infancy (before the World Wide Web),


about the only way to chat online was with a program called IRC

(Internet Relay Chat). It was mostly popular with university students

as this was basically the extent of the Internet back then. Many a

university student has failed subjects and even entire degrees

because they spent their lives hooked on IRC!

IRC is a simple text-based system that allows you to chat with

people in the same ‘room’. You connect to an IRC server (hundreds

around the world) using an IRC client program, and select from

one of many rooms available. Each room has a different theme like

general chat, sex, movies, computers, etc.

With today’s multitude of user friendly web and client-based

chat rooms to choose from, IRC is considered very ‘old hat’ and

archaic, really only used by the old school of computer veterans.

IRC is relatively difficult to use and understand, even with the

newer IRC client programs like MIRC. You need to learn IRC

commands, and some of the servers are unreliable and can be

difficult to find.

If you are new to the Internet and chatting then it’s advisable to stay clear of IRC, there are much better and simpler ways to


chat.

Meeting singles in chat rooms

If you are in a public chat room that is not devoted to singles, then


there are a few ways to find and approach people.

The first is to make use of any ‘profiles’ that are available. Some

chat programs allow people to create profiles about themselves. It

may be something as simple as listing their sex, age and location.

But this is enough to shortlist the people in the room. You can then

send them a private message if the chat program has this facility.

Make sure that you introduce yourself politely, don’t just say, “Hi,

wanna chat?” Try something like, “Hi, my name is John, I’m a 30yo guy from Sydney. Would you like to chat?” you’ll get a much


better response. A nice virtual rose never goes astray either “—<—

{@”

Another approach is to put a general message in the chat room

and see if anyone bites. Once again, be polite. Something like, “Hi,

I’m John, would any nice single Sydney ladies care to chat?”

You might get flamed by people for doing that, but just ignore

them. If you are nice then you shouldn’t have much trouble getting

someone to chat.

Once you have found someone, suggest that you go into a private

chat room, or even switch over to an instant messaging service like

ICQ.

There are hundreds of public chat sites available, and many

personals sites also have chat rooms.

You can’t win against trolls

It’s not uncommon to end up in a verbal insult match in a chat


room. Some people, called ‘trolls’, are just there to provoke, and

they have nothing better to do than insult you till you leave.

The best way to handle trolls is to completely ignore them. It

may seem tempting to come back with a smart reply that you are

sure will shut them up once and for all, but it never works. They are

chat room veterans, and are guaranteed to have a razor sharp

comeback for everything before you have started to type your next

line. Ignore them, and leave them to die in their virtual world.

What is a chat room?

A chat room typically takes the form of one or more ‘windows’ on


the screen that contain line after line of text. One line is a response

from a single person, their ‘Nic’ (Nickname) or ‘Handle’ is generally

shown alongside. The people in the chat room enter a line of text

and then press ENTER, where it is displayed for everyone to see. It

then continues in a free-for-all chat session where one person may

be having a dozen simultaneous ongoing ‘conversations’ with

different people. It can get very confusing to follow as there are

typically many people carrying on different conversations at any

one time. Crowded chat rooms can appear completely random at

first glance.

Once you first jump into a chat room it can be quite a shock, and

will take you some time to get used to what is going on and what isbeing said. It is best to just sit back for 5-10 minutes and watch


the action to get a feel for the topics being discussed and the mood

of the people. It is not unusual to see a lot of swearing, personal

messages that you have no idea about, and lots of acronyms.

It’s a good idea to make up a unique handle for yourself and

stick with it, that way people get to know you. It’s not unusual to try

and enter a new chat room only to find someone is already using

your handle. Some chat clients like Yahoo! Chat assign you a

permanent handle, which means that no one else is able to use it.

Volunteers moderate some chat rooms, and people who swear

constantly or provoke other people are kicked off. Moderated chat

rooms are a much nicer environment to chat in, so it’s a good idea

to start off with those ones if you can.

Chat Rooms

Chat rooms are the traditional means of meeting people on the


Internet. So traditional that they were around way before the World

Wide Web took hold.Before the WWW and the Internet as we know it today (pre


1990s), there were Bulletin Board Systems, or more commonly

referred to as BBSs. Mostly computer hobbyists ran these from their

back room. They had anywhere from two phone lines to hundreds,

and you could dial in and use crude chat software to enable you to

talk to the other people on the same system. There were no such

things as mice, graphical user interfaces, photos, scanners, email

addresses, etc. This was the realm of text-based green screen

monitors, 20MB hard drives, and 300bps modems you had to dial

yourself. Women online back then were as rare as hens’ teeth, and

they were literally swamped by messages from every male online at

the time. It was quite rare to meet anyone but fellow male computer

nerds this way. Online dating back then was almost unheard of, the

Male/Female ratio was just too small, so it wasn’t really thought of

nor attempted (except possibly by yours truly!). Overall, it was

hardly a place for anyone but your stereotypical teenage male

computer geek or electronics hobbyist.

Then came widespread public use of the Internet and chat

programs like IRC, the newer web based chat sites, and finally

instant messaging services like ICQ.

Methods of Meeting

There are five major methods of meeting people via the Internet,

each one has its own advantages, disadvantages and relevance

depending on who and what you are looking for. The smart and

serious Internet dater will typically use most or all methods in order

to cover as many bases as possible.

Documentation Tips

Here are some practical documentation tips to keep the serious


Internet dater ahead of the game.
 
• Make a printout of every profile that you respond to, otherwise
 
you will forget who they are when they email back a week later.


By which time they could have removed or changed their profile.

• Make a note of the email address of every person you respond

to. Writing it on the profile printout is a convenient way.

• When sending a ‘message’ to someone via an Internet dating

site (instead of direct by email), makes sure that you put their

username in there somewhere. That way you will be able to track

who they are when they reply (from the original message text, if

any), as the email address will be unfamiliar to you.

• Save a copy of their picture locally, it might come in handy later.

• Make a printout of, or at least store in a separate email folder,

every email that you send and receive to each person. This way

you can quickly read up on the email history of that person just

before your meet.

• By all means make a complete ‘Dossier’ on each and every

person. It might seem like a lot of effort, but it may come in

extremely handy. People are impressed when you remember

every little detail about them.

• Save all your chat text. People are more willing to give out

information in a chat room, and it’s to your benefit to keep it,

you won’t be able to remember it all. Most chat programs like

ICQ will have an option to save your entire chat session as a text

file. Keep these text files stored in a unique directory for easy

retrieval, or print them out

• Keep a hard copy of every profile you create of yourself.

• Keep a written track of your profile name (handle), user name,

and password for every site that you are member of. A serious

Internet dater will be a member of several sites and/or have

more than one profile. I still get email from sites I don’t even

remember joining many years ago.

• Once you get someone’s phone number and address, write it on

their profile printout. You never know when you might lose your

‘little black email book’.

• Keep notes of how the date went as soon as you get home. Odds are

you won’t remember much about them after a few other blind dates.

Why Documentation is Important

If you follow the advice in this book and are taking every advantage


of Internet dating possible, then you should be well and truly snowed

under with email, profiles, accounts, dates, names, numbers and

information. Unless you are an information sponge and have a

photographic memory, you won’t be able to keep up with this deluge

of information. This means you risk losing opportunities and dates.

This is most often learned the hard way, but it doesn’t have to be.

“How hard can it be?” I hear you ask.

Picture this: How do you think you would go trying to keep up

with five blind dates in a week. Remember all their details, the

dozens of emails you have sent to each one with dozens of personal

details, the chats, phone calls, etc, and then do this week in and

week out. Odds are you won’t even be able to remember all their

names, let alone the other details. Very few people can keep up with

all this information, don’t underestimate how hard it is.

This sort of scenario is very common, such is the potential power

of Internet dating. It can be like starting a new job every week where

you have to get to know everyone’s name and position, only harder.

We all know what that’s like.

Playing it Safe

For those that wish to play it completely safe and stay anonymous


right up until the time that you meet, here are some tips:

• Always use an anonymous email service

• Never use any part of your real name when setting up your email

account.

• Don’t ‘sign’ messages with your real name. Your first name might

be ok if you want to use it. Many people prefer to use their

‘handle’.

• If you have public information about you on the Internet, like a

web page for instance, then ensure that you don’t give away any

information that will allows others to search and find it. Some

people are very good at searching for and digging up information

like this.

• Don’t give out your phone number, and only arrange your dates

via email or an online chat.

• Be careful using messaging programs like ICQ, they can leave

information trails about you if you don’t set them up correctly.

Disadvantages of Staying Anonymous

Yes there are disadvantages to staying anonymous, so it’s in your


best interests to weigh up the pros and cons. Generally it’s ok for
 
girls to remain anonymous, but for guys it’s a big decision that could


seriously decrease your chances.

The major disadvantage is that it looks like you have something

to hide. Not everyone you meet will understand if you don’t want to

tell them your real first name or give them a phone number. You

may of course have a genuine reason for hiding your identity, but

trying to explain that to someone who has never met you is not

going to be easy.

Even the simple act of having a Hotmail or Yahoo! address is

enough to raise the suspicions of some people. Obviously they have

no idea of the benefits, but that’s how they think. Generally you

won’t be at any disadvantage by using an anonymous address as

long as you appear genuine and don’t try to hide anything.

Setting Up an Email Account

To get an anonymous address you will need to register with the


email provider and choose a username. But with tens of millions of

users, every imaginable common name will already be taken, so you

will be forced to choose something very unique. Don’t be at all

surprised if your name spelled backwards is already taken.

Obviously if you want to stay anonymous then don’t choose a

username that gives away any part of your real name, like

johnsmith@hotmail.com

To register for your free anonymous email address just go to

either site mentioned above, choose the new user register option

and follow the instructions. Couldn’t be easier.

Be very careful to follow the online instructions, they will inform

you how to fill out the various forms as to provide total anonymity.

The golden rule being that you should never reveal your real name,

even if the form mentions it is safe to do so. So be adventurous and

make up a name, you can be anyone you ever wanted to be!

Once you have an anonymous email address then you are ready

to enter the world of Internet dating, be it a chat room, personals

site, messenger service, newsgroup or whatever. When registering

for any of these services be sure to use your new anonymous email

address. Make sure you document and remember your username

and password.

The only way someone will find out your name and other details

from now on is if you tell them.

Anonymous Email Addresses

The most basic requirement is to get yourself an anonymous email


address from one of the thousands of web based email providers

on the Internet. Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) and Yahoo! Mail

(mail.yahoo.com) are by far the two biggest and most popular,

and are the only ones recommended in this book. As you will see

later, these two have extra benefits that will give you an added edge

in communicating. Only use other free email services if you have

some compelling reason to do so.

If you are using your own Internet connection then you will most

likely have your own email address provided by the service provider.

You should avoid using this address if you want to stay completely

anonymous.

Even if you don’t want to remain anonymous, there are a few

good reasons to get a new email address specifically for Internet

dating:

• You can choose to be completely anonymous at a later stage.
 
• It keeps all your personal emails and your Internet dating


emails separate.

• If you get harassed, bombarded with endless spam mail, or

just get sick of the whole thing you can simply shut down or

ignore the account. You will never be bothered again.

Staying Anonymous

One of the greatest benefits of Internet dating, and a key reason to


why it is so easy and successful, is that it can be completely and

utterly anonymous. Right up until such time as you decide to meet

someone face to face. Quite simply Internet dating is one of the

safest forms of meeting people today.

So how do you stay anonymous on the Internet? Well it’s quite

easy as long as you follow a few basic rules, no one will ever know

who you are or where to find you until you decide to tell them.

Disabled

Disabled people were not traditionally catered for on most sites.


But the tide is turning, and there are now sites devoted to meeting

disabled people, and some regular personals sites cater for this as

well.

As you can see, there are no shortage of sites and services

available for almost anyone, and this is by no means a

comprehensive list. The Internet is the place to be to meet similar

people.

HIV

Once again, the Internet is the place to meet almost anyone. Some


sites even cater for people who are HIV positive, with specific profile

options you can tick to specify that you are HIV and/or searching

for someone with HIV. This can be an invaluable resource if it’s

what you are looking for.

Religion

While almost every personals site will have an option where you


can put and search for a religion, you will most likely find that the

majority of people are not overly religious. So don’t assume that

because someone selects ‘Christian’ that they are a devout Christian,

or have even been to church for that matter. The religious setting in

profiles is just like any other setting such as body type, don’t read

too much into it. Take it as a vague guide only.

If your religion is very strict and it’s very important to you to

find someone with the same beliefs, then there are a few personals

sites and chat rooms dedicated to certain religions. These sites are

more likely to give you genuine responses. You might have to search

around a bit to find these sites, but it will be worthwhile.

Swingers

If swinging is your thing, then not too many sites cater for it as a


category. Once again, you might have to dig deep into profiles to

find them. Be up front in who and what you are looking for and you

will get genuine responses. There are sites devoted to swingers, so

it’s best to try and seek these out.

Bi-Sexual

Not many sites cater for bi-sexuals all that well, either in profile or


search options. You might have to read the body of the profile to

find out. If you are looking for a bi-sexual partner, then stating this

in your profile header can help the right people find you.

Gay and Lesbian

Most good personals sites will have the option to search for Gay


and Lesbian people. When you fill out your profile you will be

typically asked for your sex and the sex of the person you are looking

for. These will then match up when people do a search. For instance,

when you do a search you might select ‘Guy looking for Guy’. Be

very careful to ensure that you are searching for other Gay or Lesbian

people, and not heterosexual as the majority of people will be. Most

people will state their sexual orientation on their profile somewhere,

so ensure that you check for this before emailing. Be sure to state it

on your profile as well, you don’t want the wrong people responding

to your profile, it just wastes everyone’s time and their money.

There are sites that do cater specifically for Gay and Lesbian

people. These are probably a better option if this is what you are

specifically looking for. But bear in mind that they are not as well

known, and hence, you are limiting the number of people you can

potentially meet by only using these dedicated services.

There are also many dedicated Gay and Lesbian chat rooms

around the Internet. Random ICQ chat also has this feature.

Special Interest Groups

The Internet is the ideal place to meet people with similar interests


or views that can often be difficult to meet in normal social settings.

If you have trouble meeting people with similar interests then the

Internet can be a great way, if not the best way to meet like-minded

people. Anonymously if you choose.

Is It Like the Movies?

Internet dating has been popularised by the immensely successful


Hollywood movie, ‘You’ve Got Mail’, starring Tom Hanks and Meg

Ryan.

How close is this movie to the reality of Internet dating?

Surprisingly close in some ways in fact. In the way that the

characters are drawn into and become addicted to chatting to each

other. Sneaking around, and not being able to wait to check their

-

email. Internet dating is certainly exciting and terribly addictive

you have been warned!

No more free time

Internet dating, chatting online, and having email correspondence


can be very time consuming

You’ll be surprised at how much time it takes to respond to all

your email, how tiring it can be having 5 dates in one week, and

how long you will end up spending in the chat rooms. These can all

be good or bad points of course, but you’ll find that you will definitely

have less free time than you did before if you get hooked.

The complete loser

Yes you will meet complete losers; it’s pure statistics, sooner or


later you are bound to meet one. No different to real life where

you are lucky if you haven’t had some complete loser try and chat

you up.

Sure you screened their profile and chatted to them for a while,

yet they still turned out to be the biggest loser of all time, why?

Chin up, it’s not your fault, it’s just that the Internet can hide the

real person; you have to meet someone face to face to find out what

they are really like.

The body type illusion

Almost every Internet dater will quickly learn that the Internet is

a great way to hide and/or exaggerate ones looks. For example,

not too many people are going to admit to being overweight when

they can simply tick a box on a profile that says ‘Average’.

Body type would have to be one of the most popular things that

people will lie or stretch the truth about. The same can be said about

both guys and girls. For example, a guy might sound really great

with an ‘athletic’ physique, only for you to be confronted with the

reality of a 6-pack beer gut and slouching shoulders.

The rule is to never take anyone’s word for it, keep an open mind,

and don’t try and build up a mental image of them. In reality nine

out of ten times someone won’t look like the person they described

themselves as. It’s not that people intentionally lie; most don’t, it’s

just that they have an image of themselves, and you have a mental

image of them that you have build up from the scant information

available. Combine these two factors and you have the potential for

big disappointment on both sides. Take every physical description

with a proverbial grain of salt.

Don’t read too much into photos either, they can be very

deceptive.

Harassment

While there is no doubt that harassment can happen, it is quite

rare, even more so than in real life. So at the very worst you are no

more likely to be harassed by someone you meet on the Internet

than someone you meet through normal social channels. Even less

so because of all the benefits of anonymity that the Internet can

offer.

Someone harasses you via email or ICQ? No big deal, just add

them to your ‘ignore list’ or at worst get new accounts and your

problem is gone.If you are concerned about this then choose to only give your


phone number and address details to people that you trust.