Talkingto people in chat rooms

I cant even get to chat in the rooms. Driving me crazy. Helpp

Take my advice and forget chat. It's a blood sport :-)

I chat in the rooms a lot and have seen you there, dave :) Hi and welcome to chat!

I think the best way "in" is to dive in, join the chat, be witty and fun, and most of all, keep saying hi. To everyone. You never know.

I for one try to say hi back unless I am too busy in pms and don't see it.

Once you talk there a while, the "regulars" get to know you and are more likely to respond.

I also have to add that I never ignore a pm unless it's rude. Many go insane with unrequested pms, though, so watch who you pm.

I'll look for you and say hi next time I see you :)

PS....I've heard a lot say that it's cliquey in chat, but when I've talked to them privately, I often find they can't carry on a conversation to save their life, and are hell bent on meeting YESTERDAY.

I find the majority of people fun and friendly. Just go with the flow, don't get discouraged if some of your comments are ignored (remember that also applies to the idiotic things we all sometimes say too, and be greatful) and keep trying.

I have taken a break from the chat room for a time though do venture in on the odd occasion. I alwasy try to be polite and answer everyone when they direct chat to me in the main room, but alas i may miss the odd one or two comments if i happen to be chatting via PM with someone (not that i PM often mwahaha) I don't think it is anything to do with 'age' Dave. But yes i agree some members need lessons in manners but some may like me just simply not have seen your post on main board if they are already busy and only have one eye or glance on main chat from time to time ;-)

The chat room does seem to come in for rather a lot of flack in the blogosphere so being one of the lowlife that uses it regularly I shall try my best to stand up for it.
The chat is what you make of it. If you take the time to be polite, have a laugh, be prepared to have the mickey taken out of you and to give it back you'll be fine. The one tip for new chatters that I would give is to dive straight in! Don't expect people to come to you, just join in with the conversation. Yes there are regulars in there but if you join the conversation in the manner of everyone else you'll fit right in :-)
Always ask if you want to pm first and if the answer is no be gracious and just accept it.
If someone is nice enough to let you see them on cam don't be an idiot and start saying stupid stuff or even worse directing!!!
Just treat it like a trip to your local, be friendly, be polite, be prepared to take the time to get to know people and be patient. If people see you often and regularly & you're always a fun, decent individual the mutual trust will build and you'll become a "regular" .
Please understand that I'm speaking from a blokes perspective and I know the women do get bombarded with pms sometimes but you can always close them, put nuisance chatters on ignore, name & shame them in the room or even report them to admin.
And practice makes perfect. Even regulars sometimes have trouble keeping up with the pace of chat on busy nights but you'll soon get used to it.
Give it a go you might just like it ;-)

From a purely personal perspective you realize, the reason I don't do chat is that it's sooo..... inconsequential and ridiculously banal. I've got a busy life, and in the real world, I'd rather talk to people I know over a few drinks in a bar, via personal mails, or some direct messaging platform, rather than having to run a gauntlet of "etiquette", random rantings and trendy abbreviations (of which I'm ignorant). The other thing that never ceases to amaze me is that people *actually have time* to participate in it :-)

Well---Dave, I saw you in chat today and would've popped over to say hi but there was a symbol on your avatar indicating you were busy.

All's looking good then?

There is no "chat etiquette" just consideration, understanding, politeness and common sense. We are real people in the room but instead of hearing voices you're reading them. Interact as you would if you were face to face.
The chat is not inconsequential or banal, yes a lot of the time people have a laugh and joke but during my time in there I've seen everything discussed, from politics to literature, arts to quantum physics, sport to philosophy... Oh yeah and the occasional conversation about sex.
I'd like to think that people I am talking to are friends & hope they think of me in the same way. Met some great people from chat and hope to meet many more. In the perfect world we would all be down the pub having a laugh but some peoples lives aren't that perfect and chat offers a positive alternative.
Like I said, chat is what you make it, if you go in with a dismissive attitude not willing to give it a chance then you won't like it. If you take your time and make friends, I don't think you'll regret it :)

MissG I never knew you still got notifications even when people are blocked. I can see how that would still be annoying. Funnily enough I've never had the trouble of constant pms ;-)

caitlin and Joe: Perhaps it's just a question of horses for courses. In the few times I nosed into chat, to me it just seemed a melee, and I'm not very good at multi-tasking :-) As I said above, I like to think I'm making the best use of my time, and to be honest, I'm not convinced that investing hours in chat would be cost-effective in terms of perceived yield and personal value.

The beauty of these blogs is that I can see what's on offer within a minute or two of logging in every morning, and decide instantly what is of interest and what isn't. I can then add a post or two, and then I'm out of here to do what I do in the real world. Yes it takes time to do *anything*, but I guess the time any individual takes to do something is directly proportional to its perceived value to that person.

Participating in the blogs has got me noticed, and usually by the types of people I would tend to get on with. Some of those people have followed through with direct communication, and to me that is the best way to meet people (in person or in cyber). I would also be happy to turn up at a social if I happened to be in the country at the time, and that would be equivalent to "meeting in the pub" I guess, which is all good. I'm not a desperately needy type of person, and in terms of numbers and quality, I would say I'm quite happy with the extent of my interaction with people on this site - either bloggers or non-bloggers. Therefore I'm not motivated to invest further in chat. And of course being 9 hours ahead of UK means that I'd have to be up at some ungodly hour trying to make sense of txt spk, multiple conversations and funny little symbols formed from colons, asterisks and other parts of speech that seem to constitute some form of important cyber-signalling system :-)

Lol Gilli it's a fair cop I've been rumbled! You know me too well, about my bad reputation and leading others astray in chat, constantly banging on about sex, surprised I'm not constantly put on ignore lol .... You'll just have to put up with me as I am ;-)