Safety first! Make sure the person is comfortable with everything you are doing.
And if you find someone who matches your interests completely, you win!
There are some rules you should consider before you meet someone cool and decide you want to be their friend or date them. You can’t count on full anonymity online, often even if you don’t share your details with other people, your IP number, accounts and apps you’re using and the info they collect, sometimes without your awareness of it, keep the details you give them.
You should not use your name, nickname, date of birth, tell the name of your town or
personal details that can identify you when you’re chatting with strangers. Log out of your
accounts. Look out for people who are trying to gain your trust in order to trick you, don’t give
out your passwords - make them as long and complicated as you think you will still be able to
remember. While using a webcam chat, remove personal items that might be in sight,
anything that can help identify you. Sometimes, if you are a bit shy, you might even dress up
or direct the webcam to something else that’s not you. Some people use pictures or play
some videos instead of showing themselves, but that doesn’t get the best reaction from
users and might result in people not wanting to chat with you or even leaving the
conversation once they realize you are showing a fake background.
As much as potential real friendships with cool people you meet on webcam should be pursued, you should be sure that the person is who they claim to be. If they seem to be withholding information that they in return expect to hear from you, it appears a bit suspicious. You should look out for those signs. If you two decide to meet up, watch for their approach to it. For example, if they insist on coming over to your house or having you over at their place, and a different meeting place seems to be out of the question, despite that being your preferred option, it means they might have bad intentions with you. Make sure you do meet them in a place with other people around, it doesn’t have to be the busiest bar in town, but also not a secluded place like a forest or a distant park. Do not let the person push you to do what you don’t feel like doing - which applies to many things.
If you are the one who wants to engage in risky online behaviors, keep in mind that everything you say or write online stays there. Even if you manage to hide your IP address, if you show nudity or send threatening or vulgar messages, or if you decide to do something serious, encourage someone to commit a crime for example, there will be records of that online.
