GoConnect offers this facility through our chat rooms which are accessible through our member's website. We have created a number of rooms where you can meet people with similar interest and even develop friendships over time.

Initially learning how to chat online may seem like a daunting task, but unlike other internet services, the great thing about chat is that you can simply ask someone for a hand if you're having problems.

Before getting started it is important to read our "Chat Guidelines" to see how you should behave. For example just typing in CAPITALS is generally considered poor manners as it is regarded as shouting.

To start chatting, you need to select a chat room you would like to join. Initially we are offering 3 different rooms to chose from but as time goes on we'll introduce new rooms according to your preferences. Before actually entering the room you will have the option to load 'Use Lightweight chat client', we suggest you only do this if you're using a 28.8k modem.

Once you join a chat room you'll be prompted to 'Please enter a nickname to participate'.

It's often good to chose a nickname that is somewhat anonymous like 'freddo' is it allows you to have more fun in our rooms. When you start out you may like to try a few different nicknames till you find one that you feel fits you best. Once you've found a nickname that you like, you can register it to prevent other people using your nickname. Instructions relating to this are available in the "Nickname Help and Commands" section of the chat page.

Once you've joined the chat room you can see who else is around in the panel on the right hand side of the screen.

Start chatting by placing your cursor in small box along the bottom of the chat screen and typing what you want to say followed by Enter.

In addition to this you can look of your font by using the colour and effect panel to the left of the text entry box. To keep a particular colour you can double click it.

To leave a chat room, simply go to a new page or close down your browser.

To find out what the various buttons do on the top of the chat window hit the 'Help' button.