Online Dating Reviving the Integrity of the Chat Room

Chat rooms have gained a bad reputation over the past few years. The misconception is that a chat room is a place for social predators, would-be criminals and unsupervised juvenile exploits. This connotation can be no further from the truth. In fact, the percentage of cases is quite minute when comparing it to the millions of users chatting everyday. Chat rooms have been around since the early 1990s. Internet service providers, such as America Online, integrated chat rooms directly into their marketing appeal by offering people a chance to make friends all over the world by using their popular chat and instant messaging technology. As the years went on, just like many good resources, people began to abuse it. Chat rooms that were once offering a safe haven for like-minded individuals seem to become a place for online shenanigans. Despite what some bad apples attempt to ruin there are still many places for mature conversation to take place. Enter online dating.

Some of the most popular uses for chat rooms are for singles, romance and dating. Millions of singles from around the world log in daily into chat rooms hoping to hit it off with that someone special. Like all chats, rooms are created for the most specific topic to ensure that users are all talking about the same thing. Romance chat rooms are no different. Rooms are created to appeal to people who are looking for specific characteristics whether it is age, ethnicity, location or astrological sign. Online dating services, like Megafriends, are offering people the chance to use chat rooms the way they were envisioned by offering web chat to their members. Megafriends not only offers chat rooms, but also allows people to set up a personal profile, share pictures with other members, send virtual gifts, exchange instant messaging and search for a pen pal, friend or soul mate.

In 2003, online dating accounted for a third of all Internet revenues grossing over $300 million even beating out the adult industry. Despite its impressive presence on the web, with thousands of dating services competing, online dating is continuously growing. And with more and more singles turning to dating websites, like Megafriends, users are learning that chat rooms can still be a safe place for people to enjoy the technology of the Internet.