Like in anything with life, you’re going to have you friends and the people you just don’t really care for or have anything to do with, same will happen in a chat room. It should be no surprise, you should expect it even. Same as any chat room will have the random ‘tard’ come in just looking for no good since that person has nothing better to do and obviously can’t make friends, he/she would rather try to ruin your time. There are many ways to make sure you don’t have to waste time dealing with these kinds of people. Learn your room, learn your tard guards. For as much time as you take to learn the different features of the room to further your chatting experience, you should also stop and check how to work the room blocks. Most rooms not only have one way of blocking people, but separate features for blocking.
One of the first things you tell a new user when they are overwhelmed with private requests is that just because someone sent an invite, does not in any way mean they must accept it and reply. If you do not want to private chat with someone, simply don’t. Make it known in the room that you would like to talk there. If you’re in a room that has boxes open up for private messages, then check you’re options. You don’t have to accept private messages and some rooms also give you the option to keep your pm’s (private messages) open for only the people that you want. You should click that function on when you enter the room. I love this option; each user is able to moderate their pm. That’s right, you have that power, so use it. If you can’t be bothered to just limit your pm’s, then try minimizing any of the pm boxes, and have it set to the side. Who cares if someone is chatting away in it, you’re not giving it the attention their wanting. If you’re bothered by the sounds of constant pm’s and other room noises, you can also turn that off in the room options. Why listen to a noise if it just drives you nuts? If you don’t like that feature then turn it off. Make the room to your own design.
If you’re in a room that allows cameras and microphones, check all your options for those features. If you can mute microphones, take a note of it. You never know if you will want to use that in the future. The biggest concern as far as protecting against tards is to know your rights for camera use. You do not have to show anyone your camera just because it is up in the room, you don’t have to accept private cam just because someone sent you an invite. You don’t need to watch a cam just because you see that it’s on. If it is someone you don’t know at all and you don’t like what you see on their cam, turn it off. If you feel there is something that shouldn’t be in the room, you can make a report of it. But, don’t let it upset you, you don’t need to watch or have anything to do with it. Just go back to your own business and enjoy yourself, never let anyone take that from you. You should find that room’s way of letting you know who can see your cam. If you decide you don’t want someone to see your cam anymore for any reason, you can turn off the cam only on that person and even just block them from viewing your cam. These cam block features are usually found in the cam video box or up in the options for the room. If the room has a selection for allowing only people you add to your friends list to send you a request, you may want to use that setting. Again, you moderate who is allowed to view your cam, and who it is you want to view, when you want to, in main room or in private. That is your right as chatter.
If a person is bothering you, you may want to block them completely from you. Check your room options on how to do that. That does work on tards well. Tards come in, randomly or a person who you have ended a friendship with, and just attack you as much as possible. They simply want to get a response out of you and know they have made you upset. Don’t let them! If you click to completely block them, then you will not see anything they post on the main board then and can continue on with your own conversation. I know your concern will be what they say, and the influence it will have on the room. The funny thing is that the whole room can also spot when someone is just being a tard. You should not question if your friends will take the word of some random tard over their friendship with you. And if it’s on your mind, you can always go back and ask one of your friends what the tard had to say anyways just so you know. If you block the tard, make it known. If your friends see that you are moving on, they may give the tard a quick piece of mind and go back to just casual chat. If the tard is not getting the attention they want, they always leave. It’s no fun for them if they can’t get everyone fighting.
If you see a friend getting attacked by a tard, tell them to click the block on and just go back to chatting with you. Sometimes, yes, you can defend yourself and it’s enough to stop it. But if it continues then it just needs blocked and ended. I have seen where people get upset because one person is crying over the opinions of a random person but refuses to block, it could be because they like the attention of having people coming to their defense. Just make sure you don’t cross the extreme lines of the chat room that would cause you to also be dealt with by moderators or admin should it escalate that far.
You should also be smart about how much personal information you give to someone you just are getting to know. I have also seen many times where a ‘friend’ will come in hidden as a guest and start drama with someone who is thinks this person is a friend and is none the wiser who that was. Sometimes people do it just for the drama, and sometimes I have seen them, as a guest, attack the person so they can come into the room to play hero. If something feels familiar about it or set up, you may want to slow down the friendship until you can confirm it was or was not that person. If the room blocks are the kind to stick until you unblock that person, that is be one way to know if it was them. If that person comes into the room blocked from you, you must’ve blocked him/her at some point. Put it together for yourself. Ask if the room blocks stick or if they reset when you exit and come back, if it resets then you should not use that as part of way to know if a friend is harassing you. If it seems to be an ongoing thing with one guest, that may be the time to ask for some help so you can know if it’s a ‘friend’ abusing your relationship and things you’ve opened up about to them so you can handle yourself accordingly or if it is really just a random tard that thought you made an easy target.
Choose your friends, choose who watches your cam; anyone who abuses the friendly gesture should be blocked. There are too many more people with the same intentions as you, give your time to honest friendships. In summary, you need to work the room… don’t let it work you. Your best defense is a good offense and using your own common sense.
