Chatroom Etiquette: What’s Hot and What’s Not

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If you are a newbie to chatrooms, sometimes you can inadvertently ruffle the feathers of others in the chatroom simply for lack of understanding some basic rules of chatroom etiquette. In an effort to help you avoid unpleasantness in a chatroom, a list of common courtesies expected of chatroom participants is found below:

• Please remember that chatting online is still a form of communication with other human beings. Therefore, it is important to carry on your chat as you would if you were sitting face-to-face with the person with whom you are speaking.
• Many chatrooms have a list of rules for participants. Read them carefully before entering a chatroom to be sure you know what to do and what to expect of others.
• While it can be exciting to enter a chatroom, you might want to contain your enthusiasm for just a little while until you have had time to see what the atmosphere of the chatroom is. It is perfectly okay to simply “lurk” for a bit before jumping into the discussion.
• Inappropriate language and excessive cursing is not generally appreciated, nor tolerated for long. You should be able to get your point across calmly and cleanly, without resorting to vulgarity. If you find that hard to do, take a break from your keyboard or touchscreen, and take a few deep, calming breaths.
• Avoid using slang or texting shortcuts that iliar to other chatroom participants. Using text that cannot be easily deciphered is like using a foreign language when you know your audience does not understand it. Since your reason for participating in a chatroom is to share your views and listen to the views of others, clarity is a good goal to keep in mind.
• When you enter the chatroom, identify yourself by your screen name. Do not use your personal name or reveal any personal information about yourself. It is not rude to identify yourself by a screen name only, since other participants expect you to do just that.
• Do not ask others for their personal information.
• If there are other chatroom participants who are rude or hostile, do not engage with them. Doing so only fans the flames of anger or rudeness, and you may get burned in the process.
• Just as you would if you were speaking to someone in person, listen respectfully to what other chatroom participants have to say. Do not hog the conversation.

If you follow these simple guidelines, you will enjoy many hours of pleasant communication with like-minded individuals in WireClub’s many free online chatrooms. So, find one that suits your interests, and start chatting today!

Chatbots, Chat Interfaces, and In-Chat E-Commerce, Oh My!

Humans love to chat. From old-style rotary telephones to smartphones, the need to communicate with other humans has led to a plethora of inventions over the years.

Chatting by computer emerged as far back as the 1970s, and instant messaging technology puts the power and allure of chat directly into the palms of our hands. But all of this technology has been about humans communicating with other humans.

However, modern chat technology has emerged, leading consumers to chat, not with other people only, but with A.I. as well. Enter the age of Amazon Echo, Cortana, Google Now, and Siri. Like a scene from StarTrek, consumers can now simply verbalize to their smartphones what they want from within chat platforms, and like magic, A.I. takes over, sometimes providing results in the blink of an eye.

There can be no doubt that consumers in America are turning their attention to mobile for e-commerce. It seems logical, then, to assume that as more and more consumers use mobile devices both to chat and to shop, a merging of the two will take place.

That is what is already happening in other regions of the world. According to Venturebeat, mobile commerce is already high in the Asia-Pacific market, where 46 percent of consumers made at least one purchase on a mobile device in 2015. Experts believe that in-chat e-commerce in that region has grown exponentially because of the Asian messaging app, WeChat. WeChat has 650 million active monthly users, and it is a common occurrence for them to use in-chat e-commerce to get their shopping done on the go.

However, Asia will not have all the fun, if Facebook has anything to say about itmenting on Facebook’s announcement of chatbots for Facebook Messenger earlier this year, Venturebeat notes: “Facebook’s entry signals massive opportunities given the combined 1.6 billion users on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp – the messaging platform Facebook acquired in 2014. According to eMarketer, Facebook and WhatsApp are regarded as the two “global powerhouse apps” with significant reach in more than 20 countries worldwide. And the number of messaging app users globally is expected to reach 2.19 billion by 2019 – or 80 percent of smartphone users.”

Channele2e believes that chatbots, in-chat e-commerce, and chat interfaces will continue to make their presence known in the world of e-commerce for some time to come, asserting that at some point, chatbots will no longer be thought of as novelties, but as tools that enable consumers to quickly and easily interact with their favorite e-commerce brands.

The Channele2e article notes: “Bots, and the chat platforms they run on, provide an amazing opportunity for brands to deliver contextual experiences on borrowed mobile moments. This is the first step on a journey towards a bright future where consumers no longer orchestrate their needs through content and services, but sit chatib desktop back and let the technology work for them.”

As chat technology continues to evolve, it appears there will be no shortage of ways in which chat will contribute to the mobile revolution. At the same time, you can still enjoy chat technology in a much simpler form, in the way of easy-to-use chatrooms like the ones you can find at Wireclub. Check out our free online chatrooms today.