Chat away by Emily Wilska In this issue: Finding a chat room, Mind your manners, Safety tips, Be our guest, Stay tuned Wouldn't it be great if you could meet and socialize with people without ever leaving your couch? That's the beauty of Chat on MSN TV: it lets you join conversations, or start your own, in the comfort of your own home. Whatever your interests or hobbies, chances are good there are chat rooms out there with other people who want to, well, chat about them.

This month, we'll focus on the main chat service for MSN TV users, MSN Chat. If you have an older box or software that doesn't have MSN Chat, go to Chat Help from the main Help index to learn about other chat options.

Finding a chat room
Although MSN Chat has hundreds of different chat rooms, the basic idea behind them is the same: they are places to go to exchange messages in real time with people who share your interests. In a chat room, you can type your own messages to participate in the conversation, or you can simply read what other people write. Unlike Messenger, which is good for one-on-one conversations, Chat lets you talk to lots of people at the same time.

There are a few different ways of finding a chat room that interests you. From the main Chat page (just choose Chat from the MSN TV home page), you can choose a category, such as News or Celebrity Chats, to see a list of chat rooms devoted to it. You can also use the search box on the main Chat page to look for rooms on topics that aren't listed. If you've got time and want to get a sense of the different chat rooms available, choose the link at the bottom of the page that says "Browse a list of chat rooms now open."

Are you new to Chat or to MSN TV? If so, the New2MSNTV chat room might be right up your alley. It's a gathering place where new and old MSN TV members can meet, ask questions and help each other out.

Once you've spent some time on Chat, you'll probably have a few favorite rooms. You can go directly to a room at any time by choosing the link on the Chat main page that says "Enter a chat room whose name you already know." Just type the name of the room in the box that pops up, choose Enter Room, and you'll be on your way. Finally, if you don't find a room you like or simply want to start your own conversation, you can create your own chat room. Choose the "Create a new chat room" link on the Chat main page, choose a subject and title for your room, and then choose Create Room. You can share the name of the room with friends and family so they can join you there.
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Mind your manners
Most chat rooms aren't moderated, so it's up to the people who use them to make them pleasant and safe. Be sure to follow these golden rules of chatting: Don't use insulting or explicit words.
- Don't threaten or harass others.
- Don't use a chat room to engage in illegal activities.
- Don't behave in ways that make it difficult for other people to participate in the conversation. You can refer back to these rules at any time by choosing the Rules link on any Chat page.
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Safety tips
It's also important to keep yourself safe while chatting. Common sense can go a long way here:

- Don't give out detailed personal information, such as your address or phone number.
- Don't give out credit card numbers or bank account information.
- Avoid heated arguments that could lead to harassment or personal danger.
- If you are threatened or harassed by another person in a chat room, report the incident to MSN by choosing the Trouble link on the left side of the page.

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Be our guest
In an MSN chat room, your MSN TV user name automatically becomes your Chat nickname (the name that appears on-screen when you type a message to the chat room). You'll notice that the word "guest" appears before your name. This is because on MSN TV, we sign in to MSN Chat in a different way than people on computers do. Regardless of the "guest" in front of your name, you can still visit the same rooms as computer-based chatters do.
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Stay tuned
In next month's Tech Talk, we'll talk about some of the more advanced things you can do on Chat, like whisper a message in a room so only one other person can see it, or find out if someone else you know is using Chat at the same time you are.
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