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.