Just in the last year internet chat has changed quite a bit and has grown into something not quite controllable. Originally a way for people to communicate with friends and family all over the world, it became a way to meet new and interesting people, make friends and in some cases a love match. It’s sad to see a nice form of communication being ruined by con-artists, pornographers and irresponsible parents.
So many times when looking to meet people someone will enter ‘chat’ into the search engine and click on a few until they find one that seems to be a good fit. Soon they find that not everyone is as they appear. Some are lying about age, gender, location, profession and just about everything else. Some want you to come to their pay websites and some want you to send them money directly. Some will make promises of love and jobs to get you trust them. Beware and never give personal information to anyone online.
Another problem with chat sites now is that most involve webcam. People will turn on their webcam and show their home, face and other body parts without knowing who is watching them. There is software available that allows those video feeds to be recorded. People are recording others, sometimes intimately, and those recordings are turning up on other websites. This invasion of privacy is becoming more and more prevalent throughout the internet.
Parents who buy their children computers hoping to encourage their interest in education are also creating a problem when they allow the children access to the internet to safeguard them from adult chat sites. Many times a teenager’s natural curiosity about sex is exploited on sites that are intended for adults only. Pedophiles are not easy to spot behind the computer screen. Parents have to take the time to review what sites their child is visiting. At the very least make sure all internet activity is done in a common room in the house.
Internet chat is still a good form of communication for most people. Remembering to protect and safeguard your personal information and financial information is similar to what it would be face to face. It is much harder to get an accurate feeling about a person when they could be anywhere in the world.
