Like any other chat room, a bingo chat room has a certain etiquette that needs to be observed. Most of this etiquette applies to other online chat rooms as well, and simply amount to common sense. As in any form of electronic written communication, writing in all capital letters is perceived as shouting and therefore rude. Of course at some point in their lives everyone accidentally hits the Caps lock key, and this type of slip-up is perfectly forgivable, but it is still preferable to follow it up with an appropriate apology.

Profanity and the use of expletives is similarly frowned on, only more so. As unacceptable as it is to use such language in any other company where you do not know the people intimately, it is as unacceptable in an online bingo chat room. Again this is simply a matter of applying the same common sense as one would in the real world. Just because you have a measure of anonymity online does not mean that it is a license to forget your manners. Personal insults directed at other players are also not acceptable, even if you might feel that you are just indulging in some gamesmanship.

As a rule of thumb you're always better off It is also not a bad idea to observe the chat for a while before jumping in with your own two-cents' worth. This will allow you to work out what the others are talking about, as well as the tone of the conversation. Most bingo chat rooms are moderated, so there will be human being at a PC somewhere being alerted by software to specific "trigger" phrases and words. They will not hesitate to eject players from chat rooms if anything untoward is noticed, so it's not only the wrath of your peers that you face if insist on breaching online bingo chat room etiquette.

Ryan is the editor of http://www.bingoace.com, an online bingo portal.