how to find your way around chat rooms, an intro

this chat engine can be rather tricky for newcomers. first, if you enter thru your Profile Page tab [Chat] Lobby, you may see other people's names there, but no one talks to you. that is because they are in other rooms and don't see you. off to the right are 3 long tabs; one is for the room you're in, one for friends who are in any room, and one for the rooms available (click on a room to go there).

you can whisper to people in other rooms, or use a Private Message window to talk between rooms. a few lines of the chat that happened before you came in can be seen, so you get an idea of what is going on in that room.

if you feel abused in a room, you can copy and paste the conversation and send it to a Moderator. 'Mods' who are online and working are listed at the very bottom of the [FORUM]>INDEX tab at the top of your Profile Page. their names are posted in red. click on a name and send a Private Message, with a copy of the chat.

if you get to know someone and want to see if they are in the chats, there is a line on the [Chat] tab at the very bottom "Who's in Chat?", that will show that, and whether it is a public or private chat. if you enter a private chat room, it is wise to look to the right and see who created that room, and if they are present (their name will be in Bold). a greeting or request to join is not out of order.

i hope this helps you find your way around a little easier.
best wishes~
Gus

I'll 'warn' you before typing my post: I have Asperger's and I'm not very proficient in navigating unspoken rules and social situations. So it would be great if you could clarify: what is the purpose of the chat? When do people use the chat? I get the "themed" chats, e.g. the Depression Support Chat I imagine is for people who want to talk to other depressed people about depression. And I imagine the adult/mature chat is the go-to place for talk about sex, and the teen chat for whining about school/teachers/parents. (I don't mean to offend anyone by calling it whining - I'm a teen myself.) But how/when/why am I to use the other chat rooms? How should I behave? How can I expect others to behave? I mean, I get that I shouldn't be rude and that I can expect others to not be rude, but besides that?

And I'm sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong forum. I understood from the sticky that we're not supposed to open a new thread to ask a question, but I wasn't sure if that also applied to asking a question in an existing thread. If I'm not supposed to ask it here, can you please point me in the right direction?

Hm-m-m-m-m... this makes me glad I'm a hermit...

DO open a new thread, for a new topic, AFTER you have used the [SEARCH] bar to see if your question has already been asked and answered.