This article is based on material authored by members of the news.newusers.questions Moderation Board and nnq-workers mailing list, particularly by Dennis D. Calhoun (until 2005) and Thor Kottelin (since 2007).

Chat services and penpals

How to find a penpal

The newsgroup news.newusers.questions is not the proper place to hold general conversations. However, there are many other ways and places to find penpals and chat!

• If you want to test your posting ability, and have real people from the world respond, try the newsgroup alt.test.hello-world.
• If you're looking for friends overseas to write to, learn about cultures with, and practice languages with, you may find new friends in soc.penpals. There are posters there from around the world!
• If you're looking for a specific age group, you might try one of these groups:
  • news:alt.kids-talk.penpals
  • news:alt.teens.penpals
  • news:alt.penpals.college
  • news:alt.penpals.forty-plus-yrs

Real-time chat

There are tons of chat services out there. One good place to start looking is the chat section of the Google directory.

IRC

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) offers a world-wide multi-user chat network, where people meet to talk in groups, or privately. Lots of people can participate in the real time discussions, and the number of topics covered on IRC is endless.

If you've got Windows, one of the best programs is called mIRC. If you have a Macintosh, try the IRCle program.

A more detailed guide to IRC is also available.