Is the Chat Room Being Used By Anyone...

[Frankie]

I agree fire, I have been there too, just to check it out...and it is way too personal, I truly believe if people go there it should be general discussion only. Otherwise, if people want to talk private stuff, they should find other alternatives.

 

[skye]

Be careful you dont know who your really talking too

I had an experience on here that wasnt so good. I thought the person was good and sincere but i was lied to and deceived. It reallly hurt me and took the last bit of trust i had left.

 

[Nicolette]

Hi Skye

I know you are in moderation so can't PM me so please post who you had the bad experience with and we will look into it. We will not disclose to other members but want to make sure you feel safe.

 

[anthony]

Please refer to [DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/96109-post1.html[/DLMURL] which states I do not monitor, nor do I endorse the chat itself. It can be used by anyone, it can be used deceptively and you use it at your own risk. I am sorry, but I cannot provide any guarantee upon the chat. People lie... every day nearly. For some it is just habit. You need to simply know who is who, know who you can trust and those you should stay clear off. We will monitor suspect individuals though once reported. Thank you for that and please feel free to use the forum contact form with any issues, as that comes to myself.

I can provide guarantee's upon the forum integrity and the users upon it; I can provide investigation upon suspect members, etc. I can ensure editors know about a member who may be suspicious. We are now aware of the member in question Skye and will now monitor that member from here on out. All editors will be made aware of them.

Saying that... please do not go out on a rampage from your own encounter in an attempt to discredit another member, as that is not always good either. Yes, the Internet is full of predators and we do endeavour to protect the best we can here. I cannot provide such protection on live chat though.

 

[skye]

Thank you very much for doing all that you can do Nicolette ,Anthony, and all Administrative Editors. I realize even more now the need to be extremely careful with information exchanged on this and any site. I have avoided trying to discredit this individual, however felt the need to warn others who have been on with me and who have also trusted this individual. It was a shock to a lot if people, however a good learning experience.

 

[fin]

One of the concerns for me was that because names are not registered; as they are here with the forum, anyone from off site-not forum member, could say they were someone from here. I do not go to the forum and chat and trust unless I somehow know that I am talking to the person I think I am...ie if I have receieved a PM or note to my wall, from them first saying they will be there and the name they will be using also. Oh and even then I am a very aware and still not likely to trust much, it is how much we give out and feel comfortable doing in live chat. It is LIVE CHAT write that down and stick it above your monitor it might help you to remember. I also have another way I remember and utilise to help me to think on what I am saying in there later in this post.

I might or have so far tended to PM others if they want to chat to me to let them know when or how or in whatever way I will be there. Because again I am accutely aware that once my chat name has been associated with me here then this also can be used by someone else again. And so can others names please remeber that ...while we are as ok as we can be here that someone from real world is not and they may very well lie and take on our identities here as they can read them in ptsd chat and general chat without joining into membership here first.

Because of this I will probably never use my 'here' name in there, because it is completely open to the world. And I would not want someone thinking they were talking to me and then finding out that it wasn't me but someone else pretending to be me.

I am cool (-ish) that it is open but I am accutely aware and I try not to forget this. I think for me joining in chat there was a step out of my comfort zone again. I do have a minor ish bad story regarding chat NOT THIS one here ok, but ever since then I am careful, I think we just need to try remember that, and that if we can and we can utilise this into our recovery than the chat site can be a good one.

I do think it is perhaps a good thing to have this alongside, because if anyone is like me and techologically challenged some, then trying to contact anyone else can be very difficult. But this is a step out of the box, it can be daunting...try to look on it as being stood outside in real world in a restaurant or bar full of people who are all being very silent and you are having a conversation that you are shouting rather than speaking, and maybe it will help you to remember that you do not know who is talking with you or even who is there listening- this is how I try to think on it. And hopefully that might help you stop and think before getting too personal.

Although I wonder what too personal is, because if someone needs to talk about something and they are comfortable doing so isnt that ok? Except of course that others might not be, but then isn't it good for us to be able to try to say something to others that expresses our concern and lets them know we are not comfortable with some things, I know this is something I need to work on being able to do- saying no when I need to in a way that is understaood. Yes it might take us out of our comfort zone to stop and speak out a bit, but isnt that a good coping strategy, a good thing for us to able to practise? And we get to practise on line so that is perhaps cool.

~fin

I have to say I have been on a couple of times and I had not seen anything untoward but again I have been to other places in chat world-years ago and my experience was very bad. I am worried now about this and wondering if I will go back also now. But I am hoping that I can and will just remember that chat is totally unregulated and it is also a place where people that are not good might find it very easy to pick vulnerable people out. I hope this helps.

 

[dust]

I popped my head in when Skye was in there and, yes it was a bit odd with the conversation (it was quite personal and continued when I was in there and like Fire, I felt like I was evesdropping, so left). Skye, please be careful there are predators out there that get off on this shit. Once you have been on here a while, you get to know the regulars and the people who give to rather than take from this place. Like others here, I would say, make sure there are a few folks around before chatting.

dust

dust

 

[Deleted member 541]

I have never used the chat room, and probably won't. I use gmail chat and msn chat to chat with people. At least I know who the hell I am chatting with....