Web chat is a walk in the park, even if you're a member in good standing of the Society for the Technically Moronic. All you have to do is choose a login or identity when you sign up with your online dating service. This handle becomes your own unique name. Nobody else can use it, and it can be as vague or specific as you choose. It's a good idea to avoid using your real name, at least your full name.

From your internet dating site's main page you should be able to find links to chat rooms. Simply click the appropriate link and you're whisked away to yet another page that's fully dedicated to one-on-one chat. Note that chat rooms, as a general rule, are different from message boards. The former emphasizes private correspondence between two parties. The latter is an open forum for anybody to post and respond to given threads or topics.

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To get your web chat started, you'll need a partner. This can be someone you know or a complete stranger. Many newbies feel most comfortable beginning by chatting with a friend. To do this, you'll want to trade logins over e-mail. If you're both online at the same time, all you need to do is choose your friend's name from a list of identities in a box provided on your chat page.

Once you've mastered the back-and-forth of real-time typing, you may want to start meeting new people online. The process is virtually identical to the one outlined above, only now you can scan a list of users who are logged onto the same page and choose whom you want to write. As you grow more and more familiar with the site you'll start to recognize members and become a part of your chat room's "community."