Is It Healthy To Chat With Random People Online?

The Internet has made it possible for people of every age and nationality to communicate with friends, family, and strangers around the globe. It seems like every day there is a new tool or app designed for consumers to purchase and use. 

People have been chatting online since the 1990s. According to research on internet usage by the American Psychological Association, “between 75 and 90 percent of teenagers in the United States use the Internet to email, instant message (IM), visit chat rooms and explore other sites on the World Wide Web,” and this detail was from 2006, when the internet was far less developed than it is today. 

Despite the extensive use of online chat rooms, some people still wonder if it's really healthy to get involved in a chat with random people. Below, we’ll explore online chat rooms, the possible benefits of chatting with random people online, and ways to guard yourself if you decide to use online chat rooms.

Who's on chat?

Online chat sites and chat applications have grown considerably over the last 20 years. For example, Slack, a team chat app, had 250,000 users in 2015. It now has approximately 18 million daily active users. Many other chat apps are designed for socializing rather than conducting work communications. The largest platforms you’ve probably heard of, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Weixin/WeChat, and QQ, all have millions of users every month. People with nearly every interest and life circumstances are chatting online.

Is it safe?

While online chat can be enjoyable and allow you to meet people from all walks of life, it can also present danger in several ways. One danger of chatting online is that someone may try to find you in the real world without your permission. 

Dating sites are notorious for fake profiles. Stories abound about people being deceived in many ways. Anyone who goes online looking for a partner may need to take additional precautions to avoid being taken advantage of by a predator or a thief. Many lives have been lost and many identities stolen by unscrupulous users. The perpetrators are sometimes not caught even though police departments throughout the world have set up task forces to monitor chat sites for predators and thieves.

Hacking has also become a common problem. To guard yourself against hackers, consider changing your user passwords often without using your date of birth, your address, or your first or last name. Research suggests that a combination of random words, numbers, and symbols may be best. Moreover, if you have more than one email account, it may help to make sure your passwords and usernames are different. Another possible safeguard is to lock your phone so that it can't be opened if you lose it. This may be especially helpful if you're using chat applications on your phone.

Are people honest on chat?

There is some evidence that people frequently make things up when chatting. One study showed that many users not only lie online but also expect others to do the same. For example, they may lie about their identify, career, and finances. If you chat online, it may help to remember that the information you get may be complete fiction. If you hold on to that possibility, you might enjoy casual exchanges without expectations.

Can you receive emotional support in a random chat exchange?

For instance, parents may need to keep informed as to the tools their children are using to chat online and teach them to be web-savvy when it comes to their safety. This includes teaching them to never give out personally identifiable information or even some vague, seemingly harmless information. For example, it may be best not to mention things about the weather or names of stores or even restaurants, which could help someone narrow down the possibilities of your location. 

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, pictures taken with a smartphone have the GPS coordinates embedded in them, which could be used by someone to find your location. 

Cyber-safety experts also advise against meeting up with a stranger you've only met online. Women and children may be especially prone to be abducted or worse. Because children may often be willing to believe what they are being told online, they can be easy targets for predators. Some children and teens even agree to meet a virtual stranger in their homes when their parents are away. An organization called "Enough is Enough" found that one in seven children is sexually solicited by strangers, and more than half the children surveyed were asked for pictures.

Teenagers often use chatting online to express their feelings and problems. They may think they are chatting with a peer, but this is not always the case. A predator could be posing as a “friend,” and a false sense of intimacy may be created.

Can you have healthy relationships when you chat with random people online?

Some evidence suggests that relationships formed in online chat rooms can be healthy and also improve social skills for people to build better face-to-face relationships. Online relationships can have many of the same benefits and problems as relationships offline. However, even in these situations, it’s recommended that you exercise proper safety precautions regardless of how close you feel to someone online.

Exploring your online chat behaviors

If you are concerned about a relationship or your online behaviors, it may help to speak with a licensed counselor. If you feel hesitant about meeting with a therapist in person, you might consider online therapy, which has been shown to be just as effective as traditional in-person therapy. 

With online therapy at BetterHelp, you can connect with a licensed therapist via live chat, phone, or videoconference at a time that suits your schedule. You can also contact your therapist in between sessions through in-app messaging, and they’ll respond as soon as they can. This may prove to be useful if you have any dubious online chat interactions in between sessions, as you can communicate your thoughts to your therapist in between sessions.

Below are some reviews by BetterHelp users about working with their counselors:

“Carrie has been a brilliant source of help and support throughout what was a hard year, to say the least. She has provided me with resources and an outlet to build strength and resilience while I tackled some real challenges. Carrie always sent me through relevant resources and connected me with some great assets. She's been amazing and I can't thank her enough!” Read more on Carrie Hillebrandt.

“Elsa Quintanilla has been an amazing help to me mentally and emotionally. I was always hesitant to get a therapist or get some help again as my past experience with another therapist wasn’t great, but once BetterHelp matched me with Elsa I knew right away that she was a perfect match for me.” Read more on Elsa Quintanilla.