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Geek Culture / Should I Worry About... Chatrooms

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RegenProZ
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Joined: 20th Aug 2005
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Posted: 8th Sep 2005 22:43
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Hello all, for all of you that have recently heard about a death of a girl who commited suicide by talking to someone on the net, it struck me to think if I should really be having a chatroom on my own website...

I don't want to start or even be part of someone's death over something this stupid....

What's your point of view?

I also noticed that around a year or 2 now, MSN shut down their chatroom service due to something like this.

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BatVink
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21
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Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 8th Sep 2005 22:58
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She was a suicidal individual, on a website dedicated to discussing suicide.

End of...literally.

It is unfortunate that someone in this frame of mind only found likeminded people, rather than someone who could help. But she didn't, as far as I know, go to the first chatroom she found and start up a discussion on the subject.

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Jimmy
21
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Location: Back in the USA
Posted: 8th Sep 2005 23:41
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She was also pretty fat.

So the real question is:

Should I worry about... horse bacon


Bloggy hoggy doggy
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Kangaroo2 BETA2
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Joined: 23rd Aug 2003
Location: Somerset / UK
Posted: 9th Sep 2005 00:03
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the msn chatrooms were shut because paedophiles were regularly blatantly abusing them and ms didn't want to have to constantly police the boards.

If you do decide to have a chatroom or message board your only main worries are:

1) Make sure tyou have a disclaimer that whatever users may say on it these are not the opinions of you or your company / affiliates, and

2) Make sure the 18 year old blonde model you meet in it and arrange to marry isn't actually a fat old man called humphrey.

Cheers, Sam

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Deep Thought 42
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Joined: 31st Jul 2005
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posted: 9th Sep 2005 00:13
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Quote: " Make sure the 18 year old blonde model you meet in it and arrange to marry isn't actually a fat old man called humphrey.
"

Good point . There are many strange people out there. Chatrooms may attract them like flies to honey.

"Winners never quit and quitters never win. But those who never win and never quit are idiots."
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Teh Go0rfmeister
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Posted: 9th Sep 2005 01:04 Edited at: 14th Sep 2005 18:57
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dude, think of all the chatrooms, chatrooms users out there, and then compare to how many story's you hear. think of the chances.

[edit, sorry was in a rush when i first typed this with all the errors, was in a rush to catch a bus...]

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Jimmy
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Posted: 9th Sep 2005 01:10
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Froog, you are growing less and less coherent with each passing daaaaaaaaaay.

La la laaaa.


Bloggy hoggy doggy
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Ian T
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Posted: 9th Sep 2005 02:05
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Quote: "think of the chances."


Actually pretty bad. The Yahoo! chatrooms have been, for quite a while, constantly infested with pedophiles - many pedophile rings that have been assimilated used Yahoo! primarily, in fact. Because they simply don't moderate at all. Two recent measures, requiring a valid credit card to create an account and shutting down user created rooms, may have helped somewhat, but it was always the Yahoo-created regional rooms that were the biggest problem anyway, and they're still not even slightly moderated.

At the end of the day parents need to watch everything their kids do online. Still, that doesn't void webmasters from an incentive to keep their place safe. So XpProUser, I would simply recommend you appoint several moderators you trust to the chatroom.

If I looking for blog
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Megaton Cat
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Location: Toronto, Canada
Posted: 9th Sep 2005 02:19 Edited at: 9th Sep 2005 02:19
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Simply write this disclaimer before entering your chatroom:

No idiots, please

People have to spend less time making up silly and obvious disclaimers (What do you mean I can't give out Gay Child Pornography??) and more time using with their common sense.


The future is here, and I can't afford it.
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TDP Enterprises
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Joined: 28th Mar 2005
Location: on or in front of my computer
Posted: 9th Sep 2005 02:22
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too bad your big mouth isnt law of the land..... i agree that.......No idiots plz .....would be better than a 10000 word disclaimer....

“A lot of people approach risk as if it’s the enemy when it’s really fortune’s accomplice” - Sting“
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Mnemonix
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Posted: 14th Sep 2005 17:02
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but my IRC channel would be empty

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
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Raven
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Location: Hertfordshire, England
Posted: 14th Sep 2005 17:19
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there's no legal presidence of what an idiot is.. well technically there is cause it means someone with the mental age of a child.
(i forget the exact age)

people who take advantage of this new form of communication to use and abuse people are obviously sadly intelligent. the only way to really make sure nothing goes on is to have a privacy policy that allows you to log the chat and then either manually go through it or have a bot flag important words that might catch your attention.

whenever you find something your worried about pass it on to the internet crime unit at your local police dept. (most have them now, you can also freely discuss with them rights concerning IP useage and such)

almost everything new is a mixxed blessing, the internet is no different. why people seemed to think so when it started becoming popular is beyond me. sicko's don't just suddenly change.

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Infinity
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Posted: 14th Sep 2005 18:54
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Or you could have few good mods (few thousends) who would read all the trafic and remove the problematic ones from the chatroom.
Just the idea, though...

I'm trying to learn...
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Damokles
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Posted: 14th Sep 2005 19:39
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If it was that easy to get them away.
The obvious bad-minded people aren't dangerous, because people see directly what they want.
I think the really dangerous ones seem nice on the chatrooms.

- Mind the gap -
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Eric T
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 01:06 Edited at: 15th Sep 2005 01:07
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You should be very afraid of chatrooms... they ate my dog, raped my sister, and pissed in my gas tank.



http://blog.myspace.com/erict An Alternative to Mouse's blog. Now with more lowbrow opinions.** Warning - explicit language**
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RegenProZ
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 01:09
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I just don't wanner get done for something like this, couldn't give too-hoots about your dog/sister or gas tank jking

I'll continue to use my pwning chatroom.


MGSolids Messenger - WIP Forum
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UnderLord
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 05:47
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Quote: "She was also pretty fat.

So the real question is:

Should I worry about... horse bacon
"


Jimmy should STFU and reframe from comments like that.

When we talk to god, we're praying. When god talks to us, we're schizophrenic.
Fortune never calls on those that have no balls.
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ionstream
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 06:13
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He should also reframe all of his old pictures because the frames are getting all crackley.

Sig changed for lagging up browsers.
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Jimmy
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Location: Back in the USA
Posted: 15th Sep 2005 08:47
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Quote: "He should also reframe all of his old pictures because the frames are getting all crackley."


Don't I KNOW IT!


Bloggy hoggy doggy
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Ian T
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 09:17
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Quote: "I think the really dangerous ones seem nice on the chatrooms.
"


If you are not easily disturbed you may want to glance at a site online which posts logs of pedos in yahoo chatrooms being lured by 'plants', among other ways of exposing sickos. I'm not going to link to it directly here. Note the easily disturbed disclaimer. The very worst people are indeed the very nicest on the outside.

Blog is death. How? NO idea. But is murder. REVENGE!
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Infinity
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Posted: 15th Sep 2005 17:31
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Quote: "I think the really dangerous ones seem nice on the chatrooms.
"

Then throw the nicest out of the chatroom

Maybe you could give it a try, and see if something happens...
(It depends on what kind of staf do you have on your website)

I'm trying to learn...
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Hawkeye
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Joined: 19th Sep 2003
Location: SC, USA
Posted: 15th Sep 2005 20:14
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Perhaps you should ask yourself.... should you worry about the hundreds of mean, nasty people in this earth that there is no way to avoid unless you enter a bubble for your life? No way to avoid them.

Quote: "The very worst people are indeed the very nicest on the outside."

I resent that! Oh wait, no I don't.... not since I started insulting the hell outta people on the irc.


Arrr! Blog spotted off ter starboard!
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Mnemonix
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Location: Skaro
Posted: 16th Sep 2005 16:42 Edited at: 16th Sep 2005 16:43
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I shall destroy all chat rooms





WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
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