Many older people who until recently could not operate a computer are learning and enjoying the benefits, especially in social networking. But while the younger sets are drawn towards the Face Books and My Spaces of the net, the seniors are taking their places in the chat rooms and are having a grand old time doing it.

There are a lot more chat rooms out there for people fifty and older. It seems to be a trend of the future. You can type 50s chat or senior chat into a search engine and get pages full of chat sites that are now available. If you are a senior in search of someone to talk to, you should check it out.

However, along with the sheep come the wolves. Predators lurk in these rooms just like anywhere else. They come in pretending to be a seniors and/or lonely and they take advantage of anyone who is trusting enough to give them an opportunity.

Never tell anyone your personal information like your name, phone number or address. Remember that you are taking someone's word for whom they are. They know that there is little you can do to check on their identity or background. There are a lot of unscrupulous people on the internet.

When you think about the high occurrence of identity theft in the last fifteen years you begin to realize how little progress we have made against it. You need to be vigilant at all times

It is a good idea not to use your real name or give out any information about yourself. Always be careful about what you say and keep an eye out for scams and scammers. You want to protect yourself from people who will try and pry this information from you under the pretence that they are your friend.

While the dangers of chat rooms for the over 50s is definitely present, do not let it stop you from making friends. You can be a big part of the safety of others and yourself by helping with the monitoring of the chat rooms and its participants. If you see anything you think might be out of the ordinary, do not be afraid to report it.

Searching for senior pen pals? Then you will want to set up your senior chat rooms user profile and start developing genuine, world-wide friendships instantly.